# DHHS chief pledges caution on youth facility relocations after lawmakers balk  
**Published:** 2026-05-01T10:00:00.000Z  
**Source:** [Flatwater Free Press](https://flatwaterfreepress.org/dhhs-head-pledges-to-be-thoughtful-and-careful-after-lawmakers-balk-at-plan-to-move-in-custody-teens/)  
**AI-generated:** yes (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001)  
**Canonical:** https://lincolne.news/article/dhhs-chief-pledges-caution-on-youth-facility-relocations-after-lawmakers-balk

The head of Nebraska's Department of Health and Human Services promised Thursday to proceed "thoughtfully and carefully" with a controversial plan to relocate detained youth among state facilities, after lawmakers rejected related legislation during the recently concluded legislative session. [The statement from CEO Steve Corsi came after a cabinet meeting](https://flatwaterfreepress.org/dhhs-head-pledges-to-be-thoughtful-and-careful-after-lawmakers-balk-at-plan-to-move-in-custody-teens/) where officials outlined the complex proposal, which would reshuffle some of Nebraska's most troubled youth detention centers.

Under the plan, [boys currently at the Kearney Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Center would move to Omaha's Nebraska Correctional Youth Facility](https://flatwaterfreepress.org/state-pitches-moving-boys-from-troubled-kearney-youth-center-to-omaha/), while girls from Hastings would relocate to Kearney. Teenagers at Whitehall, a Lincoln psychiatric treatment facility, would move to Hastings, and youth currently at the Omaha prison would transfer to a renovated wing at the Reception and Treatment Center, an adult prison in Lincoln.

State officials assert the changes would save money and improve services, but the proposal has drawn fierce opposition. Lawmakers rejected both a bill and a budget request related to the plan, opting instead to study it further. ["The whole process was not communicated well," said State Sen. Stan Clouse, a Republican from Kearney](https://flatwaterfreepress.org/state-pitches-moving-boys-from-troubled-kearney-youth-center-to-omaha/), whose community would be significantly affected.

The timing compounds concerns. The Kearney center has been plagued by allegations of staff sexual abuse since fall 2025, when [at least four current or former staff members were implicated in incidents involving multiple teenagers](https://flatwaterfreepress.org/pattern-of-alleged-staff-sexual-abuse-at-state-run-kearney-youth-center-emerges-in-court-hearings/). Officials have said the proposal was not created in response to those allegations, though critics argue the plan does little to address underlying safety concerns.

Advocates have raised significant concerns about moving girls to Kearney given the documented abuse history there. "I don't think anybody could design anything worse," said Kathy Bigsby Moore, founder of Voices for Children Nebraska, calling the plan "an unraveling of very thoughtful, careful work."

Corrections is moving ahead with plans to renovate a Lincoln facility to accommodate the Omaha youth. However, the DHHS portion of the plan—involving the three rehabilitation centers—remains in limbo pending further legislative consideration. Corsi indicated the department will work with lawmakers before next year's session but stopped short of fully ruling out moves in the interim.

The proposal has also drawn criticism from labor unions representing facility staff, who say they received no advance notice of the plan and were not consulted about how relocations would affect staffing levels and employee job security.

## Sources

- [Flatwater Free Press](https://flatwaterfreepress.org/dhhs-head-pledges-to-be-thoughtful-and-careful-after-lawmakers-balk-at-plan-to-move-in-custody-teens/)
- [Flatwater Free Press reporting on the original facility relocation proposal](https://flatwaterfreepress.org/state-pitches-moving-boys-from-troubled-kearney-youth-center-to-omaha/)
- [Flatwater Free Press coverage of pattern of alleged staff sexual abuse at Kearney youth center](https://flatwaterfreepress.org/pattern-of-alleged-staff-sexual-abuse-at-state-run-kearney-youth-center-emerges-in-court-hearings/)

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This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from Flatwater Free Press, enriched with 3 web searches. The original source is available at https://flatwaterfreepress.org/dhhs-head-pledges-to-be-thoughtful-and-careful-after-lawmakers-balk-at-plan-to-move-in-custody-teens/.