March 5, 2007
Dear Fellow Nebraskans:
Not long ago, I announced that Nebraska was selected to be part of a pilot project helping states improve their community corrections programs. These programs are designed to better serve residents by putting a high value on protecting public safety, while holding offenders accountable for their actions and helping control the costs of operating correctional facilities.
The Pew Charitable Trusts will provide research and financial assistance to Nebraska’s Community Corrections Council to help collect and analyze data, as well as evaluate ways other states deal with overcrowding and other challenges facing corrections officials in order to better understand ways state policies can have a positive impact when addressing these challenges.
Nebraska’s prison population is projected to grow in the coming years. We believe that community corrections programs can help provide better results than simply building more maximum-security prisons in our state.
We have invested significant resources in our community corrections program in recent years. Our Community Corrections Council has been working to address issues ranging from reforming Nebraska’s sentencing guidelines to using probation, parole and intensive supervision upon release to help offset the need for additional prisons.
We have also implemented a voucher program for treatment programs, created a specialized substance abuse supervision program for probationers and parolees, and established day and evening reporting centers at test sites for probationers, parolees and drug court participants. These reforms, combined with other changes we hope this partnership can help us develop, provide the potential to stem the growth of Nebraska’s prison population.
This project was started to help states seek better results from their sentencing and corrections systems. Nebraska is one of eight states selected for the program, due to the advances made during the past five years in reforming our criminal justice system and sentencing practices, the willingness of state agencies to work together, and the commitment by leaders from each of the three branches of government to find practical solutions to the challenges facing our corrections system.
This project will provide an opportunity to look more closely at Nebraska’s corrections system, and use the expertise of our private partners to review current policies and suggest changes that will result in a more comprehensive community corrections program.
Nebraska is ahead of the curve when it comes to making changes designed to improve our corrections programs. Through this partnership, we hope to achieve even better results when it comes to the return of ex-offenders as productive, law-abiding members of society.
By identifying factors driving prison growth and identifying successful reform efforts that can be used here at home, we hope to continue making progress in protecting the public in ways that help control corrections spending.
We want to provide our partners in law enforcement and the courts with options that hold offenders accountable, while also allowing for the safe return of offenders to society. We will continue exploring ways we can make our drug courts and monitoring programs more effective for those who work in these areas, while also ensuring offenders eligible to return to normal life have the ability to become productive members of our society and ultimately making Nebraska a better place for us all.
