Opinion ID: 1910921
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: temporary detention as treatment

Text: In support of its position, DSS urges us to examine the Nebraska Juvenile Code and other statutes which address detention costs to see how the Legislature has allocated the payment for detention costs in other circumstances. Presumably, such an examination would help us determine if the Legislature intended to have DSS pay this type of detention cost under the provisions of § 43-290. In actuality, we are required to determine if the temporary detention of a wayward juvenile is considered treatment of the juvenile as that term is used in § 43-290. The fact of the matter is that once a juvenile has been committed to the care and custody of DSS, then if temporary detention of a wayward juvenile is considered a part of treatment of the juvenile, DSS is mandated by statute to pay the costs of the detention which are not otherwise paid by the juvenile's parent. Where statutory words are plain, direct, and unambiguous, it does not matter how the Legislature has allocated the payment for detention costs in other circumstances or under other statutory schemes. The foremost purpose and objective of the Nebraska Juvenile Code is to promote and protect the juvenile's best interests. In re Interest of D.D.P., 235 Neb. 864, 458 N.W.2d 193 (1990). Moreover, the juvenile code must be construed to assure the rights of all juveniles to care and protection. Neb. Rev.Stat. § 43-246 (Reissue 1993). Treatment is defined as meaning preventive guidance and corrective training esp. of juvenile delinquents and youthful criminal offenders.... Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged 2435 (1993). The temporary confinement of Lisa in a juvenile detention center over the Thanksgiving weekend was, in fact, the exact type of treatment that was necessary for her guidance and safekeeping until the juvenile court had an opportunity to review the circumstances on Monday, November 30, 1992. The plain meaning of the phrase support, study, [and] treatment within the context of § 43-290 is that these are words of inclusion, not words of exclusion. Under these circumstances, a temporary detention which effects the treatment of a wayward juvenile equates to assuring the right of the juvenile to the provision of care and protection. When a juvenile is committed to the care and custody of DSS, and temporary detention results for the protection of the child or is found to be in the best interests of the juvenile's physical or mental health needs, we hold that type of detention is, in fact, treatment of the juvenile as that term is used in § 43-290.