BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 2813 Page 1 ASSEMBLY THIRD READING AB 2813 (Bloom) As Amended April 5, 2016 Majority vote ------------------------------------------------------------------ |Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------| |Human Services |6-1 |Bonilla, Calderon, |Grove | | | |Lopez, Maienschein, | | | | |Mark Stone, Thurmond | | | | | | | |----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------| |Appropriations |20-0 |Gonzalez, Bigelow, | | | | |Bloom, Bonilla, | | | | |Bonta, Calderon, | | | | |Chang, Daly, Eggman, | | | | |Gallagher, Eduardo | | | | |Garcia, McCarty, | | | | |Holden, Jones, | | | | |Obernolte, Quirk, | | | | |Santiago, Wagner, | | | | |Weber, Wood | | | | | | | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ AB 2813 Page 2 SUMMARY: Narrows the circumstances under which a probation officer may decide to detain a youth who is the subject of a petition to declare him or her a dependent of the juvenile court. Specifically, this bill: 1)Removes the following circumstances as conditions under which a probation officer may detain a minor who has been taken into temporary custody: a) The minor is in need of proper and effective parental care or control, as specified; b) The minor is destitute or is not provided with the necessities of life or is not provided with a home or suitable place of abode; and c) The minor is provided with a home which is an unfit place for him or her, as specified. d) The minor is physically dangerous to the public because of a mental or physical deficiency, disorder, or abnormality. 2)Prohibits a probation officer's decision to detain a minor who is the subject of a petition to declare him or her a dependent of the court, as specified, from being based on any of the following: a) The minor's status as a dependent of the juvenile court; b) A determination that continuance in the minor's current AB 2813 Page 3 placement is contrary to the minor's welfare; or c) The child welfare services department's inability to provide a placement for the minor. 3)Requires that a probation officer immediately release a minor who is the subject of a petition to declare him or her a dependent of the juvenile court to the custody of the child welfare system or his or her current foster parent, unless it is demonstrated that continued detention is a matter of immediate necessity for the protection of the person or another, as specified. 4)Affirms a probation officer's authority to refer a minor to child welfare services. EXISTING LAW: 1)Requires county child welfare departments and county probation departments to jointly develop a written protocol regarding minors who appear to come within both dependency jurisdiction, pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC) Section 300 et seq., and delinquency jurisdiction, pursuant to WIC Section 600 et seq. (WIC Section 241.1) 2)Requires that, if a child is both a dependent and a delinquent, the probation department and child welfare services department must initially determine which status will best serve the interests of the child and the protection of society. Requires that the recommendations of both departments be presented to the juvenile court, which determines which status is appropriate for the child. A child may not be designated simultaneously both a dependent child AB 2813 Page 4 and a ward of the court, unless certain exceptions are met, as specified. (WIC Section 241.1.) 3)Provides that a juvenile court has jurisdiction over a child as a dependent child when that child is subject to abuse or neglect. (WIC Section 300) 4)Provides that a juvenile court has jurisdiction over a child when that child has committed acts that trigger delinquency jurisdiction rendering the child a ward of the court. (WIC Sections 601 and 602) 5)Requires a probation officer to investigate the circumstances of a minor in temporary custody and to immediately release the minor to the parent, legal guardian or responsible relative unless it is demonstrated to the court that continuance in the home is contrary to the minor's welfare based on a finding of specified circumstances making the home unfit or unsafe for the minor. (WIC Section 628) 6)Allows a probation officer to detain a minor if certain conditions are met, as specified. (WIC Section 628) FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee this bill will have a negligible state fiscal impact. COMMENTS: Dual-status youth: It has been acknowledged that youth involved in the juvenile justice system and the child welfare system face greater challenges and adversity as they move into adulthood. They often face challenges that youth involved in only one of AB 2813 Page 5 the systems or youth involved in neither of the systems face, and their outcomes are often poorer and require greater supports and services to address their needs, reduce recidivism and foster rehabilitation. The State of California has passed legislation and authorized various pilot projects in an attempt to address the needs of these youth, but a comprehensive statewide approach to meet those needs and help youth successfully transition to adulthood does not yet exist. Counties are enabled to adopt dual status protocols in order to allow for better oversight and provision of services to youth who are involved in both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Dual status for children who are both wards of the court and dependent children allow for better oversight and coordination between the child welfare services and probation systems. Counties that elect to participate in this voluntary program are tasked with creating a dual status protocol to permit a youth who meets specified criteria to be designated as both a dependent child and a ward of the court simultaneously. However, according to the Judicial Council Web site, only 18 of California's 58 counties have elected to develop these protocols. Still, the counties that have elected to participate include: Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Clara, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties, so that most youth involved with both the dependency and delinquency systems in California today live in dual-status jurisdictions. Need for this bill: According to the author, "Foster youth do not have the same statutory protection that other children in our state have and are often needlessly arrested and detained in juvenile halls. Children who enter the juvenile justice system, even briefly, are more likely to engage in deviant behavior and more likely to get arrested as adults. Therefore, it is imperative that foster youth not be unfairly detained. Existing law requires minors to be released to their parent or guardian AB 2813 Page 6 unless they are a public safety risk or flight risk and requires that a court's decision to detain a minor not be based on their status as a foster youth; however that same statutory protection does not exist for the probation officer's decision to detain a foster youth. This bill will extend that statutory provision to probation officers and will require that a probation officer's decision to detain a foster youth not be based on their status as a dependent of the court." Supporters of the bill assert that this previous legislation, AB 388 (Chesbro), Chapter 760, Statutes of 2014, addressed the over-detention of foster youth at the detention hearing stage by requiring that the court's decision to detain not be based on a youth's status as a dependent, the bill did not apply to a probation officer's initial decision to detain prior to the court hearing. This bill, according to those who support the bill, will harmonize the criteria for detention probation with those used by the court at the detention hearing, ensuring that no foster youth is held in a juvenile hall because they are a foster youth. Detention can negatively impact a young person's mental and physical well-being, their education, and their employment opportunities. Time spent in detention can increase a youth's likelihood to recidivate and spend time in detention as an adult. There is no opposition on file. Analysis Prepared by: Kelsy Castillo / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089 FN: 0002874 AB 2813 Page 7