Federal Government Approves Nebraskas Improved Child Welfare System; Nebraska Appleseed Argues Still a Long Way to Go
Legal Services E-lert
Bibliographic Info:
Recently, the federal government found that Nebraska had improved its child welfare system enough to avoid federal penalties. In response, Gov. Dave Heineman claimed that Nebraska’s satisfaction of its federal Program Improvement Plan, was a “major milestone.” Unfortunately, these improvements still do not meet even minimal federal standards for a decent foster care system, and Nebraska’s Health and Human Services System recognizes that there is still far to go. - While even marginal improvements in this system can be deemed good news, to hail the federal approval as a major step or a signal that significant changes have been made in Nebraska’s child welfare system would be a mistake - and a costly one for foster children in Nebraska. For decades, tireless child advocates in Nebraska have been working to reform the child welfare system. Nebraska Appleseed hoped to bolster those efforts by filing a class action lawsuit to vindicate the constitutional and statutory rights of Nebraska’s foster children. This was an opportunity for a serious and unbiased review of the system and a chance at real reform. - As an organization, we will continue to fight to protect the rights of children in foster care. This is a huge system with huge problems. Addressing these problems will be a serious undertaking, and only a comprehensive review will suffice. The patches and Band-Aids of the past cannot hold. -