Douglas County Youth Center Reducing the Use of Room Isolation Project

The Reducing the Use of Isolation in Juvenile Facilities program will provide funding to support states, territories, units of local government, and federally recognized tribes to implement strategies to safely reduce the use of isolation in juvenile facilities.

The Douglas County Youth Center Reducing the Use of Room Isolation Project seeks to better understand and reform room confinement practices within a midsize secure juvenile detention facility in Omaha, Nebraska. Douglas County Youth Center (DCYC) has an average daily population of 80 youth. While the number of detained youth at DCYC has decreased, the overreliance on room confinement has not. DCYC will take a three-phased approach to implementing five essential steps to reducing room confinement in juvenile detention facilities as outlined by the Council of Juvenile Correctional Administrators’ 2015 toolkit. In Phase One, DCYC will adopt a mission statement and philosophy that reflect rehabilitative goals; develop policies and procedures for the use and monitoring of isolation; and identify data to manage, monitor, and be accountable for the use of isolation. In Phase Two, DCYC will develop alternative behavior management options and responses, and train and develop staff. In Phase Three, DCYC will conduct evaluation and sustainability planning, and establish continuous quality improvement processes to ensure long-term climate/culture change. The isolation reduction project will be integrated with two current DCYC initiatives: therapeutic-based crisis response teams and a behavioral health initiative. CA/NCF