{"id":33571,"date":"2023-02-24T09:22:06","date_gmt":"2023-02-24T15:22:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/?p=33571"},"modified":"2023-02-24T09:22:06","modified_gmt":"2023-02-24T15:22:06","slug":"updates-to-child-abuse-neglect-definitions-proposed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/?p=33571","title":{"rendered":"Updates to child abuse, neglect definitions proposed"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Judiciary Committee heard testimony Feb. 22 on a bill that would redefine child abuse and neglect in Nebraska.<\/p>\n

\"Sen.
Sen. Ben Hansen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LB42, sponsored by Blair Sen. Ben Hansen, would update Nebraska\u2019s definition of child abuse and neglect by excluding certain independent childhood activities as a consideration for child abuse as long as the child is of sufficient maturity, physical condition and mental ability to avoid substantial risk of harm.<\/p>\n

Under the bill, independent activities could include walking or biking to and from school or a nearby commercial or recreational facility, playing outdoors, remaining unattended in a motor vehicle in good weather or remaining home alone for a reasonable period of time.<\/p>\n

Hansen said current law is misunderstood by the public and the bill would clarify that neglect exists only when danger is sufficiently obvious and if a reasonable person would not permit their child to be placed in such a situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cParents know their childrens\u2019 abilities and strengths better than anyone else,\u201d Hansen said. \u201cThey also understand the [differences] between each child.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sarah Helvey of Nebraska Appleseed testified in favor of the bill, saying the current definition of neglect in state law is \u201coutdated and overbroad.\u201d The result is that too many Nebraska families are reported to the state Department of Health and Human Services and investigated, she said, although only about 5 percent of those reports are substantiated.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe support LB42 because we believe it would allow DHHS to screen out cases where there is no evidence of neglect and conserve resources for more pressing types of cases,\u201d Helvey said.<\/p>\n

Anah\u00ed Salazar of Voices for Children in Nebraska also testified in support. A child neglect investigation can be traumatic for children and families, she said, and situations that may initially appear as neglectful may be rooted in issues of poverty that can be better addressed through other means.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are continuing to put families through investigations that may not be necessary to ensuring child safety,\u201d Salazar said. \u201cA family\u2019s lack of economic security is not, in itself, a reason for a child welfare system response.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deputy Douglas County Attorney Dara Delehant testified in opposition to the bill, calling it \u201cextremely vague and imprecise.\u201d For example, she said, a determination that a child is of \u201csufficient maturity\u201d to engage in an activity can vary widely from one individual to the next, making prosecutions more difficult.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe proposed language limits the situation in which a jury could find someone had committed child abuse,\u201d Delehant said.<\/p>\n

The committee took no immediate action on the bill.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Judiciary Committee heard testimony Feb. 22 on a bill that would redefine child abuse and neglect in Nebraska.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33531,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[13],"tags":[252],"class_list":["post-33571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-judiciary","tag-sen-ben-hansen"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/LB42Hansen2-22-23a.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33571"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33573,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33571\/revisions\/33573"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/33531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}