For Release Wednesday, April 28, 2021

Capitol View
Commentary by J.L. Schmidt
Statehouse Correspondent
Nebraska Press Association
Lawmakers Take Important Step Toward Treating At-Risk Youth

      Lawmakers have amended and advanced a package of bills that will keep the Nebraska Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Centers on track toward becoming treatment-based instead of corrections-based facilities.
      Back in the day, Òbad boysÓ went to Kearney and Òbad girlsÓ went to Geneva after the scarce number of local social services agencies and the court system had pretty much given up on them. 
      More importantly, this package of Health and Human Services Committee bills will ensure that the whole YRTC issue will be monitored and stay in the public eye for something other than escapes and disturbances. 
      The Kearney campus, built for boys in the 1950s, will receive needed improvements. The Geneva campus, originally built for girls, will be phased out and replaced by a newer campus in Hastings. The state Department of Health and Human Services says the physical condition of the Geneva campus and the inability to hire adequate staff make the closure necessary.
      The main bill of the package (LB428) would require that YRTC residents receive educational opportunities equivalent to those offered to students at Nebraska public schools. Under the bill, each YRTC would maintain accreditation by the state Board of Education and provide age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate educational programs.
      Committee Chairman Sen. John Arch of LaVista said the proposal was the result of the recommendations made by the LegislatureÕs YRTC special oversight committee, which was established several years ago, when big problems surfaced at the boyÕs and girlÕs campuses. Arch said the bill was just a start on improving the education of YRTC students.
For Release Wednesday, April 28, 2021 Ð Page 2
      Nebraska Commissioner of Education Matt Blomstedt has said the bill would guarantee that academic credits earned at YRTC would transfer to any public school in Nebraska. That hasnÕt always happened in the past, he said, forcing students to retake classes upon their return to public school.
      In recent years there have been multiple calls for improvement within DHHS Juvenile Services Department and specifically the YRTCs. Historically, the primary concern is that Nebraska, indeed the country, still relies too heavily on a corrections-based model instead of the treatment-centered model. The department said it is their goal to get to the treatment approach within 5 years.
      A committee amendment, adopted 35-0, added the provisions of additional committee bills on related subject matter. One measure (LB425) would require DHHS to hire a consultant to perform a needs assessment and cost analysis of an inpatient adolescent psychiatric unit at the Lincoln Regional Center by December 1. 
      Arch said YRTCs currently are not equipped to care for youth with severe mental illness and individuals who need that type of care have not received it. Omaha Sen. Steve Lathrop said the needs assessment would be critical in determining if the state can establish a Òno eject, no rejectÓ youth behavioral health facility. ÒWe really need that for the young people so that we do have, truly, a continuum of care,Ó Lathrop said.
      Also added to the bill was a measure (LB427) to prohibit DHHS from delaying inpatient or subacute substance abuse or behavioral health residential treatment for youth under the jurisdiction of a juvenile court when such treatment has been determined necessary after the youthÕs commitment to the state Office of Juvenile Services or has been ordered by a juvenile court.
      Finally, a bill (LB429) would require DHHS to notify the Legislature 120 days before making substantial changes to facilities and programs under the jurisdiction of the Office of 
      For Release Wednesday, April 28, 2021 Ð Page 3 
Juvenile Services. Changes could not be implemented until the Legislature reviews said proposals.
      Arch said this legislation is definitely a response to the closure of YRTC-Geneva after a Òmultiple system failure.Ó He said the Legislature isnÕt going to be caught by surprise as it was with that crisis in August 2019.
      Inspector General for Child Welfare Jennifer Carter told ArchÕs committee earlier this year that in the past DHHS implemented numerous significant changes that complicated oversight of YRTCs. The changes created a good deal of instability in the system, she said. 
      ÒMany of them were significant changes and yet there really wasnÕt any legislative action or policy change driving it.Ó
      The Legislature needs to pursue these changes with due diligence and urgency. The time is now.
      -30-
      
      
J.L. Schmidt has been covering Nebraska government and politics since 1979. He has been a registered Independent for 21 years.