LINCOLN — State Foster Care Review Board members could find themselves on the hot seat after removing its longtime director, Carol Stitt, on Friday.
A key state lawmaker said the board's action fueled interest in a bill that would eliminate the board and make its agency an arm of the Legislature.
"I think a great number of us will be looking at (the) bill," said State Sen. Kathy Campbell of Lincoln, who is chairwoman of the Health and Human Services Committee.
Campbell said she heard from several senators Friday, including some who made the unusual request to testify at next week's public hearing on the proposal.
Sen. Bob Krist of Omaha, who introduced Legislative Bill 925, said several senators signed on as co-sponsors after the board's decision to oust Stitt.
The measure would eliminate the volunteer board that now runs the review agency.
"We brought them into this world, and we can take them out," Krist said.
Lawmakers created the agency in 1982 to oversee citizen reviews of children in the foster care system, monitor facilities that house children, collect information and make recommendations about the child welfare system.
Earlier Friday, review board members voted unanimously to end Stitt's 29-year tenure as executive director.
The action took effect immediately, but Stitt will remain as a consultant through May 1 and will receive full salary and benefits through that time. The board also agreed to pay her health insurance for another 18 months.
Kathy Bigsby Moore, the retired head of Voices for Children of Nebraska, was named interim executive director of the review board.
Stitt made no immediate comment but issued a statement later in which she said she would continue to work on behalf of abused and neglected children.
She praised her staff and the 300 volunteers who serve on local boards.
Her attorney, Alan Peterson of Lincoln, called Stitt a "hero" and said the board made a "substantial error in judgment" by giving her an ultimatum: Resign or be fired.
He said the board offered no reasons for the action, and her recently completed annual evaluation listed both positives and negatives.
Board Chairwoman Georgina Scurfield cited "management issues that needed to be addressed" as the reason for removing Stitt.
Scurfield added that the needs of the agency have changed since Stitt took the helm, and Scurfield talked about a need to maximize the number of reviews done.
She declined to elaborate. The agreement with Stitt called for each side to not disparage the other.
Scurfield praised Stitt as a "powerful voice for child welfare" and commended her dedication to the agency.
The board refused to let Stitt's supporters speak at the meeting. Several showed up after news reports about the impending action.
Among those who had hoped to speak but were denied were Sens. Mark Christensen of Imperial and Tom Hansen of North Platte.
"We had really hoped this would be a private issue between the board and Ms. Stitt," Scurfield said. "We didn't mean to distract attention from the important work that is going on with regard to child welfare."
Scurfield rejected accusations from some lawmakers that the board has filtered information to state lawmakers and that its members have been reluctant to criticize the State Department of Health and Human Services.
She said the board unanimously supported an October 2010 letter that criticized the department's effort to privatize child welfare. She said the letter led to a major legislative investigation that was completed in December.
Scurfield said it is important that the board continue to be a source of information for lawmakers but that, "We want to have a clear message."
Moore, the interim executive director, has — like Stitt — spent more than 30 years working on child welfare issues.
Moore was among those who pushed for the creation of the review board in 1982. She retired last year from Voices for Children, the advocacy group she founded in 1987.
In a statement Friday, she called the board's work vital to the well-being of Nebraska foster children.
"I have great respect for the agency that was developed under the leadership of Carol Stitt and do not have knowledge of the events that led up to this leadership transition," she said.
The current leader of Voices for Children said Stitt has been a "passionate advocate" for Nebraska children.
"Under her leadership, the (board) has consistently sought to know, document and understand the plight of children in foster care and keep (HHS) accountable for its actions," Carolyn Rooker said.
Contact the writer:
402-473-9583, martha.stoddard@owh.com
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