A coalition of child welfare and youth justice advocates is urging state lawmakers to oppose an amendment, warning that a portion of it would trigger a rapid reorganization of Nebraska’s Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Centers without adequate planning, transparency, or safeguards for the young people in state custody.
At the center of the concern is a proposal to relocate every major state-run youth facility in Nebraska within a matter of months. Under the plan, boys currently at YRTC in Kearney would be moved to the Nebraska Correctional Youth Facility in Omaha.
Girls at YRTC in Hastings would be sent to the Kearney facility and teens at the Whitehall Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility in Lincoln would be transferred to Hastings. In addition, 15 youth now at NCYF in Omaha would be moved to the adult prison at the Nebraska Department of Corrections Reception and Treatment Center in Lincoln…