BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de León, Chair
SB 61 (Yee) - Juveniles: solitary confinement.
Amended: April 30, 2013 Policy Vote: Public Safety 5-2
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: May 13, 2013 Consultant: Jolie Onodera
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: SB 61 would establish standards and protocols for
the use of solitary confinement in state and local juvenile
facilities and other secure state or local facilities for the
confinement of minors and delinquent wards, as specified, and
make various changes to the composition and duties of local
juvenile justice commissions.
Fiscal Impact:
Increased costs to the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation (CDCR) Division of Juvenile Facilities (DJF) of
$3.5 million (General Fund) annually for increased mental
health staffing to meet the requirements of this bill.
Increased state-reimbursable costs to over 125 local juvenile
facilities potentially in the millions of dollars (General
Fund) to meet the requirements of this bill.
Unknown, potentially significant cost pressure to local county
mental health staff to respond to increased evaluation
requirements at local juvenile facilities.
One-time costs to the Board of State and Community Corrections
(BSCC) of approximately $60,000 (General Fund) to draft
emergency regulations reflective of the requirements in this
measure.
Ongoing costs potentially in the range of $170,000 (General
Fund) to the BSCC to provide additional training to local
juvenile detention facility staff to comply with the new
regulations.
Minor ongoing local costs to effectuate the changes to
juvenile justice commission membership. Ongoing costs of about
$30,000 (General Fund) to the BSCC for revised and extended
training provided to juvenile justice commission members.
Potentially significant ongoing state-reimbursable costs for
local juvenile justice commissions to expand the list of
annual inspections of jails and lockup facilities to include
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any facility within the county used for confinement of a minor
for more than 24 hours. Additional state-mandated costs to
expand its review to records of solitary confinement newly
required under the bill's provisions, as well as increased
reporting requirements to the county board of supervisors.
Background: Current law requires the Board of State and
Community Corrections (BSCC) to "adopt minimum standards for the
operation and maintenance of juvenile halls for the confinement
of minors." The BSCC is required to "adopt and prescribe the
minimum standards of construction, operation, programs of
education and training, and qualifications of personnel for
juvenile ranches, camps, or forestry camps . . . ." This bill
would enact new statutory provisions regulating the use of
"solitary confinement," as defined, in juvenile facilities.
Current law provides that in each county there shall be a
juvenile justice commission consisting of not less than 7 and no
more than 15 citizens, as specified. Current law requires that
two or more of the members be persons who are between 14 and 21
years of age, "provided there are available persons between 14
and 21 years of age who are able to carry out the duties of a
commission member in a manner satisfactory to the appointing
authority."
Proposed Law: SB 61 would establish standards and protocols for
the use of solitary confinement in state and local juvenile
facilities and other secure state or local facilities for the
confinement of minors and delinquent wards, as specified, and
make various changes to the composition and duties of local
juvenile justice commissions. This bill:
Provides that a minor or ward may be held in solitary
confinement only in accordance with all of the following
guidelines:
o The minor or ward shall be held in solitary
confinement only for the minimum time required to address
the safety risk, and that does not compromise the mental
and physical health of the minor or ward.
o The minor or ward shall be evaluated, within one
hour after placement in solitary confinement and every
four hours thereafter, face-to-face by a clinician to
determine the health and mental health status of the
minor or ward. Each health and mental health clinical
evaluation shall be documented and shall include an
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assessment of the risks to the minor or ward posed by
continued placement in solitary confinement.
o The minor or ward shall not be placed in solitary
confinement for more than 24 hours in a one-week period
without the written approval of the Chief of the DJF, or
his or her designee, or the chief probation officer, or
his or her designee, who shall not approve continued
solitary confinement unless he or she has first obtained
the results of, and considered, the health and mental
health clinical evaluations.
Provides that, if "a minor or ward, as a result of
mental disorder, is a danger to others, or to himself or
herself, or gravely disabled, he or she shall not be
subject to continued solitary confinement, and shall be
transported to and evaluated at a Lanterman-Petris-Short
Act designated facility, as specified.
