Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services

Earlier this week, Nebraska Division of Children and Family Services issued two requests for qualifications (RFQs) for potential providers of services under the Family First Prevention Services Act. The RFQs asked for proposals on Evidence-Based In-Home Parenting Skills Services and Evidence-Based Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services.

It’s been one month since the bomb cyclone swept Nebraska’s Great Plains, leaving a devastating path of ice, snow and flooding. The state’s governor called it “the most widespread destruction we have ever seen in our state’s history,” with estimates of damages in the billions.

Nebraska is getting a jump start on embracing the Family First Prevention Services Act, an overhaul of federal child welfare funding that was passed in February. The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) hosted a kick-off meeting in mid-June marking the start of the state’s efforts to implement the law, which helps the state serve families at risk of having their children placed in foster care while limiting federal support for most congregate care placements to two weeks.

Note: This article was updated on June 19. Black and Native American children are vastly overrepresented in Nebraska’s foster care system, according to a report issued this month by the state’s Foster Care Review Office (FCRO).

Many times, people express interest in helping at-risk families or kids in foster care, but they aren’t necessarily prepared to become a foster parent. In Nebraska, a new partnership is helping connect individuals in the faith community with families that may be struggling in their own community to offer assistance such as furniture and household items or help with rent and other expenses related to raising children.

Last year 538 adoptions were finalized in Nebraska, according to an announcement from Nebraska’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) last week. That number was only exceeded on other year – 2008, when 572 adoptions were finalized.

Sen. Kate Bolz (D-Nebraska) said last week that she intends to seek a legislative resolution to establish an oversight committee over Nebraska’s child welfare system, which is dealing with the fallout of a report about the sexual abuse of kids in foster care.