Strengthening Families Act Taskforce
This group was created at the November 17, 2015 Commission meeting to act as an advisory body as the “normalcy” provisions of the Strengthening Families Act are implemented in Nebraska. This group will create recommendations surrounding the provisions that support youth in foster care to engage in normal childhood activities, such as sleepovers, extracurricular activities, sports participation, sleep-away camp, and other pro-social activities that encourage healthy development. Membership will be populated by a stakeholder group with background and expertise in the Strengthening Families Act. A list of Stakeholders can be found below.
In its meetings since November of 2015, the Taskforce delegated tasks into five Subcommittees. They are the Community & Family Voice Subcommittee, Grievance Subcommittee, Normalcy Subcommittee, Trafficking Subcommittee, and Training Subcommittee. The Subcommittees will work to form recommendations in their respective areas of focus to submit to the Nebraska Children’s Commission.
On January 6, 2016 LB746 was introduced by Senator Campbell. The bill would create the Normalcy Task Force as a statutory subgroup of the Nebraska Children's Commission and would supersede the SFA Taskforce. You can find more information about this bill here.
Information from past meetings of the Taskforce can be found on the Past Meeting Documents page. Upcoming meeting materials are located on the Current Meeting Documents page.
Prior to coming under the umbrella of the Commission, a stakeholder group met and began work on the issue. Below you can find the report, Letting Kids Be Kids, and a condensed fact sheet that were drafted in relation to LR248. Also below is a helpful resource for understanding the federal law.