Studies show problems in system

LINCOLN — Two studies commissioned by the Nebraska Legislature suggest that the state's judicial system for juveniles is broken and must be changed to properly address cases of abuse and neglect, youth crime and truancy.

Reports on the studies, released Thursday at a public hearing, cited problems such as inadequately trained and overworked attorneys, lack of attorney-child consultation, and a lack of mental health services for juveniles.

One study indicated that the state's system of appointing lawyers as guardians ad litem to advocate for a child's best interests in abuse and neglect cases was a “cruel fraud” because the attorneys often don't meet with their clients and end up serving as a “rubber stamp” rather than an advocate.

“It makes it look like there is a voice for Nebraska's children in the court process, but in fact, that voice is mute,” concluded a report by the National Association of Counsel for Children, a child advocacy group based in Aurora, Colo.

The two studies represent a call to action to reform the system, said Omaha Sen. Brad Ashford, who has made such reform his top priority for the 2010 legislative session.

“Clearly, the outcomes are bad in Nebraska (for juveniles),” Ashford said. “We have violence we shouldn't have and issues with mental health treatment, as the safe haven cases illustrated.”

Ashford plans to introduce legislation this year to compel schools to take more responsibility for truants and to hasten access to non-court diversion services for nonviolent offenders.

The current system takes too long to get services for juveniles, according to Ashford, who said immediate help and consequences are most effective.

If more cases were treated outside the court system, he said, juvenile courts would have more time to deal with the truly serious cases, and money would be saved by keeping kids out of expensive detention facilities.

But one lawmaker questioned whether the studies, which cost $250,000, were thorough enough and whether the findings backed up conclusions in the reports.

Omaha Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh, a lawyer, said he represents a firm that provides guardian ad litem services in Douglas County on a flat-fee contract. He said judges have had few complaints about that firm's work.

He questioned how the child advocacy study could suggest that such contract attorneys are inferior to lawyers that work on a per-hour fee after researchers interviewed only 16 children and fewer than a dozen parents about how the system works.

“The contract system, by what the judges say and the county budget says, has been a success,” Lautenbaugh said.

He disagreed that creating a new state commission, as one report recommended, is needed.

Sen. Brenda Council, a fellow Omaha attorney, disagreed. She said that while there are dedicated attorneys working on a contract basis, other contract guardians ad litem rarely meet with their youthful clients and never visit their schools to investigate what would be in their best interests.

She said the key is adopting clear “standards of practice” that attorneys must follow to ensure that juveniles get adequate representation.

Some states have enacted limits on caseloads to ensure that court-appointed attorneys are not overloaded and require that the attorneys are paid on a per-hour basis so they don't shortchange their responsibility to represent their clients, said Erik Pitchal, a law professor who assisted in the child advocacy study.

The report on that study and another, by the Washington, D.C.-based National Juvenile Defender Center, recommend several steps, including better training for attorneys, required consultation with juveniles before they waive their right to appointed counsel, the transfer of fewer juvenile cases to adult court and better oversight of the overall juvenile justice system.

Contact the writer:

402-473-9584, paul.hammel@owh.com

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