Sarah Helvey is the Director of Appleseed’s Child Welfare program. She currently sits on the Nebraska Supreme Court Commission on Children in the Courts and the Bridge to Independence Advisory Committee of the Nebraska Children’s Commission. She authored and co-authored several amicus briefs before the Nebraska Supreme Court in cases addressing the Indian Child Welfare Act, sibling placement, and the authority of juvenile courts in Nebraska and successfully litigated Webb v. Phillips and K.D. & S.L. v. Winterer. She has also had the great honor of partnering with youth with foster care experience to advocate for the passage of key legislative victories, including the Nebraska Strengthening Families Act and the Young Adult Bridge to Independence Act. She was recognized as one of the 2012 Ten Outstanding Young Omahans and is a graduate of the Nebraska State Bar Association Leadership Academy and the Nonprofit Executive Institute. She has been a member of the Girls Inc. guild board since 2008, serving as the guild president and on the Girls Inc. Board of Directors from 2018-2020. She loves to hang out with her husband and their two daughters and two dogs, and volunteer as a Girl Scout troop leader and coach for volleyball and Girls on the Run.

Robert, also known as Robbie, joined Appleseed as a staff attorney with our Child Welfare program in April of 2011. He became our legal director in 2017. In this role, he successfully litigated on behalf of children and families for issues involving Medicaid, the Indian Child Welfare Act, and other matters related to Nebraska’s child welfare system. Most recently, he successfully litigated Webb v. Phillips and K.D. & S.L. v. Winterer and Chaumont in the District Court of Lancaster County, Nebraska. He presented written and oral appellate amicus assistance before the Nebraska Court of Appeals and Supreme Court in the case, Webb v. Phillips; In re Interest of Shayla H., et al.; In re Interest Shayla H. et al.; and In re Interest of Joseph S. Robbie graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science. He earned his J.D. at the University of Nebraska College of Law, where he was dean of the Delta Theta Phi legal fraternity. In addition to his work at Appleseed, Robert moonlights as a college professor teaching business law, sports law, and coaching courses at Concordia University in Seward.