New bill aims to ensure violent juveniles and community are safe

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(The Center Square) – A new bill aims to require courts to ensure safety measures are in place when deciding whether or not to allow a juvenile offender to be released back into the community.

Senate Bill 1157, authored by Sen. Bob Archuleta, D-Norwalk, would require courts to make sure that “less restrictive programs” have several types of insurance, conduct background checks on staff, follow a juvenile offender’s case plan and accountability measures. The bill also requires courts submit notice to the city or county where the violent juveniles are enrolled in the community program. 

Less-restrictive programs are meant to keep juvenile offenders housed, cared for and rehabilitated while technically still under the jurisdiction of the juvenile criminal justice system, according to a legislative analysis of the bill.

“What happens is these young men and women are released into the general public,” Archuleta told The Center Square Wednesday. “The bill just asks that the probation department work with the courts to make sure that the ward is protected, that he or she has the security that they need and where they’re not thrown into a situation that is something that we wouldn’t be proud of.”

That means either being housed with their families or other privately-owned residences where they can live in a safe environment, receive counseling, learn life skills like ironing their own clothes and cooking meals and receive guidance to get them enrolled in college, among other things, Archuleta said.

“Any oversight we can provide is essential for the continuity and peace of mind to the ward, to the courts, to the county and everyone else,” Archuleta said. “These young people deserve to be cared for and not cast aside, but at the same time, we’ve got to know who’s being released into these less-restrictive settings.”

Some who advocated for the bill said the legislation comes at a good time.

According to the Chief Probation Officers of California, attacks perpetrated by violent children who were technically still supposed to be under the control of the juvenile justice system include a fatal stabbing of a Fresno State University student by a child who allegedly later went to college at another California State University campus, Sacramento State. Youth who went through the juvenile justice system after allegedly perpetrating violent attacks were later housed in a building near UCLA with no warning to the community.

Officials from the California State University and the University of California system and representatives of the Chief Probation Officers of California also did not make anyone available for an interview before press time.

Opponents of the bill said the bill duplicates existing law, saying that courts are already required to consider recommendations from probation officers when determining a juvenile’s transfer to a less-restrictive program.  The bill also provides little to no guidance on who gets to interpret and enforce the law, opponents contend.

“If probation departments are expected to determine what the criteria require, the result will be 58 counties developing inconsistent standards independently, undermining the statewide uniformity the bill presumably seeks,” the Youth Justice Coalition wrote in its opposition statement. “If the criteria are instead treated as a bare checklist, they function as paperwork rather than protection, providing no meaningful assurance that a proposed [less-restrictive program] actually meets the needs of the youth being considered for transfer.”

The Youth Justice Coalition did not respond to The Center Square's request for comment Wednesday.

Senate Bill 1157 will be one of several bills heard by the Assembly Appropriations Committee in August after the legislature reconvenes from its month-long summer break.