SUMMARY: A juvenile court does not have jurisdiction to order sibling visitation between a foster care child and his non-adjudicated sibling who is still under the custody of the parent.
Thirteen-year-old D.W. was adjudicated under Neb. Rev. Stat. section 43-247(3)(b) on April 22, 1992. Disposition was held on May 22, 1992, and D.W. was placed in Boys Town until August 11, 1993. After D.W. was placed with his grandmother, D.W.’s guardian ad litem requested that he have visitation with his 3-year-old sister. The sister was not under the jurisdiction of the court and D.W.’s parents had full custody. The parents objected to the visitation. After a review hearing, the court ordered that D.W.’s parents make the sister available for visitation 1 hour per month, supervised by a therapist. The parents appealed. The Court of Appeals affirmed.
The Nebraska Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals decision and remanded to the juvenile court to vacate its order. The Supreme Court held that although the juvenile court had jurisdiction over D.W.’s parents and has “broad powers to fashion remedies in the best interests of a child such as D.W.”, 249 Neb. at 137, it lacked personal jurisdiction over the sister and therefore did not have the authority to order the parents to comply with visitation. The Supreme Court added that “[j]ust because one child in a family is adjudicated as a child coming under the Nebraska Juvenile Code does not provide a juvenile court carte blanche jurisdiction over the adjudicated child’s unadjudicated siblings.” 249 Neb. at 138.