News and Updates
- The Youth Court Questionnaire has now been released by the Nebraska Foster Youth Council and the Through the Eyes of the Child Initiative as a method for children and youth to provide input in their cases. If you are a Guardian ad Litem, caseworker, Service Coordinator, or someone who works with youth, you are urged to encourage them to complete it. The Youth Court Questionnaire is intended for any youth with an open CPS case, regardless of age or placement, at anytime and as often as they would like, especially since circumstances frequently change. Contact Cassy Blakely with questions at 402-817-2003 or cblakely@nebraskachildren.org.
- 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.
- 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.
- The Supreme Court Commission on Children in the Courts developed Guidelines for Parenting Times for Children in Out of Home Care. The Commission recommends that judges use these guidelines when they issue parenting time (visitation) orders for children in foster care. View the parenting time protocol the Grand Island team developed for use in their abuse/neglect cases. For more information on the Grand Island protocol, contact KaCee Zimmerman.
- Studies of Representation of Children and Youth in Nebraska Pursuant to LB 961 (2008), a study of Nebraska's guardian ad litem practices, was undertaken by the National Association of Counsel for Children (Denver, CO), and a study of Nebraska's juvenile indigent defense system in delinquency cases was undertaken by the National Juvenile Defender Center (Washington, DC). Read the GAL report. Read the juvenile defense report.
A Note From the Chief Justice
Chief Justice Michael Heavican
Teams in Action: Effective and Efficient Collaboration
June 2010
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. You can watch videos from the sessions you missed. Also during the Summit, your team had the opportunity to meet and discuss what you had learned at the various breakout sessions and begin to talk about ways you can implement some of these ideas in your own court communities.
Upcoming Events
| Time | Event Title |
|---|---|
| Sep 15th | 8th District - Team 1 (Valentine) Team Meeting |
| Sep 17th | Helping Babies from the Bench: Phase II - Ogallala |
| Sep 17th | 7th District team meeting |
| Sep 21st | 12th District - Team 1 (northern Panhandle) Team Meeting |
| Sep 21st | Lancaster County Team Meeting |
| more … |
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Priorities
- Reduce the time to reunification
- Improve systems effectiveness with parents with substance abuse issues
- Improve the use of parenting time to improve permanency
Spotlight Issue
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An Analysis of the Implementation of the Fostering Connections Act into the Nebraska Juvenile Justice System
Nicholas Wurth, JD, Assistant Douglas County Public Defender
INTRODUCTION
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.
Spotlight Team
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Team 2 – Sarpy County: A Mediation Pilot on Permanency Pre-Hearing Conferences and Pre-Hearing TPR Conferences
In collaboration with the Concord Center and Nebraska Office of Dispute Resolution, the Sarpy County team led by Judge Bob O’Neal and Judge Larry Gendler has secured funding from DHHS for a pilot mediation project beginning in October 2009. The pilot project will involve two types of structured facilitated discussion: Pre-Hearing Termination of Parental Rights Conference (PHTPR) and Permanency Pre-Hearing Conference (PPHC). Over 20 current cases have been selected to be included in the pilot, which is expected to run through June 2010. The goal is to replicated this pilot project in five other juvenile court settings. Mediators from the Concord Center will lead the structured facilitated discussions. Both mediations are governed by Neb. Rev. Stat. section 43-247.01, in that all discussions are considered confidential and privileged.
Latest Caselaw Updates
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In re Interest of Emma J.
Filed on August 10, 2010 Supplemental Opinion 18 Neb. App. 529, ____ N.W.2d ____ SUMMARY: A modification of text was made in the opinion of In re Interest of Emma, 18 Neb. App. 389, 782 N.W.2d 330 (2010), namely that a September 30, 2009, where active efforts findings were improperly made was a continuation of a previous order [...]
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In re Interest of Seherzada M.
Filed on August 3, 2010 Nebraska Court of Appeals Not designated for permanent publication, A-09-1269 SUMMARY: 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. On August 31, [...]
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In re Interest of Fatima S.
Filed on July 27, 2010 Nebraska Court of Appeals Not designated for permanent publication SUMMARY: 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 [...]
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In re Interest of Wendi L.
Filed on July 27, 2010 Nebraska Court of Appeals Not designated for permanent publication SUMMARY: 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 [...]
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In re Interest of Gabriela H.
Filed on July 23, 2010 280 Neb. 284, ____ N.W.2d ____ SUMMARY: 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. Gabriela H., DOB 9/97, was left [...]
