Lincoln Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks said when juvenile facility operators talked to state senators about room confinement of kids, lawmakers thought those juveniles were kept in their own rooms with books, pens and paper, and things to do.Ìý
When they visited the Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Center-Geneva last summer because of a crisis at the center, they saw different.
Two girls were in barren rooms without working lights, one without a mattress, lying on a wooden platform.Ìý
"This is not the best way to take care of Nebraska children," Pansing Brooks said.
She had a bill (LB230) that had advanced from committee last session that addressed room confinement of youths at state and county facilities, and Tuesday, the bill came up for debate.Ìý
Senators want to keep the staffs at these facilities safe, Pansing Brooks said during that debate, but the facilities also need to be required to use the best practices to keep both staff and girls and boys there safe, she said.Ìý
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"It hasn't helped the staff to traumatize the youth more than they already are traumatized," she said.Ìý
Her bill, which advanced to second-round debate on a 29-2 vote, would restrict use of room confinement in juvenile facilities.
A report by Inspector General for Child Welfare Julie Rogers on room confinement at 32 facilities, comprised of five different types of juvenile facilities in Nebraska, showed the use of confinement has generally not changed in the past three years — it continues to be relied upon, sometimes excessively.
In fiscal year 2018-19, the total number of youth subject to room confinement was 631, for 2,683 incidents. Youths ranged in age from 12-18 years old and were put in room confinement most frequently for physical assault, verbal assault, administrative reasons, behavioral infractions and rule violations.
Some facilities were isolating kids from a few hours to 113.8 consecutive days, Pansing Brooks said.
LB230 would require that the use of room confinement for more than one hour in a 24-hour period in juvenile facilities must be documented and approved by a supervisor. The bill would prohibit the use of recording periods of confinement in ways to avoid documentation, approval and reporting requirements.
It would prohibit room confinement as punishment, retaliation or because of a staffing shortage. Juveniles could not be placed in confinement unless the juvenile posed an immediate and substantial risk of harm to self or others and all less-restrictive alternatives had been exhausted.
Omaha Sen. Steve Lathrop was one of several senators who visited the center in Geneva in August and saw a number of girls in confinement. He said one girl, about 14 or 15 years old, had been lying on a mattress on the floor for about five days with little to no light.Ìý
Lights worked in only about three of a dozen rooms girls were confined to, he said.Ìý
The law treats juveniles differently for a good reason, Lathrop said. Many have psychiatric needs or have a history of poor treatment or difficulties at home. The idea of sending them to facilities is to rehabilitate them, he said, and get them on the right path to become productive adults.Ìý
Putting them into these rooms is traumatizing, Lathrop said. Facilities need to separate them only long enough to allow them to catch their breath, cool off and then return to normal treatment and rehabilitation.Ìý
But Sen. John Lowe of Kearney pointed out that the solitary room confinement the senators were talking about at Geneva no longer exists because the girls have moved to Kearney. Only a few girls will return to Geneva in the future, and they will be those who are ready to reenter their own communities.Ìý
He said the reason some youths at the Kearney YRTC are being put into confinement is because of assaults on staff.Ìý
"I could show pictures of those staff members, too," he said, addressing Pansing Brooks' photos of girls in confinement at Geneva. "One of them has a broken neck. One's face is all beat up.
"So I stand here in support of the staff, and their decisions, and they know what's going on, unlike us who sit here in Lincoln and try to tell the people in Kearney what to do," he said.
By implementing the bill, he said, the YRTC at Kearney would probably have to hire 10 more new staff to achieve its goals. And it is already behind by about 30 positions it can't fill.Ìý
He also had questions about whether youths can calm down in one hour, and then what to do with them after that hour.Ìý
The bill would also put requirements on rooms used for confinement and provision for the juvenile's access to medical and mental health services, educational programming, meals and contact with parents, guardians and attorneys.
Staff would be required to monitor juveniles in room confinement with regular in-person visits, and supplemented by electronic video monitoring.
The new requirements would only apply to detention and staff secure facilities, facilities operated by the Department of Correctional Services, YRTCs and any county facility that houses youth under the age of majority.