BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1004
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 3, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
SB 1004
(Hill) - As Amended August 1, 2016
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill authorizes a pilot program in the counties of Alameda,
Butte, Napa, Nevada and Santa Clara, until January 1, 2020, to
operate a deferred entry of judgment pilot program whereby
certain offenders, between 18 and 21 years of age, can serve
time in juvenile hall rather than county jail.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)Unknown nonreimbursable cost to the five participating
counties for housing and programming; however, these costs are
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offset by avoiding longer terms served in county jails and by
keeping participating young offenders out of the system in the
future.
2)Minor absorbable cost to the Department of Justice to process
recidivism data submitted by the participating counties.
3)Minor absorbable cost to the Board of State and Community
Corrections to review the suitability of the county
institution for confinement of program participants prior to
county's participation. The required review can take place as
part of the existing audit/certification role over juvenile
halls.
COMMENTS:
1)Background. Under current law, when any person under 18 years
of age is detained in or sentenced to any institution in which
adults are confined, it is unlawful to permit such person to
come or remain in contact with such adults. "Contact" does
not include participation in supervised group therapy or other
supervised treatment activities, participation in work
furlough programs, or participation in hospital recreational
activities which are directly supervised by employees of the
hospital, so long as living arrangements are strictly
segregated and all precautions are taken to prevent
unauthorized associations.
Current law also provides that in any case in which a minor
who is detained in or committed to a county institution
established for the purpose of housing juveniles attains 18
years of age prior to or during the period of detention or
confinement he or she may be allowed to come or remain in
contact with those juveniles until 19 years of age, at which
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time he or she, upon the recommendation of the probation
officer, must be delivered to the custody of the sheriff for
the remainder of the time he or she remains in custody, unless
the juvenile court orders continued detention in a juvenile
facility. If continued detention is ordered for a ward under
the jurisdiction of the juvenile court who is 19 years of age
or older but under 21 years of age, the detained person may be
allowed to come into or remain in contact with any other
person detained in the institution subject to the specified
requirements.
2)Purpose. According to the author, "While legally they are
adults, young offenders age 18-21 are still undergoing
significant brain development and it's becoming clear that
this age group may be better served by the juvenile justice
system with corresponding age appropriate intensive services.
Research shows that people do not develop adult-quality
decision-making skills until their early 20's. This can be
referred to as the 'maturity gap.' Because of this, young
adults are more likely to engage in risk-seeking behavior.
"SB 1004 will allow specific counties to adopt a pilot program
that gives young adult offenders the opportunity to take
advantage of the supportive and educational services in the
juvenile justice system, rather than serve their time in an
adult county jail."
3)Support. Chief Probation Officers of California write, "it's
becoming clear that this age group represents a population
that may be better served in the juvenile justice system with
age appropriate intensive services."
4)Opposition: Commonweal, the Juvenile Justice Program, states,
"The juvenile hall education program is presently geared to
meet school-age requirements, not to serve continuing
education needs of young adults. Vocational and re-entry
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services are largely non-existent in the context of juvenile
hall operations. Mental health services vary greatly by county
and may not be oriented to a young adult population; for
example, counties with Mentally Ill Offender Crime Reduction
(MIOCR) - Juvenile grants may not be able to apply those
resources to young adults. The bill does not outline or
include program elements that are specific to the proposed
young adult population."
5)Prior Legislation: SB 261 (Hancock), Chapter 471, Statutes of
2015, expanded the youth offender parole process, a parole
process for persons sentenced to lengthy prison terms for
crimes committed before attaining 18 years of age, to include
those who have committed their crimes before attaining the age
of 23.
Analysis Prepared by:Pedro Reyes / APPR. / (916)
319-2081