The opportunity to help people turn their lives around first drew Sara Stenger of Malcolm to corrections – now, she is doing it from the Seward County Detention Center director’s desk.
Stenger graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a degree in criminal justice in 2003. She originally wanted to work in juvenile probation, but when she stepped into a correctional officer role, she realized that she was meant for a career in a detention center.
She was a correctional officer at the Lancaster County Department of Corrections for 18 years. She said she has always had a heart to help others and loves getting to know inmates.
“When people are off of their drugs and alcohol and they’re away from their environment, they are just really looking for guidance,” she said. “I really enjoyed working with people like that and kind of getting them to a better position in their lives, finding a better way for themselves.”
Stenger began working at the Seward County Detention Center in 2020 as a programs coordinator. She introduced house arrest programming for inmates, oversaw housing classifications and ensured the center is Prison Rape Elimination Act compliant. The PREA helps provide a safe environment for inmates, and a center must meet 52 standards to be compliant.
Stenger said she enjoyed connecting with individuals and resources in related entities while she was program coordinator.
“We have a hard time finding resources within Seward County, so when I was in that role, I would try to make myself available to any opportunity that meant getting more knowledge, or going to conferences to network to introduce myself to other people,” she said.
Stenger said many inmates have said that they have been to a couple of different facilities and have never received as much one-on-one attention as they have in Seward.
“That makes me feel really good, because the goal is to set them up to better lives when they’re released,” she said. “To get people off to a new start, to give them as many resources that they can use to benefit their lives in the future, it helps them, it helps their families, it helps their children.”
Stenger was promoted to director of the SCDC in August. In her new leadership role, she works more closely with staff, which she also enjoys. She said she has a great department, and she and Deputy Director Andrew Truslow learn from one another.
“We’re seeing a lot of new, younger hires that are kind of seeing the benefits of helping within the walls,” she said. “I think they’re finding an interest they’ve never been introduced to. I really enjoy working with the staff, getting to know staff and seeing them grow in their field.”
It is frequently difficult to fully staff jails, as many people do not want to work second and third shifts. So, one of Stenger’s main goals as director will be to bring in more workers. However, she will still prioritize hiring quality staff who understand the importance of their responsibilities.
Truslow said Stenger has valuable experience and connections related to mental health, narcotics and alcohol treatment, reducing recidivism and more. She is also great with finances.
“I think the thing I’m most excited about is her background, having all those resources, the networking, being able to really push programming with our inmates,” Truslow said. “This is all really vital and important in a correctional facility – allowing the people that are incarcerated here opportunities to grow and find resources to better themselves, so they put themselves in situations that might not end back in jail at a future time.”
