Juveniles: secure youth treatment facilities: less restrictive programs.

Plain English Breakdown

The exact criteria and factors that judges must consider are not detailed in the provided summary.

Rules for Moving Juveniles from Secure Facilities

This law requires the Judicial Council to create guidelines by July 1, 2028, to assist judges in deciding whether juveniles can move from secure treatment facilities to less restrictive programs.

What This Bill Does

• Requires the Judicial Council to develop and adopt guidelines by July 1, 2028, for judges to use when considering whether to transfer juveniles from secure youth treatment facilities to less restrictive programs.
• The guidelines must help judges determine if a particular less restrictive program is an appropriate placement for a juvenile based on specific factors.
• Judges will need to consider the type of training staff at potential new programs have received before making decisions.

Who It Names or Affects

• Juveniles aged 14 and older who are in secure youth treatment facilities
• Courts that decide whether juveniles can move from secure facilities to less restrictive programs

Terms To Know

Judicial Council

A group that helps make rules for California courts.

Secure youth treatment facility

A place where troubled young people are kept to receive help and supervision.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify what happens if the Judicial Council fails to create these guidelines by July 1, 2028.
• It is unclear how much input juveniles will have in this decision-making process.

Official Summary Text

SB 1157, as amended, Archuleta.
Juveniles: secure youth treatment facilities: less restrictive programs.
Existing law authorizes a court to order a ward who is 14 years of age or older, and who meets certain criteria, to be committed to a secure youth treatment facility, operated by the county of commitment, for a period of confinement. Existing law authorizes the court, upon a motion from the probation department or the ward, to order that the ward be transferred from a secure youth treatment facility to a less restrictive program, such as a halfway house, a camp or ranch, or a community residential or nonresidential service program if the court determines that the ward has made substantial progress toward the goals of the individual rehabilitation plan. Existing law requires the court to consider the recommendations of the probation department on the proposed change in the placement.
This bill would require
the
Judicial Council, by
January
July
1, 2028, to develop and adopt guidelines to assist the court in determining whether a particular less restrictive program is an appropriate placement for a ward. The bill would require the guidelines to direct the court to consider specified topics, including, among others, the type of training a program’s staff has received.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF