43-284 Juvenile in need of assistance or special supervision; care and custody; payments for support; removal from home; restrictions.
43-284. Juvenile in need of assistance or special supervision; care and custody; payments for support; removal from home; restrictions.When any juvenile is adjudged to be under subdivision (3), (4), or (9) of section 43-247, the court may permit such juvenile to remain in his or her own home subject to supervision or may make an order committing the juvenile to (1) the care of some suitable institution, (2) inpatient or outpatient treatment at a mental health facility or mental health program, (3) the care of some reputable citizen of good moral character, (4) the care of some association willing to receive the juvenile embracing in its objects the purpose of caring for or obtaining homes for such juveniles, which association shall have been accredited as provided in section 43-296, (5) the care of a suitable family, or (6) the care and custody of the Department of Health and Human Services.Under subdivision (1), (2), (3), (4), or (5) of this section, upon a determination by the court that there are no parental, private, or other public funds available for the care, custody, education, and maintenance of a juvenile, the court may order a reasonable sum for the care, custody, education, and maintenance of the juvenile to be paid out of a fund which shall be appropriated annually by the county where the petition is filed until suitable provisions may be made for the juvenile without such payment.The amount to be paid by a county for education pursuant to this section shall not exceed the average cost for education of a public school student in the county in which the juvenile is placed and shall be paid only for education in kindergarten through grade twelve.The court may enter a dispositional order removing a juvenile from his or her home upon a written determination that continuation in the home would be contrary to the health, safety, or welfare of such juvenile and that reasonable efforts to preserve and reunify the family have been made if required under section 43-283.01. SourceLaws 1981, LB 346, § 40; Laws 1982, LB 353, § 1; Laws 1987, LB 635, § 3; Laws 1987, LB 638, § 5; Laws 1989, LB 182, § 10; Laws 1996, LB 1044, § 130; Laws 1997, LB 622, § 72; Laws 1998, LB 1041, § 25; Laws 2001, LB 23, § 2. Cross ReferencesChild removed from home, investigation and examination required, see section 43-1311. AnnotationsThe Legislature intended that the issue of reasonable efforts required under section 43-283.01 must be reviewed by the juvenile court (1) when removing from the home a juvenile adjudged to be under subsections (3) or (4) of section 43-247 pursuant to this section, (2) when the court continues a juvenile's out-of-home placement pending adjudication pursuant to section 43-254, (3) when the court reviews a juvenile's status and permanency planning pursuant to section 43-1315, and (4) when termination of parental rights to a juvenile is sought by the State under subsection (6) of section 43-292. In re Interest of DeWayne G., Jr. & Devon G., 263 Neb. 43, 638 N.W.2d 510 (2002).The terms "care" and "custody" as used in this section are not synonymous. In re Interest of Jeremy T., 257 Neb. 736, 600 N.W.2d 747 (1999).This statutory provision, by its liberal use of the word "may," authorizes the juvenile court to exercise broad discretion in its disposition of children who have been found to be abused or neglected. In re Interest of Amber G. et al., 250 Neb. 973, 554 N.W.2d 142 (1996).This section does not authorize the Department of Social Services to determine or place restrictions on parental visitation rights; rather, such rights are matters for judicial determination. In re Interest of C.A., 235 Neb. 893, 457 N.W.2d 822 (1990).Disposition of juveniles adjudged within section 43-247 is pursuant to sections 43-283 to 43-2,101. In re Interest of C.G. and G.G.T., 221 Neb. 409, 377 N.W.2d 529 (1985).The dispositional statutes (sections 43-283 to 43-2,101) do not violate the equal protection provisions of either the U.S. Constitution or the Constitution of the State of Nebraska, because they validly classify status offenders, who do not violate the state's criminal law, on the one hand, and juvenile criminal offenders, on the other, who violate the state's criminal law by their own volitional acts. In re Interest of C.G. and G.G.T., 221 Neb. 409, 377 N.W.2d 529 (1985).The juvenile court may permit a juvenile adjudged to be under section 43-247(3) to remain in his or her own home subject to supervision or may make an order committing the juvenile to the care of some suitable institution, reputable citizen, or suitable family or to the care and custody of the Department of Health and Human Services. In re Interest of Crystal T. et al., 7 Neb. App. 921, 586 N.W.2d 479 (1998).