December/January 2009/10 E-Newsletter

December/January 2009/10 E-Newsletter

Through the Eyes of the Child Initiative

The Through the Eyes of the Child website has recently undergone a template update and many other changes!  Visit our newly updated website.

Learn how DHHS is implementing the new federal Fostering Connections Act of 2008 which, among other requirements, mandates that reasonable efforts be made to place siblings together and that relatives be notified of a child's placement in foster care.

Nebraska Adoption Day 2009 was held by the courts in November in the communities of O’Neill, Lincoln, Omaha, Kearney, Grand Island, Hastings and Gering/Scottsbluff.  Read an article on Adoption Day in Omaha in the November/December 2009 Nebraska Lawyer Magazine.

Read 2009 Nebraska Children’s Summit in the November/December 2009 Nebraska Lawyer Magazine.

The Through the Eyes of the Child website will soon include a section on the Priorities that were established at the Nebraska Children’s Summit in September.  If your team has made progress toward these priorities, please submit a short description to Melissa Townsend.

The 2010 Lecture Series is on the horizon!  The topics for this year will be:
  1. Sibling Placement and Contact
  2. Older Youth in Care
  3. Education Issues with Children in Care
  4. Advanced Topics in ICWA
  5. Somali Children and Families in the Child Welfare System

Spotlight Issue: FOSTERING CONNECTIONS TO SUCCESS AND INCREASING ADOPTIONS ACT OF 2008
by Natalie G. Nelsen, Guardian ad Litem, Holdrege

On October 7, 2008, the Fostering Connections Act was signed into law.  The Foster Connections Act is designed to help children and youth in the foster care system by promoting permanent families for them through relative guardianships and adoptions and by improving education and health care.  The Act has six key areas of focus to improve outcomes for youth.    It is important to note that many of the requirements of the Act are tied to eligibility for Title IV (E) funding, and many of the resources made available through the act are only available if the child is IV(E) eligible.  Full Article


Listen to Oral Argument of Abuse/Neglect Cases

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. 

Oral arguments held in November:
To access all available oral argument archives, click here.


Caselaw Summaries

Trying to find an abuse/neglect case but can’t remember the case name?  Use our search engine for abuse/neglect cases through 2006.  Cases can be searched by keyword.  To begin a search, click here.

  • In re Interest of Marcella B. and Juan S., (18 Neb. App. 153, ____ N.W.2d ____, November 24, 2009) A denial to allow in-chambers testimony from the child is not a final, appealable order.  Full Summary
  • In re Interest of Hope L. et al. (278 Neb. 869, ____ N.W.2d _____, November 13, 2009) A parent’s past history of mental illness and ability to recover is relevant to the issues of whether the parent can be rehabilitated and whether termination is in the children’s best interests.  As Neb. Rev. Stat. section 43-292(6) was not a ground alleged, the State does not need to show that reasonable efforts to reunify were made.  The parents’ repeated false medical reporting for their children, which resulted in unnecessary medical procedures, and their withdrawal of feeding tubes to the point that the child entered starvation mode establish that the parent substantially and continuously neglected and refused to give necessary parent care and subjected the children to aggravated circumstances.  Full Summary
  • In re Interest of Nylang M. (Unpublished opinion, November 10, 2009) Termination was proper because the parents substantially and repeatedly neglected the children by failing to consistently visit for a substantial period of time and from refusing to comply with the case plan goals.  Full Summary
  • In re Interest of Allen G., et al. (Unpublished opinion, November 3, 2009)  The absence of the guardian ad litem during the termination trial was not plain error.  Because the father was not provided with a case plan until late in the case and there was little evidence establishing his failure to comply, termination of his parental rights was improper.  Full Summary

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Through the Eyes of the Child Initiative
Phone: 402-472-3479
Web: www.throughtheeyes.org

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