For a minor or ward exhibiting risk of self-harm or
suicidal behavior that is not a result of a mental
disorder, if it is determined that more intense
intervention is needed, requires that minor or ward to be
moved to a mental health hospital and an individualized
suicide crisis intervention plan be approved by a clinician
within four hours after the move.
Requires each "local and state juvenile facility to
document the usage of solitary confinement, including the
dates and duration of each occurrence and the reason for
placement in solitary confinement. These records shall
affirmatively certify that health and mental health
clinical evaluations were conducted and the results of
those evaluations were considered in any decision to place
a minor or ward in solitary confinement or to continue
solitary confinement. These records shall be available for
public inspection . . . ," as specified.
Requires two or more members of juvenile justice
commissions shall be parents or guardians of previously or
currently incarcerated youth, and that one member shall be
a licensed social worker, licensed psychiatrist, or
licensed psychologist with expertise in adolescent
development.
Revise this section to expressly include a "facility"
within its scope.
Require, as part of the annual inspection, the
commission to "review the records of the jail, lockup, or
facility as to the use of solitary confinement," as
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specified.
Requires the commissions to report the results of its
inspections to the board of supervisors, to present these
reports at an annual hearing on the condition of juvenile
justice corrections as part of a regularly scheduled public
meeting of the county board of supervisors, and to publish
these reports on the county government Internet website.
Related Legislation: SB 1363 (Yee) 2012 was similar to this
measure and failed passage in the Senate Committee on Public
Safety.
Staff Comments: This bill would create a significant fiscal
impact for the CDCR DJF by requiring health and mental health
interviews and evaluations for juveniles at intervals of 1-hour,
every 4 hours, and every 24 hours. These additional duties could
require the department to increase mental health staffing to
provide 24-hour coverage each day of the year. The DJF estimates
an increase in staff psychologists over the number currently
employed would be required in order to comply with the
expectations in the bill. To satisfy the requirements for the
health and mental health evaluations of all youth placed on
"solitary confinement," as defined, and for the subsequent
evaluations every four hours thereafter, DJF projects additional
costs for psychologists and licensed vocational nurses of $3.46
million (General Fund) annually.
CDCR also notes the proposed requirements for youth are
significantly above and beyond what is required by current
policy, approved by the Farrell courts and beyond the community
standard.
Based on information from the BSCC juvenile detention population
survey (3rd quarter, 2012), the average daily population is
approximately 8,462 youth in juvenile halls, camps, and other
facilities. It is estimated there are about 125 juvenile
facilities located in 50 of the 58 counties across the state. To
the extent county facilities would be required to increase
mental health staffing to meet the standards established in this
bill, costs to these facilities could be substantial,
potentially in the millions of dollars statewide. Placing these
standards on local facilities could also create a
state-reimbursable mandate. Alternatively, local facilities
could seek services from county mental health staff to respond
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to the increased evaluation requirements at local juvenile
facilities. This could result in significant ongoing cost
pressure to existing workload/staffing at county mental health
facilities and local hospitals.
To the extent the establishment of standards and protocols for
the use of solitary confinement results in more limited use of
youth isolation could lead to significant future cost savings
due to various factors including shorter lengths of stay in
incarceration, reduced rates of recidivism, as well as less
adverse long-term mental health outcomes for youth.
The BSCC has indicated one-time costs of approximately $60,000
(General Fund) to draft emergency regulations reflective of the
requirements in this measure. In addition, BSCC anticipates
ongoing costs potentially in the range of $170,000 (General
Fund) to provide additional training to local juvenile detention
facility staff to comply with the new regulations
There would be minor costs to effectuate the changes in
membership to local juvenile justice commissions. The BSCC
estimates ongoing costs of about $30,000 (General Fund) to
provide revised and extended training to juvenile justice
commission members based on the new regulations. It is estimated
that local juvenile justice commissions could also incur
significant ongoing costs, potentially state-reimbursable, to
expand the list of annual inspections of jails and lockup
facilities to include any facility within the county used for
confinement of a minor for more than 24 hours. Additional
state-mandated costs to expand its review to records of solitary
confinement newly required under the bill's provisions, as well
as increased reporting requirements to the county board of
supervisors, could also be incurred.