Juvenile support pilot program stalled, amended into separate bill

A bill to provide support services to at-risk Omaha youth and their families failed to advance from general file April 3, but was later amended into another proposal.

LB48, as introduced by Omaha Sen. Terrell McKinney, would create the Family Resource and Juvenile Assessment Center five-year pilot program to provide culturally relevant services to families and youth involved in or at risk of entering the juvenile justice system.

As introduced, the bill would establish four centers within a metropolitan class city to provide 24/7 support services, including youth counseling, parenting support, job training, conflict resolution and substance abuse treatment. Omaha currently is the state’s only metropolitan class city.

The state Department of Health and Human Services would be required to establish a designation process for the centers, which would be required to implement a data collection system to assess program effectiveness, track youth and family outcomes and incorporate feedback directly from those served.

As introduced, the bill also would appropriate $1 million from the Health and Human Services Cash Fund to each center annually.

A Health and Human Services Committee amendment, adopted 29-8, would limit the pilot program to two centers. The amendment also would change the funding mechanism to $500,000 annually from the Medicaid Managed Care Excess Profit Fund.

McKinney said the program would focus on culturally relevant and community driven solutions to allow families in crisis to receive support from the people and places they trust. By partnering with grassroots organizations and leaders with relevant lived experiences, he said, the centers would be built around the needs of the people they serve.

McKinney also said the program would serve as a cost-saving measure for the state. The cost of incarcerating youth is far higher than the cost of support services, he said, and every dollar spent on prevention saves taxpayers money by reducing future court, incarceration and social services expenses.

“Nebraska has a chance to lead the way in creating a more effective and compassionate approach to juvenile justice,” McKinney said. “This bill is about giving kids and families a fair shot at success rather than letting them slip through the cracks.”

Lincoln Sen. Beau Ballard supported the proposal, saying the program would provide important resources to help prevent impacted youth from becoming involved in the juvenile justice system.

Omaha Sen. Kathleen Kauth opposed the bill, saying programs already exist to provide support to system-involved youth. She said a better approach would be a comprehensive assessment of currently available resources rather than investing state funds to create “unnecessary bureaucracy.”

“I think to create a pilot program on something that … is redundant would be irresponsible,” Kauth said.

Lawmakers voted 22-14 on the advancement of LB48 to the second round of debate. Twenty-five votes were needed.

During general file debate on the next bill on the day’s legislative agenda, however, the amended provisions of LB48 were incorporated into LB382, sponsored by Pender Sen. Glen Meyer, which then was advanced to select file.