YRTCs could be replaced with local juvenile services

The Judiciary Committee heard testimony March 7 on a bill that would eliminate the Office of Juvenile Services and would close the youth rehabilitation and treatment centers (YRTCs) located in Kearney and Geneva by Jan. 1, 2015.

LB561, introduced by Omaha Sen. Brad Ashford, would create the Office of Juvenile Assistance that would include juvenile probation services, diversion programs, detention alternatives and aid assistance for community-based services. Providers of such services would qualify for social impact bonds to finance approved projects and the Legislature would appropriate $10 million to fund community-based assistance programs.

Under the bill, the Office of Juvenile Assistance would implement a statewide project that would:
• collaborate with the courts, juveniles justice entities and providers to treat and rehabilitate juveniles rather than detain them;
• establish standardized guidelines for referrals and treatment based on a juvenile’s needs rather than the availability of services;
• provide community-based services to keep juveniles in their homes, schools and communities;
• provide transition treatment programming for juveniles who are placed outside the home and their families to assist with reintegration into their communities;
• promote the use of telehealth services for juvenile behavioral health; and
• provide a standardized instrument to screen for mental health, trauma, education, treatment history, family resources and risk factors to be utilized when a juvenile initially enters the system. Such information would be tracked electronically by the state Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and used throughout the juvenile’s treatment and rehabilitation.

Ashford said Nebraska has the third highest youth incarceration rate in the nation. The current system is inadequate and is failing the state’s children and communities, he said, so the bill would reform the state’s juvenile justice system to treat and rehabilitate at-risk children rather than punish them.

“We are going to move forward with substantial reform towards a treatment-based system from an overly involved court system and utilize evidence-based practices to keep children out of the juvenile justice system,” he said.

Eleventh Judicial District County Court Judge Kent Turnbull testified in support of the bill, saying that YRTC admission criteria is unclear and inconsistently applied throughout the state.

Seventy percent of the YRTC’s offenders are considered low-risk and should not be housed with high-risk offenders, he said, but because the state’s smaller towns lack community-based services, the YRTCs sometimes are the only option.

Thomas Pristow, director of DHHS Children and Family Services, testified in support of the bill. Creating community-based services would be less intrusive and restrictive for juveniles, he said, which would better meet juveniles’ needs and alleviate stress on the current system.

Anne Hobbs, director of the University of Nebraska at Omaha Juvenile Justice Institute, also testified in support of the bill, saying it would provide statewide youth equal access to diversion programs and prevent them from becoming state wards. Only about half of Nebraska counties currently offer a diversion program, she said, so many convicted juveniles are prosecuted in adult courts and have an adult criminal record as a result.

Much of the opposition to the bill was focused on the closing of the YRTCs.

Araceli Morales, who was housed at the Geneva YRTC from 1999 to 2003, testified in opposition to the bill, and said the community-based services she received prior to being placed at the YRTC were ineffective. The center provides necessary counseling and treatment for drug and alcohol addiction, she said, and closing it would be a mistake.

“I think Geneva [YRTC] was my lifesaving place,” Morales said. “Without it, I would have ended up dead or in prison.”

Nancy Lyon, a Kearney YRTC employee, testified in opposition to the bill, saying families and schools sometimes contribute to a juvenile’s problems.

“What we do is we stabilize them,” she said. “We eliminate the clutter out of their lives so they can work on their issues and take them out of their comfort zone, which allows them to work on personal growth and change.”

Hall County Attorney Mark Young also testified in opposition to the bill, saying it would make counties financially responsible for youth services. County attorneys and judges may avoid necessary youth treatment due to the costs of such programs, he said.

“If we want a uniform system, then we need to make sure there are uniform services available everywhere,” Young said. “It is really important to have a clear plan in the bill that outlines how services will be funded to make sure there is reasonable access to them.”

The committee took no immediate action on the bill.