Dodge County approves five-year juvenile services plan and two FY2026 grant applications to continue diversion program

The Dodge County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a five-year Juvenile Services Comprehensive Plan covering July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2030 and authorized submission of two FY2026 Community-based Juvenile Services Aid applications to the Nebraska Crime Commission.

Juvenile Diversion Director Meggie Studt told the board the comprehensive plan is required to receive grant funding and "includes a lot of data from the schools, probation, department of health and human services and social service entities." She said the CB application would pay for her salary and continue juvenile diversion services. Studt added the Enhanced (EB) application would cover the salary of a bilingual staff member and support additional diversion services.

County Attorney Hopkins said the diversion program is helpful to her office when handling juvenile issues and noted such programs keep juveniles out of the court system, which she said has been proven to lead to better outcomes.

The board approved the comprehensive plan and both grant submissions and authorized Chairman Missel to sign the applications and related documents. The items were approved unanimously. The plans and grant applications will be submitted as required to pursue the Nebraska Crime Commission funding that county officials said would support diversion staff and services.

The next procedural step is submittal of the applications to the Nebraska Crime Commission; no timelines for award notifications were provided in the meeting record.