2011 marked a turning point for Voices for Children, as founding executive director Kathy Bigsby Moore retired after 23 years of leading the organization.  At the completion of my first year as the new Executive Director, I was passionate about continuing her legacy and all the work that Voices for Children is known for.  2012 is another milestone for Voices for Children, as we celebrate our 25^thanniversary at the Spotlight Gala this fall.  Between now and the Spotlight Gala, we will be looking back at 25 years of accomplishments and victories for kids.

Voices for Children will celebrate our 25^th Anniversary at the 2012 Spotlight Gala on Saturday, September 15, 2012 at the Embassy Suites-La Vista beginning at 5:30 pm.  Mayor Jim Suttle and Former State Senator Deb Suttle serve as the Honorary Chair this year.  The event will include appetizers, auctions, a plated dinner and award presentations to six deserving recipients who continuously strive to meet the ever increasing needs of children.   Awards will be presented to Project Everlast , Tim Barry, KETV, R.E.S.P.E.C.T, Senator Kathy Campbell (Champion for Children), as well as Betty Cernech, honoring her Lifetime Achievement.  You know you want to be there, so buy your tickets now.

Policy victories for children don’t just happen by accident.  For 25 years, Voices for Children in Nebraska has been improving policies through skilled advocacy as an outspoken, independent voice for children.  Voices for Children has a played a unique role of collaborating with likely and unlikely partners to affect change for kids and bringing everyone to the table.  We closely monitor the issues, and constantly strive to look at the big picture for kids.  We let the data drive our solutions and we passionately push for them.

In what lawmakers and advocates called “the session of children,” we took several major steps to improve public policy for Nebraska kids.  Most notably, Voices for Children collaborated with others to support the passage of LB 599, restoring prenatal care for low income women who had lost that coverage in 2010.

Our victories for kids aren’t just limited to this last Legislative Session.  Since 1987, Voices for Children has played an active role in policy change. We worked with a coalition of advocates and providers to create and expand Kids Connection, Nebraska’s health insurance program for low-income kids.  Today it serves nearly 1 in 3 kids in Nebraska.  Through the years, we have shaped the Nebraska Parenting Act, which ensures that the needs of kids are taken into consideration in cases of divorce.  We helped create the Office of Juvenile Services and establish standards for state-run facilities that serve kids involved in the juvenile justice system.  And the list goes on and on.

We look forward to celebrating our 25^th Anniversary with all of the businesses, organizations, lawmakers, and individuals who have supported our work on behalf of children.    It will be a fantastic event and we look forward to seeing you at the Spotlight Gala!  For details event, visit voicesforchildren.com/spotlight-gala.

Our state senators make a lot of choices over the course of the legislative session, and the 102^nd Legislative Session (2011-2012) was no exception.   During the two year session, 15 of Voices for Children’s priority bills made it to a final vote.  Today we present our first ever legislative scorecard – a complete accounting of how senators voted during the 102^nd Legislature.

The votes included below are the final vote on the bill.  For most of the bills, this was the vote taken on final reading.  For two of the bills, LB 599 (prenatal care) and LB 1020 (school-based health centers), we used the veto override vote instead of final reading.  All votes consistent with Voices for Children’s position on the bill earn 1 point, votes against our position and unexcused “not voting” votes earn zero points.   For example, a “Yes” vote on a bill Voices supported, like prenatal care, earns 1 point.  A “No” vote on a bill Voices opposed, like the tax cut bill, also earns 1 point.

Total points are then divided by the number of total possible votes taken.  The total possible number of votes do not include “not voting (excused)” and “N/A” votes.  For example, Senator Seiler was appointed in 2012, so he was not a member of the Legislature for the four bills listed from 2011 (these are indicated as “N/A”) and he was excused for three votes, so his total number of possible votes is 8 (15 bills – 4 N/A – 3 excused = 8).

Which all leads us to the question, in this “Session of Children,” who was truly for kids and who was just kidding?

Senators did fairly well.  The average score was a 75.95% and the median score was a 75%, so overall, a solid “C.”

