Lancaster County Youth Services director resigns amidst investigation by state ombudsman

The Lancaster County Board hired Steven Wesley in October 2021, after longtime director Michelle “Sheli” Schindler retired suddenly six months earlier.

Wesley was the director of the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice before coming to lead youth services here, a job that paid him $115,000.

State Ombudsman Julie Rogers confirmed Friday her office is investigating complaints relating to the office, but wouldn’t say whether they involved Wesley directly.

“We do have an open investigation related to the Lancaster County detention center,” she said.

In addition to state agencies, the ombudsman has jurisdiction over county facilities such as jails and youth detention centers, she said.

She declined further comment about the substance of the complaints, which can come from a variety of sources — staff, those incarcerated or their families, or they can be anonymous.

Because the investigation involves young people, the inspector general of child welfare, which operates out of her office, also is investigating.

Whether a report results from the investigation depends on whether they find anything to report, she said, and Wesley’s resignation would have no impact on the investigation moving forward.

Lancaster County Board Chairwoman Christa Yoakum said that before his resignation, Wesley had been suspended with pay, but said she couldn’t comment further because it was a personnel matter.

He resigned late Thursday afternoon and in his resignation letter said he and the county had a difference in values and expectations, she said.

She declined comment on whether he was asked to resign.

The board is aware of the ombudsman’s investigation, Yoakum said, and is comfortable with that because it’s important to the county that they have a top-notch facility.

“There were a few things about the culture of the youth services the ombudsman was looking into,” she said. “We have high expectations of what happens in that facility and we want it to be a model facility.”

The county will do a national search for a new director, and in the meantime, a team of people in youth services and the jail will lead the facility.

“We may decide to hire an interim (director) because we feel like we need leadership, although I have the utmost trust in the staff,” she said. “They know their roles and they know what needs to be done.”

The county hired Zelle Human Resource Solutions, a Lincoln consulting and recruiting firm, to find and vet candidates before hiring Wesley, one of two candidates interviewed.

The youth services center, just south of the Nebraska State Penitentiary, houses young people awaiting adjudication in the juvenile justice system.

Other counties contract with Lancaster County to house detainees, and the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services opened a new Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Center inside part of the facility.

Wesley spent much of his career in youth and adult corrections.

He was deputy director of the Delaware Department of Youth Services from 2005-08, then became warden of the Delaware Department of Corrections.

In 2017, he became bureau chief for the Department of Corrections and in 2019 became a professional standards administrator for Delaware before taking the job in Georgia after about seven months.