A new residential mental health and substance abuse treatment center could be created in North Omaha for young people as an alternative to juvenile detention and to provide more services to youths and their families close to home.
The center would be at the former St. Paul Lutheran Church and school campus at 5020 Grand Ave., near 50th Street and Ames Avenue. A real estate firm connected to Susie Buffett’s philanthropic Sherwood Foundation purchased the campus last year.
A newly formed nonprofit organization, the Nebraska Youth Justice Initiative, is working with state and county agencies and the community to develop the concept.
The facility, which could open by 2023, could provide residential treatment to 25 to 30 youths — primarily teenagers who have gotten in trouble with the law and been detained at the Douglas County Youth Center.
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The group is “very, very early in the process,” said Nick Juliano, who is leading the effort. He is the former director of regional advocacy and public policy for Boys Town.
The center is intended to address a shortage of capacity in certain types of residential treatment in Omaha. It would shorten youths’ stays in the juvenile detention center, reduce the number of young people who are sent out of state to placements and provide services to the youths’ families as well, said Kim Hawekotte, deputy Douglas County administrator for juvenile justice services.
She sees the potential center as just one piece — but an important part — of services for youth and families, including prevention and intervention. She said she and others are working on strengthening those services.
Details on the programming and the campus at the potential center have yet to be determined.
“We haven’t made decisions on anything,” Juliano said. “We’re in the thinking and developing stage and looking at data. … We know there is a need, we know there will be something there. Those decisions haven’t been made, and they’re going to take a lot more input.”
They’ll seek input from the community, he said. That will include working with surrounding neighborhood groups and community service providers.
“And we’ll be talking to young people who have been in programs, we’re going to talk to families, and we have talked to families who have been in programs, in mental health programs,” Juliano said. “We’re going to say, ‘What did you get from these programs, and what didn’t you get?’ And if we move forward, what ideas can we glean from that? That’s all important, getting that input process.”
The Nebraska Youth Justice Initiative is backed by the Sherwood Foundation. Juliano hopes other foundations will support the effort as well.
Hawekotte is the former executive director of the Nebraska Foster Care Review Office Advisory Committee. She said Omaha needs more programming for young people who need more intensive treatment than the behavioral rehabilitation model of group homes, but less intensive than what psychiatric residential treatment facilities provide.
“We know we have a set of kids that fall in between,” Hawekotte said. “They really don’t qualify for that extensive mental health treatment, but they need more intensive behavioral, along with mental health treatment, or maybe substance abuse treatment, or some other treatment with it.”
She said the goal of the new facility “will help with that niche in our community, so that we don’t have 15, 20 kids going out of state to get that level of facility. If we can have it here, why are we sending kids to Arizona or Wyoming” or to Nebraska Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Centers in Kearney or Geneva?
Omaha has some very good programs that provide those type of services, but not enough, Juliano said. It’s not uncommon for young people to wait in detention at the Douglas County Youth Center until a placement is available. The county is speeding up evaluations but needs more services for the youths once they’ve been evaluated, Hawekotte said.
The former church property is part of about $4 million in real estate that a company linked to Buffett’s foundation has acquired in North Omaha. The site makes sense because such a disproportionately high percentage of youths in the Douglas County juvenile justice system are from North or South Omaha, Juliano said. The site would keep the youths closer to home, making it easier for them and their families to stay in touch, and helping the programs work with the whole family, Hawekotte said.
Rodney Evans, CEO of Metro Area Youth Services, or MAYS, said he believes there is a need for more mental health services in the community. His nonprofit agency recently moved to the former St. Paul campus.
“I work with kids, and I just feel like a lot of our kids are dealing with mental health issues,” Evans said. “So anybody who’s willing to assist with that, I’m all for it.”
LaVon Stennis-Williams, an advocate who runs a prison reentry program and has been critical of the county’s juvenile justice center proposal, said the new facility could be great, “so long as that mental health facility that they’re proposing truly is that, and not just a way to incarcerate children, or detain children.”
She said that “one of the most common-sense approaches to reform is to put the focus on mental health, as long as the child is getting it in the context of the family as well.”
“This won’t make any difference if while that kid is getting help, the family is not getting help,” Stennis-Williams said. “Kim (Hawekotte) is a big driver for that, to make sure that we don’t just look at behavior, we look at need.”
She said the services being discussed for the facility sound like the type that Omaha needs.
“But now is the time, before they’ve got an actual plan together, to bring people in,” Stennis-Williams said. “So I hope that they will bring in the people who are closest to the problems.”
Our best staff photos of August 2020
Photos: Our best staff photos of August 2020
Football season returns

Millard West takes the field for the start of the Elkhorn South vs. Millard West football game at Millard West High School in Omaha on Thursday, August 27, 2020. Elkhorn South won the game 30-28.
Football season returns

Millard West cheerleaders perform before the start of the Elkhorn South vs. Millard West football game at Millard West High School in Omaha on Thursday, August 27, 2020. Elkhorn South won the game 30-28.
Volunteer

