LINCOLN — Nebraska youths in state care attempted suicide in rising numbers last year, according to a new report.
The report, issued Wednesday by the inspector general of Nebraska child welfare, said sexual abuse cases involving such young people also have increased.
Inspector General Julie Rogers described both trends as “very concerning.”
She said an investigation into suicide attempts by children in the child welfare or juvenile justice systems is needed.
Her office already is working on a report about the sexual abuse of state wards, former wards and children in state-licensed facilities. That report is expected to be completed later this year.
The report released Wednesday summarizes cases reviewed by the Inspector General’s Office during the year ending June 30.
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Those cases include two investigations of child deaths.
One was a 17-year-old who had been placed under restrictions by probation as an alternative to detention. The youth died by suicide at home. According to the report, neither probation nor a private contractor followed up on the youth’s mental health problems.
The other was a 17-year-old state ward who was found unconscious and not breathing in a hallway of a group home. An autopsy found that her death was due to medical problems.
The report said that state licensing regulations are not sufficient to ensure that children in group homes get appropriate medical care and that state licensing inspectors did not do a thorough investigation after her death.
The report also makes recommendations for improving the care provided by the State Department of Health and Human Services, two private child welfare agencies and the state’s juvenile probation division.
According to the report, the Inspector General’s Office reviewed 339 critical incidents during the year. The office also received 172 complaints and six grievances.
Those critical incidents included 45 suicide attempts made by 38 youths involved in the child welfare or juvenile justice systems. That compares to 21 attempts the year before and 17 attempts in 2014-15.
Children making the attempts ranged in age from 7 to 18. Five youths made two attempts during the year; one tried three times.
Regarding sexual abuse, the report said there were 29 cases involving children in state care and sexual abuse. That compares to 16 cases the year before and 14 in 2014-15.
Of this year’s cases, 24 involved children who were victims of alleged sexual abuse by community members, foster parents, therapists, relatives and other youth.
Five other cases involved youths in state care who allegedly perpetrated sexual abuse or assault on others.
Rogers praised HHS for making progress in addressing new and previous recommendations.
She pointed particularly to improvements made at the Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Center in Kearney, which dramatically reduced the number of escapes and assaults at the facility. The center is operated by HHS and serves boys in the juvenile justice system.
But Rogers said HHS has made insufficient progress in bringing down high caseloads for child welfare workers. She cited the same problem in previous reports.
“I continue to be deeply troubled about the impact of high caseloads on children, families and the dedicated staff who serve them,” she said. “With the high workloads, corners get cut and that endangers the safety of children.”
Rogers also faulted the Administrative Office of Probation, an arm of the Nebraska Supreme Court, for neither addressing nor acting on any of the recommendations directed at that agency.
She said the lack of response from probation officials raises concerns about how they are improving the juvenile justice system.
In an official statement, judicial branch officials took issue with the report. They said judges, judicial branch administrators and probation officers have “collectively light years more experience” in working with children and families in court than does the inspector general.
“No credibility should be given to the OIG report whatsoever,” the statement said.
However, it also said that probation officials took the report, findings and recommendations very seriously, given the nature of the incidents reviewed.
The statement did not respond to specific recommendations from the report, but it said the recommendations have been reviewed and included as considerations in the agency’s ongoing improvement efforts.
Rogers and probation officials have had a testy relationship.
Last year, lawmakers had to step in to resolve a dispute over the inspector general’s access to information on youths involved in the juvenile justice system.
Nebraska lawmakers created the inspector general position in 2012 to act as a watchdog over the child welfare system. The move was among the responses to a system in turmoil following a failed attempt at privatizing child welfare case management across the state.
martha.stoddard@owh.com, 402-473-9583