Juvenile-Justice System Gets an Overhaul

Details: 09 August 2013

Public-policy reforms affecting the juvenile-justice system were a point of emphasis and a substantial accomplishment for the Nebraska Legislature during its 2013 session. LB 561 was the main vehicle for these reforms. When Governor Heineman signed the bill into law on May 29, efforts to reduce reliance on detention and put greater focus on rehabilitation and community and family responses were launched.

Of LB 561, the Governor said, "This bill represents an important step forward as we continue to find ways for the state to deal with youth in the juvenile-justice system." He approved reforms that shift substantial parts of the supervision of juvenile offenders out of the Department of Health and Human Services and into the state’s probation system. That also creates a byproduct of keeping more of DHHS’s focus on helping youngsters in the child-welfare system who are victims of abuse and neglect.

The juvenile-justice system essentially consists of the judicial decisions and public-policy responses and programs that deal with youth under the age of 18 who commit felonies, misdemeanors or status offenses. The latter terminology is typically used to indicate actions that are deemed offenses when committed by youth based on their age; examples include truancy and possession and consumption of alcohol.

The importance and urgency of reforms in this context of public policy for Nebraska are understandable. Striving for a more efficient and effective system of juvenile justice has been deemed necessary for some time, for both social/humanitarian and cost justifications.

Consider the ramifications of having the fourth highest youth incarceration rate in the nation. That’s Nebraska, according to a data report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. While the rate in the U.S. declined by 40 percent over the past 15 years, Nebraska is among just six states with an increase. Contrary to the national trend, youth incarceration grew eight percent in Nebraska between 1997 and 2010.

An interesting and informative "Policy Study" by the Platte Institute (see www.platteinstitute.org ) calls pre-adjudication secure detention of juveniles a "distinct pressure point"—one of five—in Nebraska’s juvenile-justice system. It presents justifications for concerns about incarceration: the response is incredibly costly, usually ranging from $75 to over $200 per juvenile per day; and the response as applied to some youth, particularly status offenders, includes the risk of learning more illegal behavior from dangerous or violent youth.

Here’s what LB 561 does: Authority for community supervision, evaluations and parole is removed from the Office of Juvenile Services at DHHS and transferred to the Office of Probation Administration under the Supreme Court; the funding tied to the transfer will be used for a three-step expansion of the Juvenile Services Delivery Project from several counties to statewide; the County Juvenile Services Aid Program is being replaced by a Community-Based Juvenile Services Aid Program and funding thereof is being increased by $1.52 million in FY14 and by $3.52 million in FY15; the positions of Director of the Community-Based Juvenile Services Aid Program and Director of Juvenile Diversion Programs are being established; limitations are being set on sending juveniles to secure detention, e.g., juveniles cannot be sent to the Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Centers in Kearney (boys) or Geneva (girls) unless it is a matter of immediate and urgent necessity for protection of the juvenile or the person or property of another or the juvenile is likely to flee the court’s jurisdiction.

Support for Parenting

While overhauling the juvenile-justice system warranted an exclamation point, adult corrections were not ignored. There were, of course, overall budget decisions affecting the Department of Correctional Services. Meanwhile, a substantive bill with hopeful consequences flew somewhat under the radar. It was LB 483.

Introduced and well-handled by Sen. Kate Bolz from Lincoln, LB 483 passed on a 41-1 Final Reading vote and was approved by the Governor. Here’s how it is described in the Unicameral Update’s Session Review: "appropriates $250,000 to the department to implement a two-year pilot program that provides incarcerated parents of children up to five years old with evidence-based parent education, early literacy, relationship skills development and re-entry planning prior to their release."

What a member of the Judiciary Committee, had to say about LB 483 makes abundant sense: "I cannot think of another program that holds as much promise as this one. It gives inmates motivation, provides them with family connections when they are released and allows them to be parents to their children in a meaningful way."

And finally…. Onto another matter: The administration of the Nebraska Schools Activities Association, which controls high-school competition in extracurricular activities—sort of a mini-NCAA—is pushing a controversial policy. It coercively wants schools to accept and adhere to a common policy and procedures for ensuring participation choices for any student who consistently expresses a gender identity opposite that of his or her birth. Stay tuned.