Most of the A and B students fell short of perfect scores because of their votes in favor of LB 970 (tax cuts)  and/or LB 84 (roads funding),  bills that Voices for Children opposed.  Both are issues that fall slightly outside of our traditional work as child advocates, but we feel they are important to include in the scorecard because of their long-term impacts on the state budget.

We have six “star students” who earned perfect A+ scores.  These include Senators Danielle Conrad, Tanya Cook, Brenda Council, Annette Dubas, Amanda McGill, and Norm Wallman.

Full 102nd Legislative Session Scorecard

Do any of these surprise you?  Did anyone do better (or worse) than you thought they would?  Want to know more about our calculations?  Leave a note in the comments below and let us know!

With Mother’s Day coming up on Sunday, we’ve been thinking about moms and the important role they play in families and communities.  Moms aren’t just important to us on a personal level – sure, she gave birth to you and fed you when you were a tiny baby and patiently bandaged your skinned knees every day during that one clumsy summer – but in many ways, moms are also the backbone of our communities.

As Introduced: The bill would have placed the YRTCs under the administration of Nebraska’s Department of Correctional Services rather than the Department of Health and Human Services, breaking apart the responsibilities of DHHS’ Office of Juvenile Services.

As Amended: The bill no longer transfers the YRTCs to the Department of Corrections. Instead, it limits the age of youth sent to the YRTCs to 14 and older and requires the Department of Correctional Services to provide training and help ensure safety, the YRTCs to report assaults and attempts to escape to a juvenile committing court, and county attorneys to consider previous placement at a YRTC when deciding whether to file a juvenile’s case in adult or juvenile court.

Introducing Senator: Ashford, Hadley (at the request of the Governor) – Judiciary Priority Bill

Committee: Judiciary

Committee Hearing Date: January 26, 2012

Final Status:  Signed by Governor, April 10, 2012

Estimated Fiscal Impact: This bill has no estimated fiscal impact.

Voices for Children’s Position: Oppose original version (see our testimony here); no position on amended version.

Save the date for the 2012 Spotlight Gala!

Saturday, September 15, 2012  5:30 pm

Embassy Suites, La Vista

Back in January, lawmakers and advocates declared that the 2012 Legislative Session would be the “Session of Children.”  Looking back at the conclusion of the session, we see that still holds true.  2012 was a busy session for Voices for Children in Nebraska.  We testified on a record number of bills and had many of our priority bills pass.

Highlights

Detailed Bill Summary

Download: Sine Die 2012 Detailed Bill Summaries (pdf)

Here are a few highlights:

Child Welfare

Legislators took promising first steps towards comprehensive reform of Nebraska’s child welfare and juvenile justice systems this session. Bills that came out of the LR 37 interim study have laid a foundation for stakeholder involvement, strategic planning and evaluation, and greater system stability. Most importantly, clear caseload standards along with the funding to make them a reality will reduce the confusion children and families have undergone from constant transition and instability. In the years to come, Nebraska can make policy decisions to safely and effectively reduce the number of children we remove from their homes from the base of a stable child welfare system.

Juvenile Justice

Legislators rejected a proposal that would have moved the Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Centers to the Department of Corrections, instead devoting funds for more staff and limiting the age of admission to 14 years of age instead of twelve. The Unicameral made important strides towards keeping more youth involved in the juvenile justice system in their homes and communities, transferring over $8 million for a pilot project run by the Office of Probation in Douglas County, Scottsbluff, and North Platte (the 4^th, 11^th, and 12^th Judicial Districts).

Health

One of the most significant victories for kids this session was the restoration of prenatal care for all low-income Nebraska babies.  Nebraska provided this care until a policy change in 2010.   We know that prenatal care can prevent a variety of health and developmental issues that can impact a child throughout his or her life.  Small investments in prenatal care can save money by preventing the costs associated with health and developmental issues.  Thanks to the passage of LB 599, Nebraska will return to its longstanding policy of ensuring that all babies have access to this essential care under Medicaid.

