Positive Foster Care Reform Bill Advances in Nebraska UPDATED

Nebraska advanced bill LB94 on Thursday, February 10, 2011. This bill would allow ” parents petitioning to adopt a state ward [to] have all the information they need by being allowed to read, if they so choose, all information allowed by law in the child’s case file.”

One of the biggest issues that adoptive parents face when adopting a child from foster care is not having all the information from the child’s file. Besides this being a barrier for not getting the right types and amounts of help for the child, it puts the adoptive parents, others in the household and sometimes even their pets in potential harm’s way.

One foster-to-adopt parent testified that they found out much later that their daughter had “previous diagnoses of reactive attachment disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.”

The senator that introduced the bill brought up a common consequence of not knowing the child’s history. This  “can lead to families seeking to surrender children back into state care.”

http://journalstar.com/news/unicameral/article_36d0df35-0a74-5b01-9e27-b5b98e2ed441.html
[Lincoln Journal Star 2/10/11 by JoAnne Young]

Update: This was approved by the governor on March 10, 2011.

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