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.
The Department of Health and Human Services has indicated it intends to complete all moves by the end of 2026, with youth transfers beginning as early as July. Advocates say the timeline is dangerously compressed. With many current staff unlikely to relocate, the state would have only a few months to hire and train full teams while simultaneously moving youth across four facilities.
They warn this creates a significant risk of instability, unsafe conditions, and disruption of the therapeutic environments that youth rely on for rehabilitation. “When children are in state custody, the state has a heightened duty of care,” says Katie Nungesser, policy director for child welfare and youth justice at Voices for Children. “A system reform of this magnitude should be made with every care, to promote meaningful rehabilitation and youth development, and thus community safety as a whole.”
The potential impact on education also raises alarms. Youth in state custody remain entitled to consistent schooling, yet sudden placement changes often result in the loss of academic credits, interrupted IEP services, and delays in graduation. For boys currently engaged in community-based service projects and vocational programs in Kearney, advocates say those opportunities may disappear entirely.
“Because education is one of the strongest predictive factors against reoffending, any structural change that disrupts learning can undermine both rehabilitation and long-term community safety,” says Lauren Micek Vargas, CEO of Education Rights Counsel.
(Photos: KLIN’s Tom Stanton)