July 1, 2021, will mark the five-year anniversary of Parole being placed under the Nebraska Board of Parole’s authority. The Division of Parole Supervision has continued to undergo significant change since it began transitioning to the new agency in 2016 even amidst challenges during the Pandemic. Though the Pandemic created a number of challenges this past year, it also brought about an opportunity for growth as the agency continued to move Parole forward into the future, including the expanded use of technology in our daily work. Highlights follow of how Parole has grown during the Pandemic:
At the outset of the Pandemic, the agency obtained the Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Funds grant which allowed the agency to purchase tablets for all staff as well as devices to allow for work from home arrangements (printers). Funding was also used to support increased Electronic Monitoring needs within the agency.
The agency obtained the 2019 Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) grant for two programs to be piloted for the first time in the state and Nation -- CBI4NE1, an open Cognitive Behavioral Interventions (CBI) group, and Violence Reduction Programming, community-based programming for our parole clients.
The agency was also successful in obtaining the 2020 BJA grant to further engagement and information-sharing regarding victim services and to create a full-time position to work with parole staff and victims to build supports for those who identify as victims and survivors.
Virtual hearing options were piloted with three Nebraska Department of Correctional Services (NDCS) institutions and a new virtual participation space was created at the Heritage Square Office. Throughout COVID-19, the Board has maintained hearing and review schedules while following NDCS protocol and continuing to release individuals to the community in a safe and effective fashion. Although there were challenges, the Board of Parole conducted offender reviews/parole hearings unless cancellations were necessary due to weather conditions. Utilizing technology, parole hearings were conducted via video-teleconference/audio-telephonic with the assistance of the Division of Parole Supervision staff/team. Visitors were only allowed for parole hearings if approved by NDCS. Nevertheless, the Board has conducted business as usual since the Pandemic began.
Revitalization of the agency’s website was undertaken in the last year to provide more information to the public, clients, families, and a wide variety of stakeholders regarding the Nebraska Board of Parole, Division of Parole Supervision, and parole processes.
The agency has focused on developing and building diversity amongst our staff by hiring individuals from a variety of backgrounds and with a range of experiences.
The network of available services to clients in both urban and rural environments via transition to online modes of program delivery has also been expanded (pretreatment and relapse drug treatment, cognitive-behavioral programming, etc.).
We look forward to seeing what the future holds in store for the agency but believe we are better positioned today to meet the challenges of tomorrow. With change comes endless possibilities.