Commissioners approve MOU with Metropolitan Community College for youth case manager to support micro-credential program

The Douglas County Board of Commissioners on March 25 approved an interlocal agreement to let the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office host a youth and family engagement specialist who will connect system-involved 17–24-year-olds with short "micro-credential" training at Metropolitan Community College (MCC).

The memorandum of understanding formalizes a partnership between the county and MCC that, for year one, combines MCC funding and a $50,000 district community grant from Omaha City Councilman Ron Hugg to pay salary and benefits. Commissioners approved the MOU on a 7–0 vote (motion by Commissioner Friend; second by Commissioner Kavanaugh).

Sheriff’s Office representatives said the position grew from a 2023 pilot in which MCC and Avenue Scholars ran two micro-credential cohorts (cell-phone repair and basic construction) for system-involved young people. The sheriff’s office argued the pilot showed good completion rates but limited post-placement retention because there was no ongoing case-management model linking graduates to supports. The specialist’s duties will be to provide individualized case management and to coordinate with juvenile probation, adult probation, diversion programs, corrections and school systems to improve job-placement and retention outcomes for participants.

Todd Hansen and Tammy Green, both from MCC, attended the meeting to answer questions about the college’s role and the micro-credential programs. MCC staff described the micro-credential approach as short (often four to seven weeks), employer-focused training that awards industry-recognized credentials — for example, a mobile-device repair credential used in the sheriff’s pilot — to people who might not pursue a two-year associate degree.

Commissioners asked several operational questions before the vote: expected salary range, program duration, caseload size and whether county dollars were required. The sheriff’s office said the MCC salary scale starts at about $28 per hour and tops in the low $30s, and that the city’s $50,000 contribution is routed to the county through the MOU so MCC can finish salary funding for the first year. The sheriff’s office said it expects the specialist to carry an initial caseload of about 25 participants and that any incidental county costs (office space, a computer, a phone and supervision) would be covered by existing county resources rather than a direct salary allocation in year one.

Commissioner concerns included coordination with other county youth initiatives and data/reporting. The sheriff’s office said informal conversations with county youth stakeholders had occurred during the planning phase and that MCC is pursuing research support from the UNO Juvenile Justice Institute to provide evaluation and best-practice input. Commissioners asked for and were told they would receive quarterly reports from MCC on program activity.

Why it matters: The MOU creates a county-hosted case-management role intended to increase the effectiveness of short-term job training for system-involved young people. Commissioners and the sheriff noted the position is grant-funded in year one, will be supervised by the sheriff’s office as the central hub for system partners, and will be reassessed after the initial funding year.

The board adopted the MOU as a consent-item exception, 7–0. No additional county salary dollars were approved for wages and benefits in year one; the county committed to incidental support items and supervision.