Nebraska announces new approach to juvenile offenders

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska is changing the way it handles juvenile offenders following an incident in which teenage girls damaged a state-run housing unit in Geneva.

The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services on Monday unveiled a new Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Center System, with campuses in Kearney, Geneva and Lincoln.

Nebraska already has a boys’ facility in Kearney and a girls’ facility in Geneva. The new approach would turn Kearney’s campus into an intake and classification facility, while Geneva’s facility would be used for girls who are preparing to return to society.

The Lincoln facility would provide more intensive programming for male and female youths who aren’t responding to treatment in Kearney.

State officials moved girls out of the Geneva facility in August after residents caused extensive damage.