Legislation passed by the Nebraska Unicameral in 2009 is opening the doors to higher education for low-income parents, according to a report released today by the Nebraska Appleseed Center for Law in the Public Interest entitled “Choosing Education.” The report indicates that 13.3% of Nebraska’s cash welfare caseload is currently engaged in education that could lead to […]
Legislation Leads to Higher Education for Parents Read More »
The state’s child welfare system is in great need of reform. A vital piece of ensuring reform is effective is to prevent children from entering the system unnecessarily. LB 1063 is intended to address gaps in Medicaid services for children, which needlessly push children into the system to obtain the mental health services they need. Indeed, LB 1063 makes certain
LB 1063 Aims to Fill Medicaid Gaps & Help Parents Keep Their Kids Read More »
LB 1172 requires the County Attorney to file a petition to terminate parental rights when a child under the age of five is in an out-of-home placement for twelve months. We thank Sen. Pirsch and the judiciary committee for their commitment to increase permanency for younger children in foster care, but believe that reducing case
A Timely Path to Permanency Requires True System Reform Read More »
We support LB 1160 because it would establish much needed oversight of what is really happening to children and families in the child welfare system. We fully support that the data collected as part of LB 1160 is targeted to provide accountability in individual cases but also seeks to use the information for ongoing systemic
Strengthen Transparency, Accountability and Oversight of Nebraska’s Child Welfare System Read More »
LB 949 would create a separate budget program for appropriations of funds for child welfare in Nebraska. LB 949 would also require regular financial reporting by the Nebraska Department of Health & Human Services to the Legislature’s HHS and Appropriations Committees. We also strongly support that LB 949 would require that the Department’s appropriations request
Address Fiscal Oversight Problems in Nebraska’s Child Welfare System Read More »
LB 926 ensures that foster parents in Nebraska will be provided with the resources necessary to meet children’s basic needs. We thank Sen. Dubas and the other co-sponsors for their commitment to improving the child welfare system and ask that you vote to advance LB 926. [DDET LB 926 Testimony] Senator Kathy Campbell Chair, Health
Ensure Foster Parents Receive the Resources to Meet Children’s Basic Needs Read More »
We fully support LB 1079 and believe it will both build opportunity and effectively leverage resources for positive impact. Improving the education and skills of our current workers is essential to our future workforce competitiveness. Nebraska faces a skills gap in the future and working families are a part of the solution. [DDET LB 1079
Addressing the Skills Gap and Building Our Future Workforce Read More »
The 2012 Legislative session is off to a fast and furious start. We are already a third of the way through this short (60 day) session and Nebraska Appleseed is working on more bills than ever before. We’d like to highlight some of the key issues we are working on in our programs and give
Appleseed at the Legislature Read More »
Yesterday, the HHS Committee held a hearing on LB 1150, a bill, introduced by Senator McGill with input from Project Everlast youth members, that would extend foster care services on a voluntary basis up to age 21 in Nebraska. For years, adolescents aging out of foster care have struggled with the transition into adulthood. Typical
An Opportunity for Investment in the Futures of Youth in Foster Care Read More »
On February 1, the Health and Human Services Committee held a hearing on LB 1041 and LB 1016. Both of these bills are intended to address problems with the ACCESS Nebraska system. Appleseed supports both of these bills. LB 1041 would streamline HHS systems to make them more efficient and effective for everyone. LB 1016
Improve Service Delivery and Efficiency in the Department of Health & Human Services Read More »