Through the Eyes of the Child Initiative

Saturday is National Adoption Day and for the 11th year, Omaha took part with a courthouse celebration where 29 children received their forever families. Eight-year-old Patiance has lived up to her name through three years as a ward of the state. “I didn't know she was in the system and I wasn't aware because they didn't really realize she was Native American and when they did realize, they found out I was her paternal grandmother,” said Carrie Voss. “This is my first time being here with grandma, my sister and my cousin,” said Patiance. “I love them very much." "I'm just happy that I finally get to have my sister at home,” said Anaiyah Brown. It is a home made permanent through adoption. “It's just wonderful to have them stay with relatives, people they've known for a very long time and then we're able to make that official through a day like today,” said Treva Haugaard of Nebraska Families Collaborative. Eight-year-old Hayley wasn't adopted by family, but to be with family, her 11-year-old brother Paul, who has cerebral palsy. [...]
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What's being done to protect children from abuse? Many people, including those within the agencies responsible for protecting children, say not nearly enough. The National District Attorney's Association released a report last month simply titled "We Can Do Better." The report states that more than 12,000 preventable child abuse deaths occurred in the United States between 2001 and 2008, but estimates that the actual number of children who die from abuse or neglect could be as much as 50 percent higher than what is actually reported or known. More than a hundred of those deaths have occurred in Nebraska. More than five children die each and every day from abuse or neglect. It is an unacceptable number for Bridge of Hope Child Advocacy Center Executive Director LeeAnn Nielsen. [...]
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Life hasn't been easy for 9-month-old Abigail Schmeeckle, who had open-heart surgery when she was just three days old. Since then, she has been admitted to Children's Hospital in Omaha about 12 times. Sometimes Abigail is in the hospital for a month, other times only a few days. Regardless, Abigail's foster mom, Deb Schmeeckle, has been right by her side through it all, praying and caring for her precious baby. Although she is still eating through a feeding tube, Abigail is finally showing signs of being healthy and hasn't been in the hospital since September. On Saturday, in Lancaster County Juvenile Courtroom 40, Abigail was smiling, babbling and gnawing on her mother's finger -- she's teething. Deb and her husband, Todd, adopted Abigail on Saturday, the 11th annual National Adoption Day. Lancaster County joined Adoption Day in 2005 and has placed 186 children with adoptive homes in that time. [...]
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Josiah is officially a Gutierrez. His foster parents, Nellys and Tammy Gutierrez, signed the papers that made his adoption official Thursday in Hall County Court. "It's been a long time coming and we're glad it's over," Tammy said. After the hearing, which was also attended by two of Tammy's sisters and her mother, the family went out for lunch. A larger celebration, including a trip to Chuck E. Cheese in Lincoln, is planned for this weekend. The "roller coaster" of court dates, different agendas and lots of ideas began when Josiah came to live with the couple two years ago. He was their first placement as foster parents. [...]
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Foster parents, therapists and community service providers filled the Lincoln Public Schools boardroom to talk to Lincoln-area senators about child welfare reform. Their comments to the seven state senators Wednesday night echoed many of the frustrations heard for months about the year-old public-private partnership to provide in- and out-of-home care to state wards and other children in need of services. Many of the foster parents talked about the lack of coordination and communication between the state and lead providers on multiple issues. They are concerned about the low level of pay they receive -- the $12 a day that barely pays for diapers for foster children -- the unreturned phone calls and the multiple workers that move in and out of children's lives. "What's really bad is when you have kiddos who aren't used to sudden changes, and they have behavioral problems that when there's something changed really fast in their lives, it causes a lot of turmoil," foster parent Ruth Applebee said. James Holt, a therapist who works with families in Lincoln and Omaha, said the concept of wrap-around care for families in the home is a good one. But many of the parents he works with don't know if the workers who come into their homes are there to provide support or to find something negative about them to report to case managers and judges. [...]
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Services created to help families of troubled children have made a difference for thousands of Nebraska families in the past nine months, a panel of lawmakers was told Tuesday. Among the successes reported: • Only two of 227 families helped by a state program for adoptive parents or guardians of former foster children have dissolved the adoption or guardianship. That's less than half the rates of dissolution found in studies nationally. • The Nebraska Family Helpline, a statewide crisis hot line, is on track to answer more than 3,500 calls from than 2,500 families this year. Many say they got the help they needed from the phone call alone. Calls are answered by specially trained staff members. • About 500 families are being referred to the Family Navigator Program, which offers help from staff members who have personal experience navigating the state behavioral health system. [...]
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Gov. Dave Heineman weighed in Monday on child welfare reform, saying the state Department of Health and Human Services was headed in the right direction, but it was going to take time to get there. At the same time, he said, both the state and lead providers have to do an "even better" job in the future. And the state is going to have to provide better oversight as private providers in the Omaha, Lincoln and southeast Nebraska service areas take on more of the responsibilities. "I hope everybody realizes what we've been doing in the last 40 years hasn't worked," Heineman said of child welfare and foster care. "Nebraska has one of the largest percentages of out-of-home placements in America." But change, he said, is difficult. [...]
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Up to 70 Department of Health and Human Service employees could be getting the pink slip. DHHS plans to lay off caseworkers hired within the past year in Eastern and Southeastern Nebraska. It's the latest decision in Nebraska's move to reform the child welfare system. HHS is contracting with two private agencies. These agencies provide case management-which means they do everything from coordinating transportation to making sure kids receive adequate care. With this agreement, the state no longer needs as big of a staff. So it's letting some workers starting in January. And a foster parent News 5 spoke with Friday said that's a bad idea. Every child deserves a safe home, but not every child gets one which is why people like Jackie Zeckser become foster parents. [...]
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Leading child advocates in Nebraska called for the state to put off making more changes in the child welfare system. Advertising In a letter delivered Wednesday to Gov. Dave Heineman and other state officials, they urged caution in turning over more state responsibilities to private contractors. The Department of Health and Human Services “should slow down before taking steps that cannot be easily undone,” the letter said. Several well-known Nebraskans signed the letter, among them the Rev. Val Peter, former executive director of Boys Town, and Deb Suttle, a former state senator and wife of Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle. They were responding to plans announced by HHS last month to eliminate state jobs and have private agencies take over most of the work of ensuring the safety and well-being of abused and neglected children. [...]
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Several advocacy and child-serving groups will meet to air their concerns about Nebraska's efforts to reform its child welfare system. Voices for Children in Nebraska, Nebraska Appleseed, the Foster Care Review Board and other groups will gather Wednesday in Lincoln. They will also release a letter signed by more than 800 organizations and individuals calling on the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services for more information, transparency and accountability in the reform process. [...]
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