Foster care transition, alternative response bill advanced
A bill that would update a program to provide foster care transition services was amended March 7 to authorize a pilot program for alternative response in certain Nebraska child welfare cases.
LB853, introduced by Lincoln Sen. Amanda McGill, would rename, amend and update the Young Adult Voluntary Services and Support Act that was passed by the Legislature in 2013. The measure was intended to ease the transition for young people aging out of the foster care system and required the state Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to apply for a state plan amendment to implement the program.
LB853 would make a number of changes to the program, including:
• stipulating that payments made on behalf of a former state ward after the appointment of a guardian would no longer terminate on or before the individual’s 19th birthday if he or she is eligible for extended guardianship assistance;
• requiring continuation of services by the department until age 21 if a former ward is in the bridge to independence program regardless of whether he or she is regularly attending school or training programs;
• requiring DHHS to provide information on community resources if a former ward voluntarily terminates a support agreement; and
• requiring that a DHHS independence coordinator meet with former wards who are determined no longer eligible for the program.
Last year’s bill established an advisory committee, McGill said, and LB853 would incorporate recommendations received from the group.
“We are currently waiting for the federal government to approve DHHS’s state plan amendment authorizing matching funds,” she said, adding that passage of LB853 would ensure that an improved program is ready to go when approval is granted.
A Health and Human Services Committee amendment, adopted 26-0, renamed the program the Young Adult Bridge to Independence Act and made several additional changes, including:
• clarifying that extended guardianship and adoption subsidies are to be used use for the benefit of the young adult;
• clarifying that creation of a health care power of attorney for young adults is optional and not mandatory for all young adults in the program; and
• removing a requirement that DHHS conduct a re-determination of income eligibility on young adults in the program for purposes of Title IV-E.
Lincoln Sen. Kathy Campbell, chairperson of the committee, said the amendment addressed several technical concerns raised by the department and that the program title change would send a better message to former state wards.
“It is so important for young people aging out of the system to feel that there is a transition program to help them,” she said.
Lincoln Sen. Colby Coash offered an amendment, adopted 33-0, which builds upon a measure that he introduced last session to require DHHS to develop a model alternative response to reports of child abuse or neglect under the Child Protection Act. Alternative response is a practice that handles low-risk child welfare cases by empowering families rather than engaging in a criminal investigation or placing parents on the Child Abuse and Neglect Registry.
Coash said alternative response recognizes the value of responding differently to suspected child abuse and neglect. Often problems within families result from poverty, he said, and can be resolved with a small amount of additional help.
“Sometimes it’s the little things that can make a world of difference,” Coash said.
The amendment requires DHHS, in consultation with the Nebraska Children’s Commission, to develop an alternative response implementation pilot program. Implementation would include the provision of concrete supports and voluntary services, including:
• child care assistance;
• food and clothing assistance;
• housing and transportation assistance; and
• mental health and substance abuse services.
When the plan has been developed, DHHS would begin using alternative response in up to five project locations designated by the department. DHHS would provide a report on evaluation of the status of the pilot program by Dec. 15, 2015, and could begin using alternative response in up to five additional locations after Jan. 1, 2016, and another five after Jan. 1, 2017.
Continuation of the pilot program beyond that date would require legislative approval.
DHHS would be required to develop rules and regulations that would include provisions on the transfer of cases from alternative response to traditional response and notice to families of their rights, including the opportunity to challenge DHHS determinations.
Under the pilot program, a review team would review intakes that are not assigned to traditional response based on criteria developed by DHHS and determine the appropriate response.
Coash said the new program would allow DHHS to avoid a finding of neglect against some low-income families by addressing the underlying issue of poverty, which he said is evident in many suspected neglect cases.
“This is part of a bigger plan,” he said. “This is one component of a sea change that must happen. We have to change the way we think about serving children and keeping children safe.”
Omaha Sen. Sara Howard supported the amendment, saying she initially had been skeptical of alternative response as a way of bypassing the system in cases involving a genuine suspicion of abuse.
However, she said, the Nebraska Children’s Commission has outlined 21 exclusionary criteria – to be used by DHHS in developing the pilot program – which would ensure children’s safety. In addition, she said, alternative response has been used in 23 other states.
Following adoption of the Coash amendment, LB853 advanced to select file on a 33-0 vote.
