SUMMARY: Siblings of a child under the custody of the state child welfare system have no standing to appeal denial of the child’s placement in their home. Meridian, a 3-year-old, was adjudicated as a child within the meaning of N.R.S. 43-247(3)(a) in December 2007, and has been in foster care nearly...

SUMMARY: Termination of parental rights was proper where the mother did not make sufficient effort to work on her case plan and where the needs of the child required stability and permanency. Lokani, DOB 7/03, was removed from the mother, Veronica, on August 26, 2008, due to Veronica’s drug use...

SUMMARY: A Nebraska juvenile court has subject matter jurisdiction under the juvenile code over “any juvenile” lacking proper parental care by reason or fault of the parent regardless of where the child is residing at the time the petition is filed. Breana, DOB 12/08, was removed from the custody of...

SUMMARY: A parent cannot delay a proceeding by challenging paternity when a default order of paternity had been entered years earlier and has remained uncontested by that parent. Javontae, DOB 6/93, is the child of James, who has been incarcerated a majority of Javontae’s life. On June 3, 2010, the...

SUMMARY: If reasonable efforts have been made to reunify the child with a parent, placing the child out-of-state with another parent does not automatically create a situation not conducive to reunification; however; a concurrent goal of adoption should be changed to “change of custody” if placement...

SUMMARY: The parent’s occasional compliance with the court ordered plan over three years, is outweighed by the child’s need for a permanent home and termination of parental rights was therefore proper. Kailynn I, DOB 1/00, was removed from Dawn, her mother, in November 2006 pursuant to an arrest for...

SUMMARY: The physical locus of a child at the time an amended petition is filed does not affect the subject matter jurisdiction of the presiding juvenile court. Tegan, a child under one, was taken to the emergency room by her mother for second-degree burns on her face, ears and neck. The doctors...

SUMMARY: Termination of the father’s parental rights was proper because he failed to follow through on sex offender and parenting programs while incarcerated and had poor interaction with the children during therapeutic visitation even when prompted, and because the children’s behaviors had improved...

SUMMARY: Termination of parental rights was improper as to the children not connected to the inappropriate sexual contact because the parents established significant progress in their ability to care and protect the children. However, with the children involved in the sexual assault, the parents did...

SUMMARY: There is no exception to making “active efforts” as there is for reasonable efforts under the aggravated circumstances exception of N.R.S. 43-283.01 On September 30, 2008, Jamyia M., was removed from the home at 2 months of age after being hospitalized for a serious, non-accidental...

SUMMARY: Immediate termination after removal was proper based on prior terminations and evidence establishing that the mother continued to struggle with drug addiction and mental health issues. Maddison, DOB 1/08, was removed from the mother on October 30, 2009. The mother, Tasha, had her parental...

SUMMARY: Refusal to invalidate an adjudication order that was not ICWA compliant was proper because ICWA provisions apply prospectively from the formal identification of the child as Indian, because there was no basis for collateral attack and because Neb. Rev. Stat. 43-1507 does not apply where...

SUMMARY: Termination was improper where the mother had substantially complied with virtually every requirement specified by the court, had improved significantly as a parent and, while there were still some concerns about the cleanliness of the home, there were no concerns about the children’s...

SUMMARY: Evidence establishing the mother’s repeated substance use, subsequent drug treatment programs and ongoing failure to provide stability for the children showed that termination was in the children’s best interests regardless of the loving relationship she had with them. The judge’s...

SUMMARY: A modification of text was made in the opinion of In re Interest of Emma, 18 Neb. App. 389, 782 N.W.2d 330 (2010), namely that a September 30, 2009, where active efforts findings were improperly made was a continuation of a previous order and therefore not final and appealable. On a motion...