April 16 , 2007
Dear Fellow Nebraskans:
Earlier this month the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it had reached a major milestone in providing better service to the young people in Nebraska’s child welfare system. A report from federal investigators determined that HHS had successfully completed all the requirements of the program improvement plan, designed to strengthen Nebraska’s performance in several areas related to the protection and safety of state wards.
The process began several years ago when the federal Administration for Children and Families, began an intensive review of the nation’s child welfare systems to determine how effective states were in providing quality service to children and families in crisis.
Investigators conducted on-site reviews measuring the performance of states in 14 areas relating to ensuring safety, permanency and well-being for children and families. The reports revealed that no state passed the federal review, illustrating the need for reform in this area. As a result, each state developed a detailed plan for improvement.
The study conducted in our state in 2002 revealed that Nebraska met only three of 14 standards outlined in the federal review process.
In the last several weeks, HHS received word that Nebraska’s child welfare system had met or exceeded each of the goals outlined in the improvement plan. While this was welcome news, what’s more important is what that means for the young people of our state.
HHS has been focused on achieving better outcomes for children and their families by providing better service. The result of which has been achieving a lower recurrence of child abuse and neglect; placing more children with relatives; ensuring better stability for children in foster homes; and increasing the number of adoptions finalized within two years of a child’s removal from the home. We also have a quality assurance program to evaluate progress and ensure that our protection and safety program continues to improve.
I want to point out one additional area that’s seen dramatic progress, and that is the success protection and safety workers have achieved in decreasing the number of children in state custody.
A year ago our child welfare system was at an all-time high with 7,803 state wards. At the beginning of April, that number had decreased to 7,146. What that means is that HHS was successful in resolving the cases involving 657 children – even as new cases continued to come in over the course of the last year – leading to the first significant decline in the number of state wards in recent memory.
These improvements are important in illustrating the many factors involved in strengthening the performance of a system as vast and complex as child welfare. The improvement plan is one in a series of reforms begun in recent years to address targeted areas within the system.
Efforts to hire and train more caseworkers begun under my predecessor, the directives I’ve issued to focus on the cases involving young children and those who’ve spent a significant amount of time away from home, and the commitment HHS has made to improving relationships with the other partners involved in our child welfare system are producing positive results for more children in our state.
Fulfilling the goals of the improvement plan was key in helping our state make a change for the better. During the last several years, HHS has demonstrated a commitment to improving service to the children and families of Nebraska. I applaud the work of everyone involved in this latest accomplishment.
