An assessment to improve juvenile detention in Hall County is underway.
The Hall County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved a study for the Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative program to go forward.
“JDAI seeks to build a better and more equitable juvenile justice system,” said Judge Albert Corey, Ninth Judicial District.
The assessment will be done by Nebraska Juvenile Services Division.
Corey, joined by Michele Leuders, a JSD intake and detention alternatives specialist, and juvenile services director Monica Miles-Steffens, advocated for Hall County adopting the JDAI framework.
“They will work with us, and specifically the stakeholders in the community, in order to see what needs we have for the juveniles,” Corey said. “Then we’ll come back with an assessment in order to present that to the board.”
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The initiative needs the support of the county board to move forward, Corey said.
There is no cost for the assessment.
The results will be brought to the community leaders for implementation.
The objective of JDAI is to eliminate inappropriate or unnecessary use of detention, Miles-Steffens said.
“When you put young people who are low-risk in detention, it actually causes more harm, not only to that young person but on their future,” she said. “They’re more likely to drop out of school, more likely to use substances, more likely to go deeper into the system, and potentially, ultimately, the criminal justice system.”
She added, “It brings better community safety when we provide the right interventions for young people.”
Interviews will be conducted with community stakeholders, including judges, county attorneys, public defenders, young people who have been involved in the juvenile justice system and county board members to get a perspective on what’s working well, possible opportunities and community recommendations.
Miles-Steffens compared the assessment process to a checkup.
“We feel fine, but we go to the doctor and find out, oh, my blood work came back with something we need to explore,” she said.
The framework has yielded positive results in Sarpy County, Leuders said.
“There were some rules in place that were causing more young people to go into detention for more technical violations,” she said. “They were able to make some changes with the program itself, which, in turn, reduced the number of youth going into juvenile detention facilities in those districts.”
JDIA has helped reduce detention populations by more than 60%, which reduces county costs, Leuders noted.
Board of Commissioners Chairwoman Pam Lancaster said Hall County could benefit from adopting JDIA.
“The cost for our detention program is pretty expensive,” Lancaster said. “If we’re achieving what we intend to achieve by paying that money, using taxpayer dollars, that’s one thing, but if we’re not achieving the right outcomes, this will give us an opportunity to look at that.”
Commissioner Jane Richardson noted that costs for juvenile detention have increased considerably during the last three years, from $73,000 in 2017-18 to $175,000 in 2019-20.
“That is an unbelievable increase,” Richardson said. “If we can decrease that by 60%, it would certainly be a win-win.”
The national initiative was launched by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and has been in Nebraska since January 2011, Miles-Steffens said.
JDIA has been implemented in Douglas, Sarpy, Otoe and Lancaster counties.