A Letter From the Chief Justice

2008 Regional Conferences

Chief Justice Michael Heavican

Dear Participant:

Welcome to the 2008 Through the Eyes of the Child Initiative regional conferences. The agendas are very ambitious and it is my hope that the conferences will provide good discussion and offer information useful to you and your team.

These regional conferences mark the two-year anniversary of the creation of the Through the Eyes of the Child Initiative. Given the accomplishments of the teams and the Initiative thus far, there is much to celebrate. Among those accomplishments is the fact that pre-hearing conferences are expanding statewide and new study findings suggest that such conferences are substantially shortening the time to adjudication. Various changes to court and agency processes have reduced the number of children in foster care while ensuring their continued safety.

While we have made great progress with respect to the Initiative's goals, many issues have yet to be resolved. The number of children in the state's care is still too high. The median length of stay is 15.3 months. Only a little over half of children who are reunified are reunified within 12 months of removal. Cases often take too long to reach adjudication and disposition. Some services are not immediately available for parents and children. Adoptions are not occurring fast enough. Some permanency hearings are permanency hearings in name only.

Local teams, however, are working to ensure that Nebraska's children are safe, healthy, and in permanent homes. Thus the onus is on the teams to address problems existing in local courts and to reach out when problems exist on a systemic level. Assistance is available from Initiative staff to further that end. While disagreements may arise when determining problems on which to focus or the proper courses of action to follow, local teams should act as collaborative entities in which such issues can be addressed in a thoughtful, unified way.

Your work is essential to ensuring the future of Nebraska's children and I thank you for your efforts. I look forward to working with you at the upcoming regional conferences and at the 2009 Children's Summit to be held in Grand Island.