June 2010 Through the Eyes of the Child Initiative E-Newsletter

June 2010 E-Newsletter

Through the Eyes of the Child Initiative

Updated versions of Guide for Parents and Guide for Foster Parents are now available online.  If you would like hard copies to distribute, please contact Melissa Townsend.


A Note from the Chief Justice: Teams in Action: Effective and Efficient Collaboration

Soon we will be approaching the one-year mark since the Nebraska Children’s Summit in Grand Island in September 2009.  The Children’s Summit identified or addressed problems and provided suggestions as to how to address these ideas.  These included facilitated conferences to speed progression on cases, identifying reasonable efforts to be provided at early stages in the cases, improving the use of parenting time to improve permanency and allowing children’s voices to be better heard in court, among many others.  Read more


Registration for 2010 Helping Babies from the Bench (Phase I and Phase II) trainings is now open

Online registration for Phase I and new Phase II trainings of Helping Babies from the Bench is now open!  The Phase I training, being held in Broken Bow on August 2nd, is an all-day training that provides an overview of improving outcomes for babies and toddlers involved in the abuse/neglect court system.  Phase II is a combination of a morning training and an afternoon workshop for a core team that addresses implementation of best practices for babies and toddlers into court practice.  

The Phase I training and morning session of the Phase II training are open to any individuals who have been involved with babies and toddlers who are part of the abuse/neglect court system.  The Phase II afternoon workshop is limited to a core team selected by the local Through the Eyes team.  If you are interested in being on the core team in one of the areas hosting the Phase II training, please contact Kelli Hauptman.  For more information about the trainings or to register, click here.


Spotlight Issue: An Analysis of the Implementation of the Fostering Connections Act into the Nebraska Juvenile Justice System
by Nicholas Wurth, Douglas County Public Defender

In the relentlessly changing world of Nebraska juvenile court practice it is difficult to keep up with the evolving case law, yearly statutory changes, seemingly frequent audits/studies of the “system,” HHS policy amendments, and the effects of Federal laws on all of the above.  A reminder all practitioners should find unnecessary is that the Juvenile Court is a civil court, and as a result, accountability and enforcement of the varying laws and policies are, in the end, achieved through the deprivation or limitation of the money received from the federal government to fund all of the programs and services necessary to families in need of state assistance. In other words, if a juvenile court judge enters an order indicating that certain federally mandated steps or procedures were not followed for a particular family, Nebraska’s state child welfare agency – the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) – is not likely to receive federal funding to reimburse the expense of providing certain services to that family.  Full Article

Learn more about the Fostering Connections Act and how it applies in Nebraska.  The Fostering Connections Resource Center provides information, training and tools related to furthering the implementation of the Fostering Connections law and specifically provides data and information for each state including Nebraska.  This information includes data on Nebraska adoption and foster care.


Judges Webinars this Summer

The Through the Eyes of the Child Initiative is hosting three webinars for judges this summer that focus on issues in abuse/neglect cases.  More information is available on the Judicial Branch Education website and judges will be receiving an e-mail with more details.  All webinars will be held at noon Central Time.

July 12th: How to Lead an Effective Multidisciplinary Court Team, Nancy Miller, Executive 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.

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).


Save the Date for the 2010 Regional Conferences

Mark your calendars to attend one or more of our upcoming trainings.  In September, we are hosting four all-day regional conferences in Scottsbluff, Hastings, Norfolk and Lincoln.  Registration will open in July.  Click here for more information.


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 Sir Messiah T., et al. (____ N.W.2d ____, 279 Neb. 900, May 21, 2010) Because it must be determined that termination is in the best interests of the child which requires a consideration of the child’s current situation, 43-292(2) is not unconstitutional just because the factual basis for it may be focused primarily on prior neglect of siblings.  In this case, the mother’s prior neglect of her children, inability to abstain from alcohol or parent her children unsupervised, her failure to attend many random urinalysis tests and the special needs required to care for two of the children support termination of her parental rights.  Full Summary

In re Interest of Antonio A., Jr. (Unpublished opinion, May 18, 2010) Adjudication of the child removed at birth was proper because the mother failed to address issues of domestic violence by her partner against her and therefore placed the child at risk for harm.  Full Summary

In re Interest of Bianca H. & Eternity H. (Unpublished opinion, May 18, 2010) Where the mother continued to have contact with the father who had committed acts of extreme domestic violence against her in the past and failed to comply with the case plan, termination of parental rights was proper.  Full Summary

In re Interest of Justice H. (Unpublished opinion, May 18, 2010) Serious emotional or physical damage under ICWA was likely to result if the child was returned home given the degree of domestic violence committed by the father against the mother and failure to address the issues.  Termination of the parental rights of both parents was proper based on the failure to address issues of severe domestic violence.  Full Summary

In re Interest of Shayla, et al. (Unpublished opinion, May 18, 2010) Because the father did not show how he was prejudiced by judicial notice of evidence in the earlier adjudication hearing, there was no finding that the court erred. A district court order denying an ex parte protection order was properly excluded because it only included the judge’s opinions as to the parties’ actions to protection order proceedings without consideration of evidence and was therefore irrelevant.  Full Summary

In re Interest of Emma J. (____ N.W.2d ____, 18 Neb. App. 389, May 11, 2010) The proper burden of proof for the adjudication of an Indian child is by a preponderance of the evidence, not clear and convincing.  Full Summary

In re Interest of Americal T., et al. (Unpublished opinion, May 4, 2010) Termination of parental rights was proper under Neb. Rev. Stat. 43-292(6) because the mother had been offered services including individual therapy, parenting time and case management but failed to correct the conditions to allow reunification.  Full Summary

In re Interest of Patience I. (Unpublished opinion, May 4, 2010) A 60-day delay between the ex parte order and protective custody hearing was not unreasonable due to the unusual circumstances of the case where DHHS did not obtain physical custody of the child until 1 ½ months after the ex parte order was issued. Because the child lived at least 6 months in Nebraska prior to being placed into foster care in Ohio, the Ohio juvenile court lacked jurisdiction to enter an initial child custody determination and therefore the UCCJEA does not apply. 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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