Douglas County youth detention report shows long stays and racial disparities; advocates press for faster placements
January 13, 2026 | Douglas County, Nebraska
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Douglas County officials and community providers on Jan. 13 reviewed the Douglas County Youth Center’s (DCYC) 2025 year-end detention report and discussed persistent long lengths of stay, racial disproportionality in admissions, and delays in moving youth to approved placements.
Dr. Abby Carbaugh, presenting the DCYC metrics, reported multi-year trends and demographic breakdowns. She noted that the center’s annual average daily population for 2025 was roughly 80 and reported racial disproportionality in admissions: Black youth accounted for about 55% of DCYC admissions in 2025 while White youth accounted for about 23% and Hispanic youth about 15%. The presenter described length-of-stay trends: an annual average near 69 days and an increase in December attributed in part to youth released on adult-court charges who spent longer in detention.
There was a discrepancy in totals during the meeting. Early in the presentation Dr. Carbaugh referenced 637 admissions for 2025; later in response to a board question she stated the total number of admissions for 2025 was 521. The board and presenters did not reconcile the difference during the meeting; the article reports both numbers and flags the inconsistency for follow-up.
The slide deck and discussion broke down December 2025 admissions: 49 admissions that month (3 charged as adults, 3 from other jurisdictions, 43 juvenile-court admissions). Of the December admissions, a subset involved weapons-related offenses, including some felony firearm charges and two cases with homicide-related charges. Dr. Carbaugh also said as of Jan. 9 the center had 77 youth in custody and as of Jan. 12 there were 11 youth awaiting placement (three were state wards) with an average waiting time reported as 32 days.
Board members questioned whether the county’s new detention facility’s operational capacity (stated as 64 beds) has been reached and pressed for policy options to prevent children from languishing in detention while they wait for placements. Commissioner Borgeson suggested the board could set a formal threshold for maximum waiting days to trigger a reevaluation of placement decisions: "We could have a policy that our average length of stay is no longer than, you know, 10 days, 12 days, 15, whatever we want to make it." DCYC superintendent Rhondie Woodard said the facility is developing a staff position and a structured program to improve communications with probation and to push for timely placement decisions.
Community providers in the audience urged quicker handoffs and broader use of local resources. Tamika Meese, executive director of North Omaha Community Partnership, said probation is not using newer community providers and that gaps in immediate post-release supports contribute to re-offending: "They're waiting because the new resources are not being tapped into." Roscoe Wallace of Viable Healing and Terry Crawford (defense counsel and NAACP vice president) emphasized relationship-building inside DCYC and asked for stronger upstream collaboration with schools and probation to reduce entry into detention.
The presentation prompted discussion of operational and policy follow-ups but produced no immediate board vote other than the procedural approval of reports. The board moved later to an executive session on unrelated matters and adjourned.
Dr. Abby Carbaugh, presenting the DCYC metrics, reported multi-year trends and demographic breakdowns. She noted that the center’s annual average daily population for 2025 was roughly 80 and reported racial disproportionality in admissions: Black youth accounted for about 55% of DCYC admissions in 2025 while White youth accounted for about 23% and Hispanic youth about 15%. The presenter described length-of-stay trends: an annual average near 69 days and an increase in December attributed in part to youth released on adult-court charges who spent longer in detention.
There was a discrepancy in totals during the meeting. Early in the presentation Dr. Carbaugh referenced 637 admissions for 2025; later in response to a board question she stated the total number of admissions for 2025 was 521. The board and presenters did not reconcile the difference during the meeting; the article reports both numbers and flags the inconsistency for follow-up.
The slide deck and discussion broke down December 2025 admissions: 49 admissions that month (3 charged as adults, 3 from other jurisdictions, 43 juvenile-court admissions). Of the December admissions, a subset involved weapons-related offenses, including some felony firearm charges and two cases with homicide-related charges. Dr. Carbaugh also said as of Jan. 9 the center had 77 youth in custody and as of Jan. 12 there were 11 youth awaiting placement (three were state wards) with an average waiting time reported as 32 days.
Board members questioned whether the county’s new detention facility’s operational capacity (stated as 64 beds) has been reached and pressed for policy options to prevent children from languishing in detention while they wait for placements. Commissioner Borgeson suggested the board could set a formal threshold for maximum waiting days to trigger a reevaluation of placement decisions: "We could have a policy that our average length of stay is no longer than, you know, 10 days, 12 days, 15, whatever we want to make it." DCYC superintendent Rhondie Woodard said the facility is developing a staff position and a structured program to improve communications with probation and to push for timely placement decisions.
Community providers in the audience urged quicker handoffs and broader use of local resources. Tamika Meese, executive director of North Omaha Community Partnership, said probation is not using newer community providers and that gaps in immediate post-release supports contribute to re-offending: "They're waiting because the new resources are not being tapped into." Roscoe Wallace of Viable Healing and Terry Crawford (defense counsel and NAACP vice president) emphasized relationship-building inside DCYC and asked for stronger upstream collaboration with schools and probation to reduce entry into detention.
The presentation prompted discussion of operational and policy follow-ups but produced no immediate board vote other than the procedural approval of reports. The board moved later to an executive session on unrelated matters and adjourned.
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