Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First

Juvenile Justice and public education

Kimball county has been receiving Juvenile Justice grants from the State of Nebraska, for the last few years according to County Attorney, Dave Wilson. The state receives the funding through a federal program called the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, from the Crime Commission.

“This is fairly new program and we are just getting into this process,” Wilson said, “but I think it will be good for the youth of our county.”

The state emphasizes diversion programs for the youth who get into trouble. Wilson has been to several meetings on the subject.

“We have problems with our juveniles,” expressed Kimball County Clerk Sibal during the last regular County Commissioner board meeting, “we had all those teens that were involved in the underaged drinking. Don’t you think that we (the county) should have had some education on that?”

Public education, such as that Sibal requested, may be considered in the near future.

“It may be a little late now, since they are already under contract, but at least in the future it might be worth considering to have the public defender assist in public education,” offered the attorney for the commissioners, Matt Turman, “It’s a thought. As attorneys, we are supposed to give time and pro-Bono. Might not be a bad place for those people to put their talents.”

Region I Youth Network and Prevention System Coordinator, Faith Mills, spoke about a meeting that was held to to coordinate an effort to build a Kimball County substance abuse prevention coalition, and requested Commissioner Daria Anderson-Faden’s time and effort in finding persons in the community to be a part of the grassroots coalition.

The idea of putting together a substance abuse prevention coalition for Kimball County first began during a Region I meeting held in Scottsbluff several months ago and attended by Commissioner Faden.

According to Mills, Kimball has had many short-lived, upstart programs in the past fifteen years, but nothing has ever stuck. One reason Mills offered is that it takes people from schools, elected officials, youth and parents being involved in the program in order for it to sustain itself.

Mills believes that there is a lot of stigma behind such a program and that the mission of such a program is often misunderstood.

The function of the proposed program, according to Mills, is to provide services prior to the onset of substance abuse and to offer supports strategies intended to prevent the occurrence of a disorder and further reduce the risk of a disorder.

Prevention also strives to optimize well-being through mental health promotion and mental illness prevention.

Preventive interventions are designed to address three levels of risk: universal (general public), selective (high-risk) and indicated (high-risk showing minimal, but detectable, signs of disorders).

The goal is to coordinate a sustained, unified prevention system with funding that will produce an outcome in reducing substance abuse and related problems, according to Mills.

Region I’s involvement in the proposed Kimball coalition is to provide training opportunities, technical assistance and help coordinating prevention activities and initiatives.

Mills is excited that Faden has shown a lot of interest in the coalition, as is Kaitlin Wilson, a mental health specialist.

Both women are from Kimball and know the citizens in the area. Mills believes that this fact alone could help sustain a substance abuse prevention coalition at this time.

She added that it is up to the community to make a go of the proposed project specifically community members that will become involved and stay involved.

Anyone interested in forming the Kimball area coalition can contact Faith Mills at [email protected].

 
 
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