Concerns raised for Nebraska youths in foster care, but progress is noted in Omaha area

LINCOLN, Neb. (Nebraska Examiner) – For kids in the child welfare system, being handed off to five or more different caseworkers is “unacceptable” and adds to instability, the Nebraska Foster Care Review Office says in its latest report.

Yet depending on the geographic service area, that is the case with between about 5% and 40% of youths in Nebraska foster care.

And statewide, though mostly in Douglas and Sarpy Counties, 165 kids currently in the system have been transferred to a different caseworker at least 10 times.

The caseworker turnover was among red flags raised in the latest quarterly report from the Foster Care Review Office, an independent state agency that monitors placement and well-being of more than 4,200 youths under court-ordered state care and supervision.

Not time to ‘let up’

Monika Gross, executive director of the watchdog office, said she has seen signs of progress, though, in eastern Nebraska since the state took that area’s case management a year ago from an underperforming Saint Francis Ministries.

The break with the Kansas-based contractor ended Nebraska’s experiment with privatizing child welfare services. The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services now manages all cases throughout the state.

Gross said that staffing challenges still persist in the state’s largest urban counties and that it is not the time for officials to “let up” on efforts to get the workforce on track for this vulnerable population.

“It is important that we have a well-trained and experienced workforce to meet the complex needs of children and families in our communities,” she said.

Since its last quarterly update to the Nebraska Legislature, the Federal Care Review Office did recognize a positive turn, which it is still trying to understand, in the caseworker aspect of Omaha area services.

According to the June report, the number of foster children in Douglas and Sarpy Counties who have dealt with 10 or more caseworkers during their time in state custody dropped in a three-month period between December and April — from 275 to 148.

That change was encouraging, Gross said, though she said her staff to date had no clear and definitive explanation and planned to delve more into the reason for the sudden decline.

“We support family reunifications when it is safe and is in the child’s best interest,” the FCRO said in its report.

Few more years needed

Meanwhile, over the longer period of a year, the number of children statewide who have had more than five but fewer than 10 caseworkers increased from 705 to 769.

A revolving door for caseworkers is concerning, Gross said, because it can lead to service gaps, delay permanent placement and ultimately hurt the youths.

“There is room for quite a bit of improvement in the Omaha region,” Gross said. “But I am optimistic, and we are supportive of the caseworkers and the work that is being done. We want to see families succeed.”

A DHHS spokesman said the agency is reviewing the report’s recommendations, and noted that the state is still within the first year of officially taking over Omaha area case management from Saint Francis last June 30. DHHS said it will take at least two or three years to see progress needed in such an urban area.

The state, in 2019, had contracted with Saint Francis to manage the cases of children in eastern Nebraska who, because of neglect or abuse and court orders, are placed away from parents or guardians and into care of a state agency.

Saint Francis officials later admitted they had severely underbid the contract, and by January 2021 the state provided an emergency allocation of $150 million to keep the operation afloat.

Salary jumps amid changes

DHHS spokesman Jeff Powell said this week that the state has hired over 100 new caseworkers in addition to transitioning more than 100 Saint Francis caseworkers to DHHS, and has seen positive strides in recruitment.

Caseworker salaries increased by 20% in 2021 and are to rise another 10% in July.

From January to May, there were only 24 child-caseworker separations, Powell said.

More than half of the case managers who shifted to DHHS last June were carrying 28 to 36 cases. As of May, the agency said that none carries more than 25 cases. The statutory limit of cases per manager is 17.

Newly trained caseworkers are being assigned to new cases, as opposed to existing cases, so families and children don’t have a multitude of caseworkers, DHHS said.

Also reported in the FCRO update is that nearly one-third of Nebraska wards over their lifetimes have been shuffled between four or more homes.

That represents a slight increase over a year ago, from about 28% in April 2022 to about 29%. Foster care review officials point out that children who have been removed from and resettled in that many different settings are prone to permanent damage from the trauma of broken attachments.

“Further, it is concerning that 10.7% of young children (under age 6) have experienced a high level of placement change while simultaneously coping with removal from their parents — all during a developmentally critical period.”

The DHHS spokesman said Nebraska suffers from a nationwide shortage of foster homes and is working to raise training opportunities and support so placements last longer.

Minorities overrepresented

The FCRO update included other key findings, as well as recommendations to improve the child welfare systems.

Among the findings was that the bulk of youths in custody of the DHHS, about 97%, were placed in a family-like, “least restrictive” setting, and more than half in a relative or kinship foster home.

At the start of April, 82 youths from various counties were placed at youth rehabilitation and treatment centers run by the justice system, the most restrictive type of placement.

By state statute, a judge can order placement in those facilities if the youth has not been successful in a less restrictive setting. According to the report, the number in YRTCs was down from 121 in 2018 but reflected a 30% increase from the 63 a year earlier.

Remaining a “critical issue” to be addressed, regardless of which agency or agencies are involved, according to the report, is that children of color continue to be overrepresented in state out-of-home custody, compared to their representation in the general population of Nebraska.

The FCRO urged the state to create a “racial disparities task force” that investigates and proposes solutions to structural inequities that lead to chronic stress and family separation.

Task force members should look, the report said, at how racial and ethnic disparities in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems “have become intractable and are causing harm to children, families and communities of color.”

As a result of 2022 legislation, DHHS said, it has contracted with a consultant to try and address problems before a child is ordered removed from a home. Forums are being held throughout the state to gather feedback from stakeholders.

The Nebraska Supreme Court also has a committee, of which DHHS is a part, to look at racial equity in child welfare and juvenile justice.

Recommendations

Among other recommendations in the FCRO report:

• Enhance efforts to recruit, train and support foster family homes to meet needs of youths with complex mental and behavioral health needs. A goal: to keep more of these youths in their communities in the least restrictive environments. Resources should be statewide to avoid children’s outcomes from being dependent on where they live.
• Nebraska’s Children and Family Services should seek out paternal relatives, in addition to maternal relatives, in licensing foster homes. While some progress has been made, FCRO noted, increased effort should go to secure relative and kinship foster homes. 
• To address high turnover and other staffing challenges, create a long-term plan to recruit people for social work, mental health and related professions. That could include more interaction with students as young as middle school and job-shadowing.
• Expand community-based prevention efforts with a goal to reduce child neglect, abuse and caseworker turnover.

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