Senator Kathy Campbell Chair, Health and Human Services Committee Room 1402, State Capitol Lincoln, NE 68509 Chairwoman Campbell and members of the Health and Human Services Committee, On behalf of the Nebraska Appleseed Center for Law in the Public Interest, I am here to testify in support of LB 957. We support LB 957 because […]
Sarah Helvey, Child Welfare Director at Nebraska Appleseed, testified last Thursday at the Unicameral’s Health & Human Services Committee in support of LB961. The bill would return foster care case management to the State of Nebraska. Case management is a core government responsibility. While there is a role for private-public partnerships, and for private agencies
Return Foster Care Case Management to the State Read More »
Yesterday, Nebraska Appleseed’s Executive Director Becky Gould testified at the Nebraska Legislature’s Revenue Committee in opposition to LB970. The bill would cut state income taxes and corporate taxes in Nebraska. The bill would significantly decrease revenue to the state’s general fund and hinder the state’s ability to invest in the future – a strong child welfare
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Yesterday, the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services announced that it entered into another contract amendment with KVC on December 24th to infuse an additional $1.8 million into the state’s failing child welfare privatization effort even as the the Legislature’s HHS Committee had just the week before released recommendations to make significant changes to
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Today the Unicameral convenes the first day of the second session of the 102nd Legislature. As the session begins, media reports have quoted a number of state lawmakers as saying that child welfare will be a top priority for this session. Here are some of today’s headlines: “As session begins, child welfare a priority” –
The Session of Children Read More »
Last month, the Nebraska Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee released its Legislative Resolution 37 report and 18 recommendations that we believe chart a positive new path forward for child welfare reform. In response to the report, a Dec. 18 World-Herald editorial, “State must get this right,” rightly noted that needed fixes to the state’s
Gains Seen on Child Welfare Reform Read More »
Yesterday, the HHS Committee of the Legislature released its report as part of LR 37, an interim study investigation of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services’ (DHHS) child welfare reform and privatization. Among the 18 recommendations were the following: Return case management to the state by July 1, 2012 Create the Nebraska Department
Legislature’s HHS Committee Releases LR 37 Report and Recommendations on Child Welfare Read More »
Last week was a busy one for child welfare advocates and this week promises to be the same with the final LR 37 report scheduled to be released on Thursday. Below is a brief recap: On Monday, December 5th, the Legislature’s Children’s Behavioral Health Oversight and HHS Committees held a hearing on LB 603 regarding
Busy Weeks in Child Welfare Read More »
On Wednesday of last week, a community discussion was hosted by the Lancaster County Democratic Party at Gere Library in Lincoln. Nebraska Appleseed’s Sarah Helvey was invited to speak at the event which focused on Nebraska’s child welfare system and the progress of LR 37. LR 37 is an interim study which provides for the
Last week National Public Radio (NPR) released a three-part, yearlong, investigative report focusing on Native American children in the child welfare systems of South Dakota and Nebraska. Specifically, the piece dealing with Nebraska follows the story of Dwayne Stenstrom who is now a history professor at Sinte Gleska University on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in