One unfortunate loss for kids this session was the defeat of LB 1020.  This bill was initially passed by the Legislature but vetoed by the governor.  LB 1020 would have provided grant funding for the start-up costs associated with school-based health centers.  School-based health centers are an innovative model for providing health care to children who might otherwise lack access.  The bill failed to garner enough votes for the veto to be overridden, but we hope that the Legislature will consider funding this in the future.

Economic Well-Being

Another important policy change this session was the passage of LB 825, which restores in-person access to public benefit programs.  Many Nebraskans were struggling to access public benefit programs through the new online and phone service system.  LB 825 will ensure that struggling children and families who need assistance can have in-person access to these services if they need it.

Other                                                          

Another concern for the future of our state’s children was the passage of LB 970, which provided a small cut to income taxes.  Although Voices for Children supports tax cuts for lower and middle income families, we opposed this bill because it will result in a significant increase in the state budget shortfall.  Budget shortfalls have historically resulted in cuts to services for children and families, and we believe that it is irresponsible to shortchange children’s health and education for a tax cut that only provides a very minimal amount to most Nebraska families.  We hope that the Legislature will work to persevere investments in children in spite of measures passed over the last two years that are likely to create challenges to the state budget.

Bill Details

Child Welfare Legislation

LB 768: Ensure Case File Access to Adoptive Parents.

LB 820: Require a Title IV-E Waiver Application, Bonus Payments for Foster Parents, Restrict Child-Specific Placements

LB 821: Create the Nebraska Children’s Commission and Inspector General of Nebraska Child Welfare

LB 949: Fiscal Transparency for Child and Family Programs

LB 961: Create a Privatization Pilot Project and Establish Caseload Standards

LB 993: Provide Funds & Clarify Responsibilities of Child Advocacy Centers and Multidisciplinary Teams

LB 1062: Change Adoption Subsidy Provisions

LB 1160: Reporting and Data Requirements for Child Welfare

LB 1150: Extend Optional Foster Care Services to 21

Juvenile Justice Legislation

LB 933: Change Provisions Related to Reporting of Absences and Truancy

LB 972: Make Changes to Nebraska’s Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Centers

LB 985: Establish the Nebraska Juvenile Services Pilot Project

LB 981: Fund Renovations at YRTC – Kearney

Health Legislation

LB 599: Allow All Low-Income Mothers to Receive Prenatal Care Coverage under Medicaid

LB 1038: Blood Lead Poisoning Prevention

LB 826: Legislative Approval of Medicaid Cuts

LB 837: Create a task force to review certain drugs for state wards

LB 952: Restoration of Proposed Medicaid Cuts

LB 1020: Expansion of School-Based Health Centers

LB 1063: Adopt the Children’s Health and Treatment Act

LB 1129—Provide requirements for insurance coverage of autism spectrum disorders

Economic Well-Being Legislation

LB 507: Allow Young ADC Recipients to Pursue a High School Diploma or GED

LB 825: Access Nebraska In-Person Services

LB 842: Extend Vocational Training in ADC Program

LB 970: Tax Cuts

LB 1090: Summer Food Program Expansion

LB 883: Direct Deposit of Tax Refunds to Educational Savings

LB 1010: Increase the Food Stamp Gross Income Limit

LB 1015: Restoration of Cuts to Child Care Provider Rates

LB 1041: Streamline Public Benefit Programs

LB 1098: Restore Sales Tax Revenue to General Fund

As introduced:  This bill attempts to simplify and streamline public benefit requirements by:

• requiring alignment of verification procedures across various public benefit programs;
• maintaining legislative oversight over public benefit administration by requiring the collection and reporting of data relating to access to public benefit programs and case closures;
• coordinating renewals for public benefits by using the longest eligibility period

allowable under federal law, renew programs simultaneously, and prevent case         closings for reasons other than ineligibility;

• allowing information used to determine eligibility for one public benefit program to be used to determine eligibility for others;
• eliminating asset limits to the extent currently applied to eligibility for benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program;
•  broadening acceptable attestations for the purpose of determining eligibility for benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program;
• expanding the use of federal, state, and commercial databases to verify eligibility for public benefit programs.

