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Nebraska state wards down 12 percent

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By NANCY HICKS / Lincoln Journal Star

Thursday, Jul 10, 2008 - 07:18:44 pm CDT

A  concerted effort by both the courts and the state  human services agency to get children out of the foster care system and into permanent homes is paying off.  

In two years, the number of children in the state’s child welfare  system has dropped 12 percent, to 6,829 in June, state leaders said.

More children have left the child welfare system than have entered it in the past two years, Gov. Dave Heineman said at a Thursday news conference with Supreme Court Chief Justice Mike Heavican.

Story Photo
Gov. Dave Heineman

In the past two years, the state has focused on some of the easier cases — younger children and kids who are at home but still being supervised by the juvenile court.

The state closed 80 percent of the 1,184 cases identified as a priority.

Now the state is going to take a look at the harder cases — children who have been in the child welfare system for more than two years.

The state’s Foster Care Review Board, a separate monitoring agency, will study 550 cases, involving 700 children who have been in the child welfare system for 24 months or longer and who have a plan to be reunified with their family.

Foster care board staff members will look at the demographics of those children. They also will examine the barriers to either going home or being adopted, and the lost opportunities during their time in the system.

Caseworkers will use the data to help find permanent homes for the children.

The state also will use the data to look at potential trends and problems inherent in the system itself, said Todd Landry, director of the division of Children and Family Services, part of the Health and Human Services Department.

The Foster Care Review Board staff members will conduct the study in August, with a report expected before the first of the year.

It will be useful to identify the larger issues, said Georgina Scurfield, chairwoman of the review board.

“We know that parents who are struggling with addictions take time to get well. We know that parents who have mental illness need time. And that children need their parents,” Scurfield said.

Case workers and courts are always looking at this  balancing act between giving parents time and allowing children to have permanent homes, she said.

The study should give the state more information about the barriers to permanent placement, she said.

HHS and the courts made improving the foster care system a priority several years ago after a statewide task force recommended reform in 2003.

In June 2006, Gov. Heineman set out a six-point plan that included the focus on younger children.

Over the past two years, case workers were asked to review cases on the priority list monthly, to remove any paperwork obstacles to ending a case.

At the same time the total number of children has been dropping, there also has been a slight decline in the percent of children who come back because of new problems, Landry said.

“That’s a very good indication that this isn’t just about the numbers. It is about moving kids into permanent homes and they are able to stay there safely,” Landry said.

The state courts have set up 25 local teams to improve the process, and created guidelines and a training program for the attorneys who represent the children’s interests, said Chief Justice Heavican.

Juvenile judges also have tried to speed up the process by holding pre-hearing conferences within days of an incident where a child is removed from the home, rather than wait for weeks for a formal hearing, Heavican said.

These families typically have serious, longstanding and complex problems, he said.

“Drug and alcohol addiction, mental illness and/or domestic violence affect most of these families.”

The court’s goal is to protect the children, to  preserve relationships with parents if possible and to be fair, Heavican said.

The court emphasizes looking at all the court processes through the eyes of children, especially considering a child’s sense of time, he said.

The partnership between the administration and the courts will continue, Heineman said. “We can get the number lower.  We intend to get that number lower.”

But the issue is “much more than numbers,” he said.

“Every child counts. Every child is a human being, not a number for us.”  

Reach Nancy Hicks at 473-7250 or nhicks@journalstar.com.


