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Omaha youth currently at the Kearney Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Center will be relocated in the near future.The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services says nearly 65% of YRTC-Kearney youth are from Douglas and Lancaster counties. The move will bring them closer to their support systems by placing them at the Nebraska Correctional Youth Facility.A therapeutic program for youth at the NCYF said the news came as a shock.“They will learn, and they will grow,” said Teela Mickles, founder of Compassion in Action. “But we have to do better than what we’re doing in order to make that process consistent.”She works with youth inside the NCYF near Omaha’s Eppley Airfield.“You are not your sentence. You are not your problem,” Mickles said. “You have problems, but you’re an amazing person, and our curriculum helps them go and discover that.”Youth in the program get support from incarcerated men serving long sentences.“Understand them from their own lived experiences can tell them, ‘You don’t want to be me. You don’t want to be who I am,’” Mickles said.The facility’s transition will change that.“Some of the young men expressed that’s the part that they’re concerned about, losing those peer mentors,” Mickles said. “I was the only one in the circle that was ticked off.”The Nebraska Department of Correctional Services told KETV Investigates that inmates at the NCYF will be placed in facilities “appropriate for their classification.”Advocates at the state Capitol oppose the idea.“I think we’ve seen clear evidence,” said Kathy Bigsby Moore, an advocate who aided the creation of NCYF. “This has been an exemplary program and one that should not be disbanded.”The Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement that “Relocating services to Omaha would help strengthen family engagement and continuity of support.”The department added that the NCYF provides “more secure, private rooms compared to the current barracks-style sleeping arrangements at YRTC–Kearney. The redesigned facility will also offer a safer, more secure environment for both youth and staff, along with opportunities to expand programming and services.”“They said five to six months it was going to be done ,” Mickles said. “They didn’t say start, they said done.”Mickles’ organization runs a seven-step youth program that the NCYF started last summer.“They realized the value of the program, and they’re going to try to maintain it,” Mickles said, “but they are not sure how they’re going to be able to do that.”Mickles said the youth at the NCYF have not been moved yet, but she plans to take the program wherever the youth end up. She said she hopes they are still there for an April banquet, an aspect of the program that allows the youth to show off what they have learned.Make sure you can always see the latest news, weather, sports and more from KETV NewsWatch 7 on Google search.NAVIGATE: Home | Weather | Local News | National | Sports | Newscasts on demand |
Omaha youth currently at the Kearney Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Center will be relocated in the near future.
The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services says nearly 65% of YRTC-Kearney youth are from Douglas and Lancaster counties. The move will bring them closer to their support systems by placing them at the Nebraska Correctional Youth Facility.
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A therapeutic program for youth at the NCYF said the news came as a shock.
“They will learn, and they will grow,” said Teela Mickles, founder of Compassion in Action. “But we have to do better than what we’re doing in order to make that process consistent.”
She works with youth inside the NCYF near Omaha’s Eppley Airfield.
“You are not your sentence. You are not your problem,” Mickles said. “You have problems, but you’re an amazing person, and our curriculum helps them go and discover that.”
Youth in the program get support from incarcerated men serving long sentences.
“Understand them from their own lived experiences can tell them, ‘You don’t want to be me. You don’t want to be who I am,’” Mickles said.
The facility’s transition will change that.
“Some of the young men expressed that’s the part that they’re concerned about, losing those peer mentors,” Mickles said. “I was the only one in the circle that was ticked off.”
The Nebraska Department of Correctional Services told KETV Investigates that inmates at the NCYF will be placed in facilities “appropriate for their classification.”
Advocates at the state Capitol oppose the idea.
“I think we’ve seen clear evidence,” said Kathy Bigsby Moore, an advocate who aided the creation of NCYF. “This has been an exemplary program and one that should not be disbanded.”
The Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement that “Relocating services to Omaha would help strengthen family engagement and continuity of support.”
The department added that the NCYF provides “more secure, private rooms compared to the current barracks-style sleeping arrangements at YRTC–Kearney. The redesigned facility will also offer a safer, more secure environment for both youth and staff, along with opportunities to expand programming and services.”
“They said five to six months it was going to be done [NCYF],” Mickles said. “They didn’t say start, they said done.”
Mickles’ organization runs a seven-step youth program that the NCYF started last summer.
“They realized the value of the program, and they’re going to try to maintain it,” Mickles said, “but they are not sure how they’re going to be able to do that.”
Mickles said the youth at the NCYF have not been moved yet, but she plans to take the program wherever the youth end up. She said she hopes they are still there for an April banquet, an aspect of the program that allows the youth to show off what they have learned.
Make sure you can always see the latest news, weather, sports and more from KETV NewsWatch 7 on Google search.
NAVIGATE: Home | Weather | Local News | National | Sports | Newscasts on demand |
