Molly Montag Sioux City Journal The Iowa Court of Appeals on Wednesday reversed a Woodbury County District Court decision that placed three children in tribal custody, ruling that parts of the Iowa Indian Child Welfare Act are unconstitutional. The appeals court said in its ruling those portions of the law are unconstitutional because they do not allow the children to object to the transfer of their welfare cases from the state of Iowa to the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. [...]
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By Maunette Loeks World-Herald News Service SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. — A newborn dropped off at Regional West Medical Center here under the safe haven law is healthy, hospital officials said. The baby girl is the second child dropped off under the state's revised safe haven law, approved in 2008. [...]
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Kyle McClellan KETV Omaha The little girl peppered beauty salon workers with questions as she visited an Omaha salon recently for a special mini-makeover for the 8-year-old. “What color is that? Did you use that pink on your nails? Does that hurt? Is it dry already?” said 8-year-old Jaelyn, a child featured on KETV Newswatch 7 as part of a special segment on adoption. [...]
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By Christopher Burbach WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER To the right of youth worker Ricky Smith, a 16-year-old boy looking sharp in a ponytail received an old-school dressing down from an Omaha police officer. She talked to the youth like she was his aunt, and not just a school resource officer who bumped into a kid she knew during a mass truancy hearing at Omaha's Douglas County Juvenile Court. Meanwhile, to Smith's left, a 14-year-old girl walked toward an exit with her mother. She wore a big smile after meeting with juvenile probation officers and Juvenile Assessment Center workers to begin working on a plan to stay in school. [...]
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By Martha Stoddard WORLD-HERALD BUREAU Lincoln police found Anthony and Arva Kelley's preschooler and two toddlers home alone one February night. The house was “disorderly,” with standing water in the bathtub, fecal matter on one bedroom wall and soiled diapers on the floor, an affidavit stated. When no adults had returned within an hour, police took the children into state custody. [...]
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By JoANNE YOUNG Lincoln Journal Star Between 2004 and 2007, an annual average of 959 Nebraskans asked to have their names expunged from a child abuse and neglect register kept by the state Department of Health and Human Services. In those same years, 55 percent to 68 percent of requests were granted. [...]
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By ERIK ECKHOLM The New York Times ST. LOUIS — After a day of knocking on doors chasing fleeting leads, Carlos Lopez and his partner finally heard welcome words: Yes, a resident confirmed, the man they were seeking lived in this house and would be home that evening. [...]
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By Molly Montag
The Iowa Court of Appeals on Wednesday reversed a Woodbury County District Court decision that placed three children in tribal custody, ruling that parts of the Iowa Indian Child Welfare Act are unconstitutional.
The appeals court said in its ruling those portions of the law are unconstitutional because they do not allow the children [...]

By DAVID KLEPPER
The Star’s Topeka correspondent
TOPEKA | Legislation to end Kansas’ privatized foster care system is the latest volley from lawmakers who say the state lacks oversight over the contractors managing such child welfare services.
Dozens of parents who lost custody of their children have complained to lawmakers in recent weeks that the state and its [...]

By Paul Hammel
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
LINCOLN — Two studies commissioned by the Nebraska Legislature suggest that the state’s judicial system for juveniles is broken and must be changed to properly address cases of abuse and neglect, youth crime and truancy.
Reports on the studies, released Thursday at a public hearing, cited problems such as inadequately trained and overworked [...]