A state population of  2 million has 6,100 kids in state custody.

LINCOLN (AP) — Nebraska needs to reduce the number of children it removes from homes in cases of alleged neglect and hold state officials accountable when they take children without just cause, a group of family advocates said Wednesday.

Family welfare advocates said the state too often removes children from nonabusive families and does little to sanction state officials whom they view as overzealous in taking children.

Melanie Williams-Smotherman, the executive director of the Family Advocacy Movement, said children are often removed from homes for minor infractions or without confirmation of abuse. In many cases, she said, families are left unaware of their due process rights to challenge state case workers who enter their homes.

"There is very little oversight for families to be given just investigations and have a voice," Williams-Smotherman said.

A delegation of advocates outlined their concerns Wednesday with Nebraska Child and Family Services director Todd Reckling, Nebraska State Ombudsman Carl Escridge and other state officials. The group has repeatedly pressed state officials for changes, but Williams-Smotherman said Wednesday that many of the promised reforms haven't materialized.

Reckling said his division is still overhauling its child welfare system to improve communication between state case workers and families and to limit the number of children removed from their homes. In many cases, he said, families feel hostility toward the state because their children were taken.

More than 6,100 children were state wards as of last week, Reckling said.

The number of reported child abuse and neglect cases has grown in recent years,according to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. Calls to the state's Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline have risen nearly 19 percent in five years, the agency said. The call volume grew from about 24,100 in 2006 to nearly 28,700 last year.

Officials reported more than 3,400 confirmed cases of child abuse and neglect involving more than 5,100 children in 2010. Cases often involve multiple types of maltreatment.

The state enacted a new law this year that gives lawmakers more oversight of the ongoing privatization of parts of Nebraska's child welfare system. Lawmakers have criticized HHS for providing insufficient information over how much the reform effort has cost and who is in charge of various aspects of the changes. Reckling has said the department was always ready to provide information to senators and respond to inquiries about the reform efforts.