Through the Eyes of the Child Initiative

Filed on March 22, 2011
Not designated for permanent publication, A-10-906
SUMMARY: A parent cannot delay a proceeding by challenging paternity when a default order of paternity had been entered years earlier and has remained uncontested by that parent.  
Javontae, DOB 6/93, is the child of James, who has been incarcerated a majority of Javontae’s life. [...]

Filed on January 18, 2011
Not designated for permanent publication, A-10-772 through A-10-774
SUMMARY: Termination of the father’s parental rights was proper because he failed to follow through on sex offender and parenting programs while incarcerated and had poor interaction with the children during therapeutic visitation even when prompted, and because the children’s behaviors had improved since [...]

Filed on April 27, 2010
781 N.W.2d 622, 18 Neb. App. 350
SUMMARY: Evidence proving mere possession of crack cocaine by the father without any showing that it affected the child does not establish a definite risk of future harm, and adjudication of the child on this basis was therefore improper.  
Carrdale II, DOB 10/08, was removed [...]

Filed on March 30, 2010
Not designated for permanent publication, A-09-1057
SUMMARY: There was not a violation of the father’s due process rights in the termination of his parental rights as, although he could not attend a portion of the trial due to incarceration, he was offered counsel and the opportunity to submit evidence and cross-examine witnesses. [...]

Filed on March 30, 2010
Not designated for permanent publication, A-09-801
SUMMARY: Given the father’s positive actions in turning his life around since he learned that the child had been removed from the mother, it was not error for the court to deny the petition to terminate his parental rights.  
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Filed on September 8, 2009
17 Neb. App. 919, 773 N.W.2d 161
SUMMARY: Termination of parental rights on the ground of abandonment and substantial neglect through incarceration was improper because there was no concrete evidence that established the length of incarceration and that the mother abandoned the child. To have records from a prior proceeding judicially [...]

Filed on April 28, 2009
766 N.W.2d 424, 17 Neb. App. 544
SUMMARY: The time a parent spends incarcerated shall not be excluded from the determination of whether a child has been out-of-home 15 of the most recent 22 months. As the father did not take steps to undergo sex offender treatment in the two months [...]

Filed on March 24, 2009
Not designated for permanent publication
A-08-1136
SUMMARY: The child comes within the meaning of 43-247(3)(a) because he is at risk for harm due to the father’s failure to pay child support and lack of any evidence that he provided the child with proper parental care and support.  
Enrique, DOB 5/1/00, is the child [...]

Filed on October 14, 2008
Not designated for permanent publication
A-08-049
SUMMARY: The statutory ground for termination where the child must be out of the home 15 of the most recent 22 months requires “clear and convincing evidence of circumstances as compelling and pertinent to a child’s best interests as to those enumerated in the other subsections”, given [...]

Filed April 17, 2007
Nebraska Court of Appeals
SUMMARY: Termination of an incarcerated parent’s rights was in the best interests of the children because the incarceration prevented the parent from providing a “nurturing and structured environment,” and the parent’s continual perpetuation of crimes cast doubt on his ability to make the permanent changes required for adequate parenting.
Two [...]