Bar Association sees hope in reform of juvenile justice system

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Nebraska State Bar Association officials said they support changest to the state's juvenile justice system created by LB 561, passed in May.

"The legislation changes the focus of our juvenile system, away from punishment and towards diversion programs," said Marsha Fangmeyer, president of the NSBA executive council, during a visit to McCook on Tuesday.

Fangmeyer said the aim is to keep juvenile offenders in their homes and communities, while focusing efforts on working with families, schools and health care providers to improve conditions.

The legislation was supported by social science studies that indicated it is more effective to keep juvenile offenders in their own county, attending their own church and working with their families, instead of just focusing on the kids themselves, she said.

Fangmeyer said critics of the legislation raised concerns over state-imposed requirements on families of juvenile offenders, when in reality many Nebraska families needed help setting boundaries and would welcome state assistance.

Fangmeyer said there would be consequences for the parents of juvenile offenders when established lines were crossed, but the goal of the state would ultimately be to help the juvenile and his or her family.

The new program began its statewide expansion process in July and is scheduled to be fully implemented by July 2014.

Much of the change focuses on shifting responsibility for juvenile offenders from the Department of Health and Human Services to the probation department.

Fangmeyer said she is convinced the new model has potential to work better and at least one local probation officer seemed to agree with her.

That officer, Jim Morrow, said while it is still a new program and probation officers are still undergoing training, they can already see the potential.

"It's still a new program, we are still learning, but you can see it could lead to something big," said Morrow, adding that local judges seemed to be excited about it as well.

The changes should remove significant burden from the Department of Health of Human Services and result in a decrease in the number of wards of the state, according to Morrow.

As a result of LB 561 Fangmeyer said the state had approved funding for an additional 1oo probation officers, including one in Red Willow County office in June, as well as 90 other staff members.

Fangmeyer said the program continues beyond the hiring of probation officers and noted that juvenile detention facilities were not closing -- "there is still a need for them."

The legislation does limit who can be committed to Nebraska's two youth rehabilitation treatment centers, in Kearney and Geneva, while expanding the capacity of local diversion programs and making grant dollars available to develop more community-based services as alternatives to detention.

National research shows juvenile detention facilities are an ineffective tool for rehabilitation and in many instances cause more harm than good, according to the state bar association.

The association points out that Nebraska spends approximately $20 million per year on the Kearney and Geneva centers, with many of the youth in for minor offenses and posing little or no threat to society.

While the changes may result in a more effective system, it probably won't be more affordable, as local mental health services are expanded, she said.

Fangmeyer said access to mental health services may very well be the next hurdle counties face.