Nebraska Homeschool CPS and DHHS: What to Do If Your Family Is Investigated

If you pulled your child out of a Nebraska school recently — especially mid-year — and you got a call or a letter from DHHS or CPS, you are not alone. It happens. Often it is the school that triggered it, either by flagging unexcused absences before your withdrawal paperwork was processed, or by an administrator who misread the law and assumed your child was simply missing school.

The critical thing to understand: an inquiry is not an accusation, and legal compliance is your complete defense. Here is exactly what happens and what to do.

Why DHHS Gets Involved with Homeschool Families

The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) handles child welfare, which includes educational neglect cases. The Department is typically pulled into homeschool situations through one of three routes:

1. The school reports unexcused absences before your withdrawal letter arrives. Nebraska truancy law requires schools to notify the county attorney or DHHS once absences accumulate past a threshold. If you stopped sending your child to school on Monday but your certified withdrawal letter did not arrive at the principal's office until Thursday, those three days are logged as unexcused. The school's software flags it automatically.

2. An administrator contacts DHHS out of misunderstanding or hostility. Some school administrators believe they have authority to investigate or block a withdrawal. They do not — that authority sits exclusively with the state Commissioner of Education. But a frustrated administrator may contact DHHS anyway, especially if the withdrawal came as a surprise.

3. An anonymous complaint is filed. This is rare, but ex-spouses, neighbors, or extended family members occasionally file complaints alleging educational neglect. DHHS is required to investigate every complaint it receives.

What DHHS Is Actually Looking For

DHHS investigators are not trying to force your child back into public school. They are specifically checking whether your child is receiving an education at all. The bar for compliance is straightforward: you are legally registered as a Nebraska exempt school under Rule 13, you are providing instruction in the five required subjects, and your child is meeting the compulsory attendance age requirements (ages 6–18).

If all three of those are true, the investigation ends. You do not need to open your home for a walkthrough. You do not need to show curriculum materials. You do not need to justify your teaching philosophy.

Since LB 1027 passed in 2024, the state of Nebraska cannot require you to submit curriculum details, monitor names, or test scores. DHHS does not have authority that exceeds what the NDE is permitted to ask for.

The Documents That Stop an Investigation

When DHHS contacts you, your goal is to demonstrate legal compliance quickly and clearly. The following documents do that:

Your NDE Acknowledgement Letter. When the Nebraska Department of Education processes your Rule 13 filing (Form A + Form B), they send back an acknowledgment confirming your exempt school is on record. This is your primary proof of legal status. If you filed promptly after withdrawing, you should have it or be expecting it within a few weeks.

Your certified mail receipt. If you mailed your withdrawal letter to the school principal and superintendent via certified mail with return receipt, you have a dated, government-issued record proving the school was notified before any truancy window opened. This document single-handedly neutralizes a school-triggered DHHS referral.

Your hour log and attendance record. You are not required to submit these to the NDE, but if DHHS is asking whether you are actually educating your child, showing a simple daily log with dates, subjects, and hours confirms you are. A few weeks of records is usually more than enough.

A copy of the birth certificate you submitted to the NDE. Required under the Nebraska Missing Children Identification Act, this was submitted with your initial Rule 13 filing. Keep a copy.

How to Respond When DHHS Contacts You

Do not panic, and do not over-share. Provide the documents above and be polite but firm about the scope of what you are required to show. You are not obligated to invite an investigator into your home. You are not obligated to let an investigator interview your child without you present.

If the investigator is specifically asking about educational status, hand over the NDE acknowledgment letter and your certified mail receipt. That combination proves: (a) your family is legally registered, and (b) the school was formally notified. In most cases, that terminates the inquiry entirely.

If the investigator pushes beyond questions about educational status into general child welfare territory, that is a different conversation governed by different laws. If you are uncertain what you are legally required to disclose, that is when you call HSLDA. Their attorneys are experienced specifically with Nebraska and can intervene directly with DHHS investigators on your behalf.

How to Prevent the Investigation from Happening in the First Place

The single most effective prevention step is to send your withdrawal letter via certified mail the day your child stops attending school — not a few days later, not after you have figured out the NDE paperwork. The moment you decide to withdraw, send the letter.

Address it to both the building principal and the district superintendent. State that your child is withdrawing effective the date on the letter and will be attending a private exempt school in compliance with NRS §79-1601. Do not ask permission. Do not offer to meet. Do not explain your reasons.

Then file your Rule 13 paperwork with the NDE as quickly as possible. Nebraska law requires you to file "promptly" for mid-year withdrawals. There is no hard deadline for mid-year filings, but the faster you file, the faster you receive your acknowledgment letter, which is your strongest single piece of legal protection.

The Nebraska Legal Withdrawal Blueprint includes ready-to-send certified withdrawal letter templates, a Rule 13 filing checklist, and a DHHS response script — the exact documents that close down these investigations before they escalate.

If the Investigation Escalates

Escalation is rare when the paperwork is in order. But if DHHS attempts to remove your child or threatens court action based solely on educational status, contact HSLDA immediately. Nebraska has a long and well-documented history of legal victories protecting exempt school families, and HSLDA attorneys know exactly which statutes to cite to end an overreach.

Document every communication with DHHS — dates, names, what was said, what was requested. Keep copies of everything you submit. If a DHHS worker visits your home, you are allowed to ask for their name and badge number.

Being legally compliant does not mean being passive. Know your rights, document everything, and respond deliberately rather than reactively.

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