Lincoln, Neb., Oct. 14, 2002--Abused and neglected children in Nebraska's three metro counties may find their ways to permanent homes faster in the future as a result of the Court-Agency Collaboration Project.
A three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has funded a project in which the Center on Children, Families and the Law at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln works with state and local agencies in Douglas, Lancaster and Sarpy counties to develop and implement system improvements that reduce the delays in returning those children to their homes or placing them in permanent ones.
"Children who are in the foster care system in Nebraska--as well as the country at large--have not fared well as far as our court system and child welfare system," said Vicky Weisz, research assistant professor in the Center on Children, Families and the Law. "All the systems that are designed to help children typically are under-resourced and overburdened, and the result is that many children languish in the foster-care systems for years on end. In some more crowded urban areas where resources are even more limited, many children go to shelters, so they're not even going to foster homes. They're staying in shelters for long periods sometimes. So it's a real crisis."
Elizabeth Sterns of the Center on Children, Families and the Law serves as the court-agency liaison in the project, working with the center's staff to organize and facilitate regular meetings that involve all juvenile judges in the counties, several child protection administrators and workers, attorneys appointed by the courts to represent the interests of the children, parents' attorneys, prosecutors and agency attorneys. She said Douglas, Lancaster and Sarpy counties were chosen for the project because they have separate juvenile court systems.
"It's a great project that holds considerable promise for improving things for children in the child welfare system," Sterns said. "The project is county-directed, and we provide a neutral environment in which to work. There are approximately 80 people in the three counties combined involved in the meetings. That's a significant number and it includes all 10 juvenile court judges in the three counties, all of whom have cleared their schedules for the project.
"The Children's Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released its final report in the Nebraska Child and Family Review in September. This comprehensive report found that we--that is, the state of Nebraska--are not taking care of our children and that we must do better. The Collaboration Project offers the framework within which to examine this report and make substantive changes in Nebraska's child-welfare system to better serve our children."
Two of the judges involved in the project agreed that the collaboration holds great promise.
"It's already been helpful by bringing together a diversified group of people who can spend time and dialogue about how we can do a better job of serving children and families in the juvenile courts," said Judge Doug Johnson of Douglas County.
"I think it has energized the participants, and we're already starting to implement some changes in Douglas County. One example is front-end loading of abused and neglected children in the system. It helps keep children at home and at the same time it serves the family by reducing foster care and getting children to permanency faster."
Judge Larry Gendler of Sarpy County said the project has also helped local agencies and courts adapt to administrative changes at the state level.
"This project has taken on new importance with all of the changes occurring within the state as they relate to reorganization of the (state) Department of Health and Human Services," Gendler said. "During this transition process, we can do much to help each other and, hopefully, as a result, help the youth and families we serve."
Contacts: Elizabeth Sterns, Court-Agency Liaison, Center on
Children, Families & the Law, (402) 472-3292 (esterns2@unl.edu) and
Vicky Weisz, Research Assoc. Professor, Center on Children, Families
& the Law, (402) 472-9814 (vweisz1@unl.edu)
For questions regarding these releases, contact:
tsimons1@unl.edu
(402) 472-8514, Fax: (402) 472-7825