Nebraska CPS News Archive

Landmark Law Passes in Nebraska

by Derrick Jones

By a vote of 44-5, the Nebraska Legislature this morning gave final passage to the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act introduced by Speaker Mike Flood. Governor Dave Heineman is expected to sign the bill in a ceremony this afternoon.

A first of its kind in the United States, the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act prohibits abortion after 20 weeks gestation except when the mother "has a condition which so complicates her medical condition as to necessitate the abortion of her pregnancy to avert death or to avert serious risk of substantial or irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function or...it is necessary to preserve the life of an unborn child."

National Right to Life

April 13, 2010

Healthy Families Project hopes to keep going

by JoAnne Young

Trish Blakely helped build the program from the ground up, and now it's established and working well. But a change in the way the state does foster care may send the program back to square one.

The state is turning over the day-to-day operations of foster care to five private providers statewide. Since many of the families getting assistance from the Healthy Families Project have kids in the child welfare system, Blakely will have to negotiate with three providers in the Lancaster County area -- KVC Behavioral Health Care, Visinet and Cedars -- to allow those families to continue in the program.

Journal Star

November 29, 2009

'Safe Haven Revisited ... A Call for Reform'

A public forum on mental health, child protection and civil rights is set for Oct. 3 at University of Nebraska at Omaha, Milo Bail Student Center Ballroom.

Afternoon public forum, 1:30-5; parent panel; Diane Redleaf, attorney and executive director, Family Defense Center in Chicago; Richard Wexler, executive director, National Coalition for Child Protection Reform.

Journal Star

September 29, 2009

Safe haven: Family group calls for mental health, child protection reform

by JoAnne Young

Scott Grammer had a lot to say to the small Canon camera videotaping his story, so he figured he'd start at the beginning and see where it took him.

In less than an hour, it took him through a parent's nightmarish tale of losing an adolescent daughter, first to emotional troubles brought about by a childhood sexual assault she kept secret too long. Then to the Nebraska child welfare system he believes too easily took away the parents' rights and then failed to properly care for the girl in its custody.

Journal Star

September 19, 2009

Boy, 12, moved many

by Katie Fretland

With stories, songs and prayers, Michael Belitz was remembered Friday as a smart sixth-grade boy who cared deeply for others. The little, blonde 12-year-old who was found dead Sunday inside his home at 28th and Ida Streets.

Michael was full of energy, talked a lot and loved to be around adults. "He was one of those kids who as soon as you knew him, you loved him," said his fifth-grade teacher, Dana Barker. Belitz's mother, Angela Manns, 46, is charged with first-degree murder in his death.

The Omaha World-Herald

July 18, 2009

Prison Nursery Programs a Growing Trend in Women's Prisons

by Women's Prison Association

The Women's Prison Association (WPA) has released the first-ever national report on prison nursery programs. The report examines the expansion of prison nursery programs across the U.S.

These programs allow incarcerated women to keep their newborns with them in prison for a finite period of time. The report finds that the number of prison-based nursery programs is growing, but that such programs are still relatively rare.

Corrections

July 13, 2009

With judge's 'Hooray!' safe haven boys get a home

by Lynn Safranek

An Omaha woman became a foster parent in September - at age 75 - after the boys' father left them and seven of their siblings at Creighton University Medical Center under Nebraska's safe haven law.

It is the first permanent living arrangement for any of the 29 safe haven children who have remained in Nebraska foster care after being left at hospitals last fall. Six additional children were returned to their home states and one Omaha child was returned home immediately.

Omaha World-Herald

May 28, 2009

Omaha senator asks for more debate on foster care bill

by JoAnne Young

An Omaha senator said Thursday she will propose changing the makeup of the Foster Care Review Board.

Sen. Brenda Council will ask to return a bill (LB679) from final reading to second round debate to make changes aimed at doing away with the appearance of conflict of interest. LB679 would require candidates for the Foster Care Review Board to disclose to the governor any income they or their employer receives from the state Department of Health and Human Services.

Lincoln Journal Star

May 4, 2009

Despite criticism, foster care board keeps its director

by Martha Stoddard

LINCOLN -- Carol Stitt will stay on as executive director of the Nebraska Foster Care Review Board, despite criticism raised by a legislative review.

Both Stitt and the board members decided during a closed meeting that she should continue to lead the agency. The Foster Care Review Board oversees citizen reviews of children in the foster care system, monitors facilities that house children, collects information and makes recommendations about the child welfare system.

Omaha World-Herald

January 9, 2009

Girl Runs During Safe Haven Drop Attempt

OMAHA, Neb. -- Police are looking for a 17-year-old girl who ran off when she realized her mother was taking her to a Nebraska hospital to drop her off under the Safe Haven law.

The state has reported 32 children being left under the Safe Haven law since it took effect, many of whom were older children or teenagers.

KETV Omaha

November 14, 2008

Boy's hard life ends just before it could take happy turn

by Lynn Safranek

Anthony Ray didn't live long enough to receive what might have been his best Christmas gift. His foster mother had decided to adopt him.

Instead, a gunshot killed the 15-year-old - the last in a lifetime of injustices. Anthony, who had lived in foster care most of his life, was the youngest person in Omaha this year to die from gun violence. But that sad milestone was overshadowed by shock that a 12-year-old boy was arrested as his suspected shooter.

Omaha World-Herald

November 11, 2008

Neb. Law Lets Parents Dump Kids Of Any Age

Every state now has a "safe haven" law allowing parents who can't care for a newborn to drop him or her off at a "safe haven," such as a hospital, firehouse or police station.

Nebraska's new statute allows parents to drop off kids of ANY age up to 17. And sure enough, Kauffman says, this past weekend, a 13-year-old girl was left at a hospital. Earlier, 11 and 15-year-old boys were abandoned at hospitals, and a 12-year-old boy was dropped at a police station.

CBS News

September 23, 2008

No Charges Filed After Alleged Day Care Assault

WEEPING WATER, Neb. -- The Cass County attorney decides not to file charges after a 5-year-old boy accuses a teenager of sexually assaulting him at a home-based child care in Weeping Water.

The boy told his dad, and later the Cass County sheriff, that he had been molested by a 13-year-old during a game of Truth or Dare at his day care. The Callahans turned the case over to the Cass County sheriff and Nebraska's Child Protective Services offices.

KETV Omaha

September 19, 2008