43-246 Code, how construed.
43-246. Code, how construed.Acknowledging the responsibility of the juvenile court toact to preserve the public peace and security, the Nebraska Juvenile Codeshall be construed to effectuate the following:(1) To assure the rights of all juveniles to care and protectionand a safe and stable living environment and to development of their capacitiesfor a healthy personality, physical well-being, and useful citizenship andto protect the public interest;(2) To provide for the intervention of the juvenile courtin the interest of any juvenile who is within the provisions of the NebraskaJuvenile Code, with due regard to parental rights and capacities and the availabilityof nonjudicial resources;(3) To remove juveniles who are within the Nebraska JuvenileCode from the criminal justice system whenever possible and to reduce thepossibility of their committing future law violations through the provisionof social and rehabilitative services to such juveniles and their families;(4) To offer selected juveniles the opportunity to take directpersonal responsibility for their individual actions by reconciling with thevictims through juvenile offender and victim mediation and fulfilling theterms of the resulting agreement which may require restitution and communityservice;(5) To achieve the purposes of subdivisions (1) through (3)of this section in the juvenile's own home whenever possible, separating thejuvenile from his or her parent when necessary for his or her welfare, thejuvenile's health and safety being of paramount concern, or in the interestof public safety and, when temporary separation is necessary, to considerthe developmental needs of the individual juvenile in all placements, to considerrelatives as a preferred potential placement resource, and to make reasonableefforts to preserve and reunify the family if required under section 43-283.01;(6) To promote adoption, guardianship, or other permanentarrangements for children in the custody of the Department of Health and HumanServices who are unable to return home;(7) To provide a judicial procedure through which these purposesand goals are accomplished and enforced in which the parties are assured afair hearing and their constitutional and other legal rights are recognizedand enforced;(8) To assure compliance, in cases involving Indian children,with the Nebraska Indian Child Welfare Act;and(9) To makeany temporary placement of a juvenile in the least restrictive environmentconsistent with the best interests of the juvenile and the safety of the community. SourceLaws 1981, LB 346, § 2; Laws 1982, LB 787, § 1; Laws 1985, LB 255, § 31; Laws 1985, LB 447, § 12; Laws 1996, LB 1001, § 2; Laws 1998, LB 1041, § 21; Laws 1998, LB 1073, § 12; Laws 2010, LB800, § 13.Effective Date: July 15, 2010 Cross ReferencesNebraska Indian Child Welfare Act, see section 43-1501. AnnotationsThe state Department of Social Services is not required to institute a plan for rehabilitation of a parent whose child has been found to be dependent and neglected. In re Interest of L.C., J.C., and E.C., 235 Neb. 703, 457 N.W.2d 274 (1990).The juvenile code must be liberally construed to effectuate its purpose of securing the best interests of those juveniles who fall within it. In re Interest of R.A. and V.A., 225 Neb. 157, 403 N.W.2d 357 (1987).