68-1728.

Services for families and children; legislative findings and declarations.

(1) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that: (a) The family is the cornerstone of society; (b) families have the primary responsibility for supporting their children; and (c) families require the support of their community and the state to fulfill their duties.

(2) The Legislature further finds that: (a) Many state initiatives for improving or reforming the systems of service delivery for children and their families have been identified and are underway within Nebraska; (b) there is a need to coordinate and promote communication in these initiatives to identify common visions and approaches and to establish linkages across the areas of health services, social services, family support services, mental health services, education, economic development, labor, and juvenile justice at the state level and the community level; and (c) these initiatives need continued support in order to empower communities and families to provide and promote an integrated, efficient, and effective service delivery system.

(3) The Legislature declares that it shall be the policy of the State of Nebraska (a) to promote the development of a statewide system of comprehensive, coordinated, family-centered, community-based, and culturally competent services for children and their families to assure that services help build strong families and provide appropriate environments for children and (b) that these services should be available, accessible, and equitable and, whenever possible, be located together.