Chester Cavitte sweeps the sidewalk in front of Dreamland Park on north 24th Street on Tuesday, August 18, 2020.
Heron

A heron flies over the Elkhorn River on Tuesday, August 25, 2020.
Protest

SeaSea Stark of Omaha raises her fist at a protest at 72nd and Dodge Streets.
Vet Funeral

A member of the Air Force Honor Guard holds a folded flag at the funeral for Nicholas Baker at the Omaha National Cemetery on Friday, August 21, 2020.
Union Omaha

Union Omaha's Elma N'For, left, celebrates a goal by Sebastian Contreras in the first half to tie the match against Forward Madison FC.
Lake Fun

A man wakeboards through light fog last week on Carter Lake.
Ernie Chambers

About 100 people show their support for State Sen. Ernie Chambers on Thursday, the last day of his last legislative session, outside the Nebraska State Capitol.
Softball Preview

Papillion-La Vista pitcher Jordyn Bahl, left, and catcher Brooke Dumont have played together since they were freshmen, going 106-4 in their first three seasons. “They know what the other one is thinking without having to say anything. They’ve always had that,” coach Todd Petersen said.
Homeschool

Tesla Badger, 4, plays at home, which is also the village co-op. Her mom, Crystal Badger, volunteered use of her home in exchange for child care. Mary Ensz created this mural on the basement wall.
Education Co-op

Sofia Jawed-Wessel makes time for art every day with her children, from left, Laith, Haizel and Paloma. The family keeps to a tight schedule.
Old Market Protest

Connie Jones, of Omaha, and about 20 other protesters call for defunding the police and supporting Black Lives Matter in the Old Market in Omaha on Friday, August 7, 2020.
Old Market Protest

About 20 protesters call for defunding the police and supporting Black Lives Matter in the Old Market in Omaha on Friday, August 7, 2020.
Disc Golf

Ben Peters takes advantage of the mild weather to practice his disc golf putting at Elmwood park on Monday.
Educators Mask Mandate

Bruce Jones, right, a middle school teacher, and his husband, Taylor Frank, carry signs during a Monday demonstration at Memorial Park by Omaha area educators demanding a mask mandate before returning to classrooms.
Educators Mask Mandate

More than a hundred people attend a Monday demonstration at Memorial Park by Omaha area educators demanding a mask mandate before returning to classrooms.
Bounce House

Charlotte Nunn, right, celebrates her 4th birthday with a bounce house and her sister, Lydia Nunn, 2, in their Omaha front yard on Monday.
Union Omaha

The sun sets over the North Texas SC vs. Union Omaha soccer game at Werner Park in Papillion on Saturday, August 01, 2020. It was Union Omaha's inaugural home game, part of a shortened season because of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Union Omaha on won the game 1-0.
Union Omaha

Union Omaha players celebrate on the field following the North Texas SC vs. Union Omaha soccer game at Werner Park in Papillion on Saturday, August 01, 2020. It was Union Omaha's inaugural home game, part of a shortened season because of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Union Omaha won the game 1-0.
Union Omaha

Union Omaha players kneel and raise their fists during a moment of silence for racial justice before the start of the North Texas SC vs. Union Omaha soccer game at Werner Park in Papillion on Saturday, August 01, 2020. It was Union Omaha's inaugural home game, part of a shortened season because of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Union Omaha won the game 1-0.
Union Omaha

Union Omaha's Rashid Nuhu and North Texas SC's Ronaldo Damus come down to the ground after colliding in midair near the goal in the North Texas SC vs. Union Omaha soccer game at Werner Park in Papillion on Saturday.
Pinnacle Bank Championship

Ryan Schaake, left, watches his son Alex Schaake putt on the first hole during the Pinnacle Bank Championship at The Club at Indian Creek on Thursday.
Pinnacle Bank Championship

Seth Reeves kisses his trophy after winning the Pinnacle Bank Championship on Sunday, August 02, 2020.
Sourdough bread baking

Ferial Pearson uses rice flour to highlight her intricate designs on sourdough bread. The UNO professor has been making bread while at home social distancing.
Grind It

Jared Beckenhauer skateboards in Seymour Smith Park on Wednesday in Omaha.
Metro Baseball

The hat falls off of Five Points Bank's Danny Spongberg , left, after he tagged out KB Building Services' Cole Payton after Payton got picked off in the third inning during the American Legion Metro tournament final at Millard South on Friday, July 31, 2020. It was one of two pickoffs in the inning.
Metro Baseball

Five Points Bank players celebrate their 6-3 win over KB Building Services in the Metro postseason tournament final Friday at Millard South. “It was nice, especially for our five seniors,” Five Points Bank coach Pat Mooney said.
Search

Omaha Police Officer Dan Torres and his police dog Peace search for evidence Friday after a man was fatally shot near 45th and Miami Streets.
chris.burbach@owh.com, 402-444-1057,