Opportunities on the Horizon for 2022
By Julie Micek, LIMHP, Director
Division of Parole Supervision
As the Nebraska Board of Parole/Division of Parole Supervision embarks on opportunities that we see on the horizon for 2022 that we believe will be achievable, I want to first acknowledge what was accomplished in 2021. The year brought many adjustments to where we worked and how we conducted business. Building teams and coming together as a collective agency was one of our goals for the year and we have seen the fruits of our labor as we have flourished in all aspects of our parole business.
As we move into 2022, our transitional living housing dream is close to becoming a reality. A location has been chosen, an architect is helping to achieve a beautiful space, and a donor is planning to purchase the building which the agency will lease on a monthly basis. Ideally, we would like to be able to welcome our first client in early summer. This will create several new positions within the agency and opportunities for growth within.
We are looking forward to placing a large focus on our case management as it relates to programming. We will focus on gaining a deeper understanding of how treatment impacts and changes behavior. We will also work on developing tools to better gather and share information with our providers and with officers regarding programming—not only making referrals, but growing our partnership with our many providers will help us establish a strong foundation as it relates to treatment.
We are also reinventing our training as it relates to safety and defensive techniques. We are planning to add a verbal de-escalation component to complement our hands-on techniques.
2022 will bring more exploration with TJ McDowell, Assistant Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, who spoke with us about bias, prejudice, and racism during our Annual All-Staff Meeting in October 2021. We will be engaging in smaller focus groups to continue the important conversation that was started in the fall.
We are planning to move the Omaha Regional Parole Office in 2022 as we have come to a point where we are out of space both with staff offices and our programming needs. We are shifting some staff to remote work as it makes sense from a business perspective and a cost savings function. Toward this end, we have started the process to look for space and are excited to find a location that fits everyone’s needs.
A victim specialist position has been added through a federal grant. We are excited to expand this service to victims and assist our staff in meeting the needs of the community in 2022.
We also look forward to planning another All Staff Meeting in the fall of 2022 with the idea of possibly offering breakout sessions within the two days so there is content for all staff that specifically fits with their work within the agency.
With change comes endless possibilities. Together we will meet the challenges of 2022.