State child welfare officials begin work to improve services after federal review finds shortfalls

LINCOLN - Nebraska child welfare officials announced Thursday that they are getting started on addressing concerns raised by a new federal review.

Matt Wallen, director of children and family services for the Department of Health and Human Services, said preliminary feedback from the reviewers indicates that the state met federal standards on only one measure.

That related to the state's success in keeping siblings together when they are removed from their homes.

Nebraska fell short on 17 other measures, including those related to family engagement, workforce development, safety planning, placement stability, and foster and adoptive parent recruitment and retention.

That's similar to the state's standing after previous federal reviews, in 2002 and 2008, and about the same as other states during the current round of reviews, Wallen said.

"Nebraska eventually met the requirements of the previous reviews, and we will do it again," he said.

Wallen said federal officials have described the reviews as guides for continuous quality improvement of state child welfare systems.

"The reviewers were pretty open about where they think our strengths and opportunities lie," he said. "They were pretty clear that they continue to ratchet up" the standards.

Nebraska is expected to get the full report on its performance this month. The report will cover 36 measures, which fall within seven major areas. The preliminary feedback covered only 18 measures.

Based on that preliminary information, Wallen said, HHS has started working on a plan to improve its performance and meet all of the standards.

The effort will involve representatives of youth, families, the courts, behavioral health, private service providers and HHS.

martha.stoddard@owh.com, 402-473-9583