Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
We welcome Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hanson back to the program. Areuff,
good morning, Good morning, Good to have you back. I'm
interested in this program. We've discussed this on the air.
We've discussed this off the air many times about juveniles
in our community involved in the criminal justice system and you,
(00:21):
as you've pointed out, you being both tough on crime
and helping kids get a second chance is the best balance.
And there's a program that you got your office and
Metro are partnering and right called Skill Up, Step Forward.
That's that's trying to do just that. What is the
(00:42):
story here?
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Yeah, you you articulated it pretty well there, Gary. So
you know, nobody trust me. Nobody loves arresting criminals more
than me, especially when it comes to making sure that
we're protecting innocent people and keeping their property and there
and the family safe. But we also know that, you know,
we've got a real gap both in our employee our
(01:06):
employee realm in terms of employers not having enough skilled
potential employees to fill their ranks. But then also we've
got we've got people that struggle with cycles of poverty,
addiction and crime that you know have kids, and unfortunately
those kids often follow the same path. And we're going
to try this innovative approach. This has never been done
(01:28):
before in the nation, but we're trying this new innovative
approach where the Sheriff's office has hired a civilian with
background expertise in probation. The Sheriff's office has touches all
of these supervision entities and whether it be adult probation,
juvenile probation, parole diversion. We have direct contact with them
at the courthouse because that's where that's where about half
(01:50):
our staff works and try to connect these system involved
youth age seventeen to twenty four with micro credentialing training
through MCC's their credential college. They have a wide palette
of training that people can take maybe anywhere from two weeks,
it may be four months, but you can get a
high skill, paid job skill and immediately be marked very
(02:15):
marketable out in the workforce.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
All right, A couple of questions, who pays for this?
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Yeah, Well that's the smart thing is that our youth
and Family engagement specialists is she's a center spoke and
she's got a team around her that Metro has created
and they each have their own specialty. So you may
have an employment specialist. They're actually going to hire one
here pretty soon. They've got a specialist that focuses on
(02:43):
student aid and applying for scholarships and things like that.
Plus there's been there's been grants that have been awarded.
It's a metro to help pay for the tuitions for
these young people, because ultimately, I think whether it's the
Department of Education here in Nebraska, whether it's a state
Chamber of Commerce, everybody knows we're going to be stronger
if we convert these challenge folks to contributing, tax paying
(03:08):
members of society as opposed to the tract that they're on.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Flesh out a little bit, Sheriff, Who these gids are,
these kids that have been in trouble or kids that
look like they may be headed that way and you're
trying to head it off or what.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Yeah, the target age range is ages seventeen to twenty four,
and potential participants. They just need to be somehow system involved,
whether they are and maybe an expelled student from a school,
maybe they are awaiting charges in county court or district court.
Three of the young people that graduated a couple of
(03:44):
days ago at MCC were both in the Young Adult Court.
That is a problem solving court that allows young people
to earn their way out of their felony charges and
end up with a clean record if they successfully participate
in the program and graduate.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Okay, fellony, what kind of thingies? Because I'm nervous about that.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Well, it could be it could be stealing a car,
It could be not violent sellings, but it could be
a theft, it could be a drug charge. But ultimately,
you know, we have to do that balancing act to
make sure that if we can turn these young folks
trajectory into something positive for their taxpayers and they are
(04:25):
essentially rewarding generational wealth to the kids that come after them,
that's a win for everybody, no doubt.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Yeah, does the does the program address how it might
be difficult for these young people to uh even though
they have the credential to find work, because employers are
going to be nervous about their record.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
You know, that's the surprising thing. A lot of employers
now they are they are being a little more generous
on the background check because a lot of employers they
want people. So that's the other value of this program
is that employers that hire these credentialed young people, they're
going to have confidence that they're not only being case
(05:10):
managed and mentored by the various people at Dcso whether
it be Alexia King, our Youth Engagement family specialists, it's
at center hub of the effort, but other folks at MCC,
but also the individuals that are actually supervising them, whether
it be juvenile probation, adult probation, diversion, things like that.
(05:32):
So it's really we're trying to bring this team approach,
trying to bring everyone together to make sure these kids
have all their barriers dropped, whether it's transportation, housing, addiction,
and really make sure that they are labor ready after
they get this training, because it's not the win is
not just putting through the training. The win is getting
them a job and keeping them employed.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Wonderful. I applaud that effort. And as long as we're
not you know, kids that go out and shoot people, uh,
they need to be they need to be incarcerated.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Long we've got it. We've got a place for those kids.
This isn't this isn't
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Okay, Thanks appreciate it.
