Nebraska corrections director says population, safety issues in youth facilities need to be addressed

Nebraska still needs to address population and safety issues in its youth correctional facilities, according to Nebraska Department of Correctional Services director Rob Jeffreys.

This comes after lawmakers shot down a plan to shuffle the system’s population around the state.

The plan to relocate the inhabitants of every significant youth correctional facility to a new building, including some youths slated to go to an adult prison, was proposed by Gov. Jim Pillen’s administration in his budget bills introduced in January. But legislators rejected the plan, substituting it for a study into how best to manage a population shift in the youth correctional system.

“We looked at a population management opportunity,” Jeffreys said of the plan, which took six to eight months to create. “Folks are still coming in through the front door.”

Jeffreys said some facilities are simply not well designed for their current inhabitants. Problems range from compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act to sewage, said Steve Corsi, CEO of the Department of Health and Human Services. At the youth facility in the Whitehall building in northeast Lincoln, Corsi said the basement, which doubles as a tornado shelter, has sewer backup problems during storms -- just when youths may need the shelter most.

Opponents of the plan spent the Legislative session arguing that moving the youth population was a bad decision. They said it would upend the lives of the children in the system, separating them from their families, educators and trusted therapists who are there to guide them through rehabilitation. Their arguments won the day as senators instead approved funds for a study into how best to make any changes to the system. The study will take place over the summer.