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Don’t forget
to apply for one of 6 attorney scholarships to the NACC National
Juvenile and
Family Law Conference in Austin Texas, on October 20-23, 2010. The
deadline is
August 13th. Learn more about the scholarships
or the conference
schedule.
Find out how Nebraska compares to other states
on infant mortality,
child death rate, teens not in school, children in poverty and other
measures
in the Annie
E. Casey Foundation 2010 Kids Count Data Book.
The Quality Improvement Center on Child
Representation has compiled
an accessible list
of national academic
articles on
the issue of child representation. For
the study on child representation in Nebraska issued in 2009, click here.
CLEs are available for online videos from the
2009 Children’s Summit. Click here.
Register for the upcoming 2010 Regional
Conferences
Registration for the 2010 Regional
Conferences hosted by the Through the Eyes of
the Child Initiative. Regional
conferences will be held in:
- September 23: Scottsbluff
- September 24: Hastings
- September 30: Norfolk
- October 1: Lincoln
Click here
to register. Agendas
from each of
the regional conferences are also available. Topics
include Permanency Pre-Hearing Conferences,
Foster Parents
facilitating reunification, reasonable efforts, transfer of custody,
substance
abusing parents, parenting time, and appellate caselaw updates. There will also be opportunity for Team
Discussion.
The regional
conferences are directed toward members of local teams of the Through
the Eyes
of the Child Initiative; however, you are not required to be on a team
to
attend. If you are interested in
attending as part of the local team in your area, please contact Kelli
Hauptman for team contact information.
There is no
cost to attend the regional conferences, and a light breakfast and
lunch will
be provided. For more information on the
regional conferences, click here.
Last chance to sign up for Phase II Helping
Babies from the Bench
trainings in Holdrege and Hastings!
Registration for the new Phase
II trainings of Helping Babies from the Bench is
still open. This training is a
combination of a morning session (open to anyone) and an afternoon
workshop (for
core team members only) that addresses implementation of best practices
for
babies and toddlers into court practice. An agenda
is available to view. Current
Phase II trainings are:
- Holdrege August 26th
- Hastings August 27th
- Ogallala September 17th
- Papillion November 5th
For more
information about the trainings or to register, click here. If your local team is interested in hosting a
Phase II training in your community, please contact Kelli Hauptman.
Judges Webinars
The Through
the Eyes of the Child Initiative is hosting a webinar series for judges
that
focus on issues in abuse/neglect cases. All
webinars will be held at noon Central
Time.
August 10th: What do the
Nebraska appellate
courts say about reasonable efforts in abuse/neglect cases? Sarah
Helvey, Staff
Attorney, Nebraska Appleseed, and Gail Steen, parents attorney and
guardian ad
litem, Steen Law Office
This
webinar will address
the findings made in Nebraska appellate decisions related to the
federal and
state statutory requirements that reasonable efforts be made to prevent
removal
of the children from the parental home and to reunify the children with
the
parent(s).
September
8th: Judicial Ethics in Child Welfare Cases,
Judge Douglas Johnson, Separate Juvenile Court of Douglas County
This
webinar will address
ethical issues encountered in abuse/neglect cases. Special
focus will be given to ex parte
communication, in chambers testimony and judicial action within a case.
November TBD: How to Lead an Effective
Multidisciplinary
Court Team, Nancy Miller, Director, Permanency Planning for
Children
Department, NCJFCJ
This
webinar will address
the role of a judge as the leader of a multidisciplinary court team and
how
judges can ensure better outcomes from their teams’ efforts through
more
effective leadership. Focus will be on
abuse/neglect multidisciplinary teams that are part of the Through the
Eyes of
the Child Initiative.
Oral
Arguments
Oral arguments in abuse/neglect cases
made before the
Nebraska Supreme Court and Nebraska Court of Appeals are available on
the
Through the Eyes website. You may stream
the audio on your computer, or download it to play on an iPod or other
mobile
device.
- In re Marquesha C.,
Nebraska
Court of Appeals, June 18, 2010 (termination of parental rights and
continuous
neglect)
-
In
re Interest of Wendi L., Nebraska Court
of Appeals, June 17, 2010 (mother’s failure to protect daughter against
sexual abuse
by father)
- In re Interest of Seherzada M., Nebraska
Court of Appeals, June 16, 2010 (mother’s failure to protect daughter
from
sons)
- In
re Interest of Gabriela H., Nebraska
Supreme Court, May 28, 2010 (DHHS acceptance of parental relinquishment)
Caselaw Summaries
Trying to find an abuse/neglect case
but can’t remember the
case name? Use our search engine for
abuse/neglect cases since 2006. Cases
can be searched by keyword. To begin a
search, click here.
In re Interest of Seherzada
M. (Unpublished opinion, August
3, 2010) Adjudication was proper where there was a prior case
involving
physical abuse by a brother against Seherzada and current credible
evidence
establishing that both brothers had physical harmed Seherzada and that
the
mother was allowing them to do so. Full
Summary
In re Interest of Fatima S. (Unpublished opinion, July 27, 2010) The
mother’s unwillingness to address her serious mental health issues and
demonstrated inability to care for the child establish that termination
of
parental rights was proper. Even though
43-292.01 was used as the statutory basis for termination instead of
43-292, it
is clear from statements on the record by the court and the remainder
of the
written order that 43-292 was intended. Full
Summary
In re Interest of Wendi L. (Unpublished opinion, July 27,
2010)
Holding the adjudication hearing 8 months after the petition was filed
where
the child is 17 years of age and the abuser already sentenced for
sexual
assault is hardly ideal but not grounds for reversal. Evidence
establishing that the interpreter at
the therapy sessions was fluent in English and Spanish establish that
she was
qualified to provide translation services. Adjudication
was proper as there was sufficient
evidence the mother
sympathized with the abusing father and did not support her daughter. Full
Summary
In re Interest of Cornelius
K. (280 Neb. 291, ____ N.W.2d
____, July 23, 2010) An adjudication and permanency plan must
be
established before the juvenile court can accept a voluntary
relinquishment
from the parent. Full
Summary
In re Interest of Gabriela H. (280 Neb. 284, ____ N.W.2d ____, July
23, 2010) Where a child has been adjudicated pursuant to N.R.S.
43-247(3)(a) and a permanency objective of adoption has been
established, a
juvenile court has authority under the juvenile code to order DHHS to
accept a
tendered relinquishment of parental rights. Full
Summary
In re Interest of Marquesha
C. et al. (Unpublished
opinion, July 13, 2010) Termination
of parental rights was proper based on the
mother’s lack of progress over 2 years
including failure to attend visitation and therapy, learn about the
children’s
medical needs, and access prenatal care. Full
Summary
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