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Marty wrote on July 10, 2008 10:49 am:
" The underlying problem with the entire system is the erroneous belief that all families can/should be reunited. The basic truth! Not all people can/should be parents. They may be able to HAVE children, but should NOT be allowed to raise them. When/if the courts ever wake up to that fact and stop playing roulette with the little ones, ie in & out and in & out of the the foster care system until they are either so damaged they can't be adopted or older than many people want to adopt the problem will continue on & on. I am a former foster parent who became so disgusted with the games that the establishment played with these little humans that I finally had to give up.
M "
Nina wrote on July 10, 2008 12:20 pm:
" I understand Marty's comments. When I read this article, I thought, "good for state finances, but is it good for the children?" Or is this one more way to cut back government costs while leaving our most needy citizens in the lurch? Sometimes it seems our government is a predator, attacking the elderly trying to survive on social security, the handicapped, and helpless children, all at the expense of the big wheels and their pet projects. We don't need more taxes, we just need more collective conscience! "
foster parent wrote on July 10, 2008 1:00 pm:
" I couldnt agree more. The rates are down and the numbers are deceiving. These kids are being pressed back into a bad situation to glorify the numbers for NHHS. There are cases where reunification is a blessing and is the best thing, but more times than not children are just returned to a dangerous environment for them to be taken again. Roulette is a good choice of words. "
sad wrote on July 10, 2008 1:06 pm:
" Something is wrong with this whole picture. It is easier to take a baby home from the hospital than it is to take an animal home from the pound. And I wouldn't trust many of these parents to take care of my dog. When did chldren's lives become so expendable? "
previous commenters wrote on July 10, 2008 2:42 pm:
" I think you've got this wrong, at the news conference, the emphasis was on the safety of the kids. It was a 40 minute discussion and all you're seeing here is a couple 100 words. "
Actually wrote on July 10, 2008 3:23 pm:
" It is harder for parents to get their kids home than it is for the state to take them away. Parents are required by DHHS and the courts to prove that they are fit for a very long period of time, which is why it takes so long for kids to get home. "
to actually wrote on July 11, 2008 7:49 am:
" Yes they have to prove to be good parents and have a safe home. IF YOU WANT YOUR CHILD YOU WILL DO ANYTHING TO GET THEM BACK. You will give up alcohol, drugs, etc. If not give up your child to a home that will take care of them and love them for who they are, blessings from God. I know I will get lashed that addictions are hard to fight, but I guess make up your mind your child or your selfish behavior. I wouldnt even have to think about that choice. We are former foster parents also that were tired of the system. We have our own children and adopted children through HHS. I would not give up any of them. They are blessings. They need to get these children OUT when they are little so they do not have detachment issues or other health issues by being in an unsafe home. Since we adopted I know of MANY parents who would love to adopt these children. We give these parents too much time to get their selfish life in order. "
NOT SO FAST wrote on July 11, 2008 7:50 am:
" Is this real progress or just smoke and mirrors. "
Jay wrote on July 11, 2008 1:52 pm:
" Wow! What about the rights of the parent? Does the public really have any idea of what it is really like to be in the system? HHS can recommend giving the children back, they were in no danger and the judge can over rule! Adults are forced to give up privacy rights. Any thing can and will be used aginst them! Taken out of context ect. ect. "
seriously wrote on July 11, 2008 5:33 pm:
" not so sure it is smoke and mirrors but the system is so flawed it needs totally redone. The real issues start with CPS and it starts at the top. The administration is so out of touch with reality and treat the front line workers with total disrespect. THOUSANDS of dollars are spent training workers who on average stay 6 months. What ends up happening is cases get transfered from worker to worker and everytime it transfers the family suffers. What is needed is real legislation controlling case load sizes and requirements for casemanagers. CPS also needs to work on retaining casemanagers not recruiting recent college graduates. "
Another Foster Parent wrote on July 13, 2008 3:57 pm:
" I have never posted a comment to any other article but I just couldn't keep quite after reading this one. We have been a foster parents for over 10 years and have had many kids in our home. We have had some really awesome case workers, many of times their hands were tied because of the courts. In the majority of the cases we have had, very few of these kids have stayed with their parents after they were reunited. They ended up back in the system.So what I want to know is HOW MANY CHANCES DO THESE PARENTS GET? Either they are going to make a commitment to their children and provide them with a safe, secure and stable environment, one in which these kids can thrive and feel safe or they are only going to continue to think of themselves and turn these kids lives upside down. If your kids have been taken away more than once, chances are they are not going to change their lifestyle or behavior. Many of these parents do not know how to parent, and if the cylce isn't broken or changed these kids will end up just like them. I think any one on a foster care review board should have at least been a foster parent at one time or another. How can any of you review a system if you have never experienced? Yes, I know that there are bad foster homes just like there are bad regular homes, but there are many good foster parents that have been so fed up with the system that they choose to quit being foster parents. What is right with a system that gives biological parents more rights than foster parents? Foster parents are the ones that are sitting up nights with sick kids or having to miss work because we have to get these kids caught up on all of their shots. Many of us have jobs and we have to change our schedules so visits can be set up to work around the biological parents schedules (many of whom do not work) The article says that "Every child counts. Every child is a human being, not a number for us." Prove it. Put the child first. Nebraska is probably the worst state as far as reunification goes. I agree with Marty, not every one should be a parent. The state thinks it best to keep the children with the bio parents, have they followed these kids down the road? Most of these kids don't stand a chance. So once again, I say "Prove that every child counts, because what I have seen and experienced that just isn't the case. "

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