The second report from consultant John McGee on state government services to developmentally disabled Nebraskans renews hope that he will fulfill his duties as a monitor.

The settlement agreement signed a year ago called for McGee to submit quarterly reports on promises state officials made to improve care.

However, the report, released last week, is only the second. As we said in an editorial last month, McGee needs to overcome his slow, halting start and live up to the terms of his contract.

In his new 41-page report, McGee pledged to complete future reports within one to two weeks of the end of a quarter. Starting with the July-September quarter, McGee said, he will start using a matrix system to evaluate compliance with the criteria in the agreement. The additional detail in that format will be valuable.

It was helpful that McGee's new report addresses the state of care in Nebraska's community-based programs - not merely the Beatrice State Developmental Center.

Although need for improvement at the Beatrice center is urgent, that facility is only one part of the overall system. And state government needs to improve the entire system.

In accordance with the current trends in the field and direction from the federal government, more developmentally disabled Nebraskans will in the future be in community-based programs near the homes of their families.

McGee's findings on community-based programs were disturbing.

He noted that the most significant way to reduce harm and enhance habilitation is to plan each placement in a "sensitive and insightful manner." That is not always occurring. In some cases, McGee said, "speed of placement into a sometimes ill-prepared community support system puts placement before the plan."

He cited a case in which a former resident of the Beatrice center was involved in an incident in community program that involved police and the use of a Taser, which incapacitates a person with an electrical shock. McGee recommended that the incident be thoroughly investigated and concrete recommendations made on staff training and supervision.

Sen. Steve Lathrop of Omaha, chairman of a special legislative committee on developmental disability services, said he was disappointed that state government has not made more significant improvement on the 140 promises the state made after the 2008 Justice report on neglect and abuse at the Beatrice Center.

McGee's report shows, in so many words, that "much remains to be done."

The light that McGee's regular reports can shed on the efforts to shore up woefully inadequate service to developmentally disabled Nebraskans is crucial to ensure that progress continues throughout the entire system.