We welcome Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hanson back to the program. Areuff,
good morning, Good morning, Good to have you back. I'm
interested in this program. We've discussed this on the air.
We've discussed this off the air many times about juveniles
in our community involved in the criminal justice system and you,
(00:21):
as you've pointed out, you being both tough on crime
and helping kids get a second chance is the best balance.
And there's a program that you got your office and
Metro are partnering and right called Skill Up, Step Forward.
That's that's trying to do just that. What is the
(00:42):
story here?
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Yeah, you you articulated it pretty well there, Gary. So
you know, nobody trust me. Nobody loves arresting criminals more
than me, especially when it comes to making sure that
we're protecting innocent people and keeping their property and there
and the family safe. But we also know that, you know,
we've got a real gap both in our employee our
(01:06):
employee realm in terms of employers not having enough skilled
potential employees to fill their ranks. But then also we've
got we've got people that struggle with cycles of poverty,
addiction and crime that you know have kids, and unfortunately
those kids often follow the same path. And we're going
to try this innovative approach. This has never been done
(01:28):
before in the nation, but we're trying this new innovative
approach where the Sheriff's office has hired a civilian with
background expertise in probation. The Sheriff's office has touches all
of these supervision entities and whether it be adult probation,
juvenile probation, parole diversion. We have direct contact with them
at the courthouse because that's where that's where about half
(01:50):
our staff works and try to connect these system involved
youth age seventeen to twenty four with micro credentialing training
through MCC's their credential college. They have a wide palette
of training that people can take maybe anywhere from two weeks,
it may be four months, but you can get a
high skill, paid job skill and immediately be marked very
(02:15):
marketable out in the workforce.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
All right, A couple of questions, who pays for this?
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Yeah, Well that's the smart thing is that our youth
and Family engagement specialists is she's a center spoke and
she's got a team around her that Metro has created
and they each have their own specialty. So you may
have an employment specialist. They're actually going to hire one
here pretty soon. They've got a specialist that focuses on
(02:43):
student aid and applying for scholarships and things like that.
Plus there's been there's been grants that have been awarded.
It's a metro to help pay for the tuitions for
these young people, because ultimately, I think whether it's the
Department of Education here in Nebraska, whether it's a state
Chamber of Commerce, everybody knows we're going to be stronger
if we convert these challenge folks to contributing, tax paying
(03:08):
members of society as opposed to the tract that they're on.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Flesh out a little bit, Sheriff, Who these gids are,
these kids that have been in trouble or kids that
look like they may be headed that way and you're
trying to head it off or what.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Yeah, the target age range is ages seventeen to twenty four,
and potential participants. They just need to be somehow system involved,
whether they are and maybe an expelled student from a school,
maybe they are awaiting charges in county court or district court.
Three of the young people that graduated a couple of
(03:44):
days ago at MCC were both in the Young Adult Court.
That is a problem solving court that allows young people
to earn their way out of their felony charges and
end up with a clean record if they successfully participate
in the program and graduate.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Okay, fellony, what kind of thingies? Because I'm nervous about that.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Well, it could be it could be stealing a car,
It could be not violent sellings, but it could be
a theft, it could be a drug charge. But ultimately,
you know, we have to do that balancing act to
make sure that if we can turn these young folks
trajectory into something positive for their taxpayers and they are
(04:25):
essentially rewarding generational wealth to the kids that come after them,
that's a win for everybody, no doubt.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Yeah, does the does the program address how it might
be difficult for these young people to uh even though
they have the credential to find work, because employers are
going to be nervous about their record.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
You know, that's the surprising thing. A lot of employers
now they are they are being a little more generous
on the background check because a lot of employers they
want people. So that's the other value of this program
is that employers that hire these credentialed young people, they're
going to have confidence that they're not only being case
(05:10):
managed and mentored by the various people at Dcso whether
it be Alexia King, our Youth Engagement family specialists, it's
at center hub of the effort, but other folks at MCC,
but also the individuals that are actually supervising them, whether
it be juvenile probation, adult probation, diversion, things like that.
(05:32):
So it's really we're trying to bring this team approach,
trying to bring everyone together to make sure these kids
have all their barriers dropped, whether it's transportation, housing, addiction,
and really make sure that they are labor ready after
they get this training, because it's not the win is
not just putting through the training. The win is getting
them a job and keeping them employed.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Wonderful. I applaud that effort. And as long as we're
not you know, kids that go out and shoot people, uh,
they need to be they need to be incarcerated.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Long we've got it. We've got a place for those kids.
This isn't this isn't
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Okay, Thanks appreciate it.
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