Editorial

Foster care system has limited power

Friday, June 23, 2006

The state's foster care system got its marching orders Wednesday from Gov. Dave Heineman, and none too soon.

Heineman is correct in focusing on the youngest and most vulnerable children, who are caught up too long in the system, and he's also right in his assessment that "government is not the best parent, nor did we ever intend it to be."

But, as is all too often the case, government is responding only after a problem has become a serious one.

Nebraska continues to have one of the nation's highest rates of out-of-home placements per thousand children, with 7,803 state wards in April, an increase of more than 16 percent since 2003 and the highest in history.

Nebraska had a rate of 13.8 children per 1,000 in out-of-home care, compared to a national average rate of 7.2 children.

Heineman ordered Health and Human Services to place a priority on resolving the cases of 1,455 children age 5 and under.

"That is an unacceptable number of young children in out-of-home placements, and we will do better in this area," he told The Associated Press. "These are by far the most vulnerable and impressionable children our workers encounter."

A federal lawsuit filed last year on behalf of the 6,000 children in the state's foster care system, alleges that Nebraska is endangering children with an "understaffed, underfunded and unresponsive" system. It also cites a drastic shortage of foster homes, dangerously high caseloads for caseworkers, a lack of mental health services, the lowest "per diem" payments for foster children in any state and lack of services and resources to get children adopted.

Many foster homes are overcrowded, with as many as six children at a time and many children do not receive adequate medical care or mental health services, the lawsuit alleges.

Nebraska is blessed with strong family values and a work ethic carrying over from pioneer days. But we are hindered by a small population, relatively low income and vast distances to be served by a limited infrastructure. We are not immune to the breakdown in family structure, drug abuse and other failures that leave children neglected and at the mercy of an overwhelmed system.

Yes, Nebraska's foster care system needs to be improved, and that will involve more money and refocusing of the resources already available. And, each of us needs to consider whether we might be available to serve as foster parents.

But the real answer lies in keeping families intact and functioning as they should. That will take more than an edict from a governor.

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