Through the Eyes of the Child Initiative

Filed on September 6, 2011
Not designated for permanent publication, A-11-172
SUMMARY: Admission of the caseworker’s court reports and the father’s letters satisfied requirements of procedural due process.  
Mia, DOB 4/07, was born testing positive for methamphetamine and removed from the mother’s home. The mother and father were married but the father was frequently incarcerated. [...]

Filed on September 6, 2011
Not designated for permanent publication, A-11-169
SUMMARY: Termination of parental rights was proper where the mother failed to attend appointments and visits, had little progress in therapy, had unstable employment and did not provide adequate food for the child. The judge’s denial to recuse herself was proper where there was only [...]

Filed on August 9, 2011
Not designated for permanent publication, A-11-115, A-11-116
SUMMARY: Termination of parental rights was proper where the children had been in foster care for a substantial period of time, where the father had been incarcerated off and on during that time and had only sporadically visited the children. 
Tyler W., DOB 5/07, and Landon [...]

Filed on July 12, 2011
Not designated for permanent publication, A-10-1038, A-10-1039
SUMMARY: Termination of parental rights was proper because the father continually failed to deal with his ongoing issues with alcohol abuse and the mother failed to understand and seek proper treatment for her mental health disorder, and neither made acceptable progress in improving their parenting [...]

Filed on July 5, 2011
Not designated for permanent publication, A-10-1036
SUMMARY: Termination was in the children’s best interest where the mother failed to comply with the rehabilitation plan despite assistance from state workers, which included additional efforts addressing cultural barriers. 
Dut A., DOB 1/96, and Akon A., DOB 11/99 were removed from the care of the mother, [...]

Filed on May 10, 2011
19 Neb. App. 17, 797 N.W.2d 282
SUMMARY: Incarceration, standing alone, cannot be grounds for termination of parental rights  
Leland, DOB 12/05, entered the child welfare court system in October 2008 after his mother was unable to care for her children due to a mental health issue. Leland’s father, Ronald, was [...]

Filed on April 19, 2011
Not designated for permanent publication, A-10-1112
SUMMARY: Termination of parental rights was proper where the mother did not make sufficient effort to work on her case plan and where the needs of the child required stability and permanency. 
Lokani, DOB 7/03, was removed from the mother, Veronica, on August 26, 2008, due to [...]

Filed on February 8, 2011
Not designated for permanent publication, A-10-500
SUMMARY: The parent’s occasional compliance with the court ordered plan over three years, is outweighed by the child’s need for a permanent home and termination of parental rights was therefore proper. 
Kailynn I, DOB 1/00, was removed from Dawn, her mother, in November 2006 pursuant to an [...]

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 December 7, 2010
18 Neb. App. 718, 791 N.W.2d 765
SUMMARY: Termination of parental rights was improper as to the children not connected to the inappropriate sexual contact because the parents established significant progress in their ability to care and protect the children. However, with the children involved in the sexual assault, the parents [...]