Introducing Senator(s): Cook

Committee: Health and Human Services Committee

Committee Hearing Date: February 1, 2012

Current Status: Indefinitely Postponed.  Portions of LB 1041 were amended into LB 825, but removed before final reading.

Estimated Fiscal Impact:  The easing of the application and renewal process and extending eligibility time periods to the longest periods allowed by federal law would increase aid costs. The extent to which costs will increase cannot be determined.

Voices for Children Position:  Support

Voices for Children supported this bill because it attempts to modernize our public benefit programs and make them easier for consumers.  Nebraska’s use of a new online and phone benefits access system has created many barriers for consumers.  This bill aims to ease the program verification requirements to simplify the application and renewal process for consumers and Health and Human Services staff.

This bill would direct the Department of Health and Human Services to apply for a state plan amendment or waiver to provide prenatal services under the targeted low-income child health option of the CHIP. Program services would be prenatal care and pregnancy-related services connected to the health of the unborn child whose mothers meet program income requirements but are otherwise ineligible for coverage under Medicaid.

Introducing Senator(s): Campbell, Ashford, Howard, Mello, Nordquist

Committee: Health and Human Services Committee

Committee Hearing Date: March 16, 2011

Current Status: Became law on a veto override motion on April 18, 2012.

Estimated Fiscal Impact:  On an annual basis, 1,162 unborn children would be covered. The cost would be $2,497,195 ($773,381 GF and $1,723,814 FF) in FY 13 and $2,522,984 ($781,368 GF and $1,741,616 FF) in FY 14.

Voices for Children Position:  Support

Extensive research has shown that prenatal care is integral to healthy child development.  Some of the negative outcomes associated with prenatal care can have lifelong consequences.  Prenatal care is also cost-effective when compared with the high costs of complicated births, time in the neonatal intensive care unit, and other undesirable birth outcomes.  All babies born in Nebraska are citizens and will be eligible for Medicaid at birth.  All Nebraska babies deserve the best chance at a healthy start in life.

Research:

Voices for Children Prenatal Care Issue Brief June 2010

Policy of other states: Fourteen states have taken up this coverage option

As introduced:  The bill would require blood-lead testing prior to school enrollment and refer parents whose children have high blood-lead levels to special education resources.

As amended: The bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to develop a prevention and outreach plan to prevent and treat elevated blood lead levels.  Children receiving health insurance through Medicaid are required to be tested.  The plan also requires the dissemination of educational materials and an annual report to the Legislature on January 1^st on the number of children who were screened and the number found to have with elevated blood lead levels.

Introducing Senator(s): Council, Ashford, Campbell, Harr, Krist, Lathrop, McGill, Mello, Nordquist

Committee: Education Committee

Committee Hearing Date: January 31, 2012

Current Status: Signed into law on April 10, 2012.

Estimated Fiscal Impact: No estimated fiscal impact.

Voices for Children Position:  Support

Voices for Children supported this bill because of the harmful effect that elevated blood lead levels can have on a child’s health and development.  We had concerns about the initial bill due to the assumption that the child would need special education services when research suggests that the child’s primary need would be public health assistance.

As introduced: The bill would require legislative approval of all significant policy changes to the Medicaid program including cutting or eliminating services or increasing co-pays.

Introducing Senator(s): Dubas, Bloomfield, Campbell, Cook, Krist, Lathrop, McGill, Mello, Nordquist

Committee: Health and Human Services Committee

Committee Hearing Date: January 25, 2012

Current Status: Indefinitely postponed.

Estimated Fiscal Impact:  No estimated fiscal impact.

Voices for Children Position:  Support

Voices for Children supported this bill to improve the process of making substantial changes to the Medicaid program by requiring legislative approval.  Legislative approval would guarantee that such changes would receive a public hearing and allow for impacted recipients and consumer representatives to comment on the proposed changes.  We also believe that the legislature is best suited to assess how changes to Medicaid services might impact other programs