State Lawmaker Urges Full Function of Geneva, Kearney Youth Centers

BEATRICE – Plymouth State Senator Tom Brandt says the State of Nebraska should return its Kearney Youth Rehabilitation Center to a boys-only facility, and the YRTC facility at Geneva as one for girls, only.

The 32nd District Senator’s LB 1150 was the subject of a Health and Human Services Committee hearing, on Thursday. Brandt said YRTC at Geneva, was once accredited as one of the best facilities of its kind, in the nation. But it had become so dysfunctional, that DHHS declared an emergency last August, and girls were moved to the boys center in Kearney. Brandt said the reasons for the emergency were "staffing problems because of poor working conditions and mandatory overtime and the lack of programming for girls creating confusion among the staff". A move of facility maintenance from Geneva to the Lincoln left areas of the campus, unmaintained.

Brandt’s bill is cosponsored by 23 other state lawmakers. It calls for the Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Centers to be fully operational by July 1st, 2021.
No girls have been returned to the Geneva Center, despite HHS indicating the first of the girls should be returned there by mid-February. Brandt says girls now being housed at the boys’ center in Kearney has led to troubles…and he says a report indicates that situation has deterioriated.

"The report outlines three basic problems.....the separation of boys and girls using the same facilities....communication between management and staff has deteriorated.....the facility is short of adequate numbers of trained staff". He said teachers recommended a move of the girls back to Geneva, as soon as possible.
Brandt’s bill would require DHHS to submit progress reports to the legislature on August 1st of this year, and on December 1st. It would require full functionality of the centers by July 1st, 2021.

"It gives the department a lot of leeway here. It is simply saying Kearney is a boys only facility, Geneva is a girls only facility....and we're doing what is best for the kids. They would have to staff it as such. They know what it takes to fully staff the facility".

Brandt says there’s a real concern by staff at the Kearney Center, over mixing boys and girls in treatment center operations. In Geneva, Brandt says the center had 75 full-time jobs. When girls were moved to Kearney, 57 of those jobs had been filled. He acknowledged there are troubles being able to hire enough staff….a problem within the adult prison system.

Kyle Svec, City Administrator for Geneva…said the closure and transfer of girls from Geneva has rocked the community.
"Our position is clear and has been clear, from day one. Geneva wholeheartedly welcomes the YRTC and its residents. There are countless stories about the quality of life and the life lessons our town has and can be provided to the young girls in need of behavioral health. From volunteering across Geneva, to referees at youth soccer games, working concessions at our theatre, working at our senior center, the residents of YRTC have grown to be welcomed and known across our community".

Svec said the small-town environment has provided girls staying there the opportunity to build the needed relationships to get their lives back in the right direction.
He said there is the workforce in Geneva and the surrounding area to rebuild the center back to what it once was.