LINCOLN- Statewide, though mostly in Douglas and Sarpy Counties, 165 kids currently in the system have been transferred to a different caseworker at least 10 times. The Nebraska Foster Care Review Office says this is unacceptable and creates instant instability for children within the system. The caseworker turnover rate is one of the major red flags found in the offices quarterly review report.

Monika Gross, executive director of the watchdog office, said she has seen signs of progress, though, in eastern Nebraska since the state took that area’s case management a year ago from an underperforming Saint Francis Ministries. Gross said that staffing challenges still persist in the state’s largest urban counties and that it is not the time for officials to “let up” on efforts to get the workforce on track for this vulnerable population.

Although it is the major concentration of cases, Omaha has shown improvement. According to the June report, the number of foster children in Douglas and Sarpy Counties who have dealt with 10 or more caseworkers during their time in state custody dropped in a three-month period between December and April — from 275 to 148. DHHS said it will take at least two or three years to see progress needed in such an urban area.

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