Corrections inspector general said strides made in staffing, but more work to be done inside NE prisons

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) -Despite tackling a staffing shortage that was deemed crisis-level last year, the state’s prison watchdog said there’s still plenty of room for improvement.

The annual report lays out key issues with the corrections system and this year those responsibilities will fall into the lap of a new director with Scott Frakes set to resign effective October 7. Governor Ricketts naming current NDCS employee Diane Sabatka-Rine as interim director.

Koebernick said he has high hopes for the new leadership, looking specifically for someone who has experience, new ideas and an open ear.

“I hope it’s someone who can get out and listen to the population, engage with them,” Koebernick said.

Koebernick said if the new director does this, they’ll be better able to solve some of the departments top concerns. One of the most pressing is the lack of mental-health personnel in a system where it’s desperately needed.

‘When you have people with mental illnesses, I mean, you have to have therapy around them,” Koebernick said. “You need treatment, programming, things like that.”

The report shows nearly 60 behavioral health vacancies overall, including 31 behavioral health practitioners, 12 psychologists and four psychiatrists.

‘When you don’t have staff to do those things you’re going to have more people acting out, more violence,” Koebernick said.

These positions weren’t impacted by the historic raises secured by the Correctional Officers Union last year, Koebernick said more needs to be done to get those staff in place, starting with keeping the ones they currently have.

“Engage with those staff, why are some of them leaving,” Koebernick said. “What are their conditions? That would be a really good first step.”

The inspector general’s report also highlighted a need for better programming with hundreds of inmates not receiving substance abuse, violence reduction, domestic violence and sex offender treatments that have been recommended.

“There’s a lot of programming going on, but whether it’s effective and it’s following evidence based models,” Koebernick said. “That’s a question we have.”

The legislature has allocated money to contract with an outside agency to do a full review of programming for the department. It’s one of many studies NDCS is waiting on right now.

“I think that the studies that I’ve talked about with the classification, the program evaluations, plus all of our offices work, and the work that they already do in the in the system, really should provide a good roadmap for the new director, he can realize he or she they can realize what the challenges are before them, what needs to be addressed,”Koebernick said.

Read the full report here: https://nebraskalegislature.gov/pdf/reports/public_counsel/2022_annual_report.pdf

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