BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1742|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1742
Author: Machado (D)
Amended: 5/1/06
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 4-0, 4/25/06
AYES: Migden, Cedillo, Perata, Romero
NO VOTE RECORDED: Poochigian, Margett
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT : Division of Juvenile Justice: commitments
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill (1) narrows the Division of Juvenile
Justice's duty to accept a person committed to it by
requiring it have adequate facilities, staff, and programs
to provide care, and (2) repeals existing language
specifying individuals who must be accepted by the Division
of Juvenile Justice according to mental health conditions.
ANALYSIS : Existing law abolishes the Department of the
California Youth Authority (CYA) and replaces it with the
Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), a division of the
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
[Governor's Reorganization Plan 1, 2005, SB 737 (Romero),
Chapter 10, Statutes of 2005]
Existing law requires that when a court commits a ward to
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DJJ, the court must send DJJ a summary of all of the facts
in possession of the court, covering the history of the
ward committed and a statement of the ward's mental and
physical condition. [Section 735 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code (WIC)]
Existing law requires DJJ to accept a person committed to
it if it believes that the person "can be materially
benefited by its reformatory and educational discipline,
and if it has adequate facilities to provide that care."
[Section 736 (a) of the WIC]
This bill revises this subdivision to additionally require
that DJJ also have adequate staff and programs to provide
that care.
Existing law additionally requires DJJ to accept a person
committed to it if staff and institutions are available, as
specified, "(1) if he is a borderline psychiatric or
borderline mentally deficient case, (2) if he or she is a
sex deviate unless he or she is of a type whose presence in
the community, under parole supervision, would present a
menace to the public welfare, or (3) if he or she suffers
from a primary behavior disorder." [Section 736(b) of the
WIC]
This bill repeals these provisions.
Existing law requires the Director of CYA and the Director
of the Department of Mental Health (DMH) to confer and
establish policy at least annually with respect to the
types of cases which should be the responsibility of each
department.
This bill revises this provision to require that DJJ and
DMH, as specified, "determine who is best served by the
Division of Juvenile Justice and who would be better served
by the State Department of Mental Health," as specified.
This bill makes additional technical changes.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
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SUPPORT : (Verified 5/17/06)
California Public Defenders Association
Chief Probation Officers of California
Commonweal
Youth Law Center
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author states:
"Section 736 requires the California Youth Authority
(now the Division of Juvenile Justice) to accept a
person committed to it, if it believes that person can
be benefited by its program and services.
Additionally, subdivision (b) of the section requires
CYA to accept a person who is a 'borderline
psychiatric' or 'mentally deficient case,' a 'sex
deviate,' or a person who suffers from a 'primary
behavior disorder.'
"Section 736 contains archaic language that is over 40
years old, and is no longer used by mental health
professionals or public policy makers in determining
mental health treatment needs for youth committed to
the state juvenile justice system. Additionally, by
specifically delineating which types of mental health
cases may be accepted by the DJJ, the language may
inadvertently restrict the ability of the Department to
accept, or offer treatment to, youth with other mental
health or treatment needs. Finally, certain
individuals may have mental health needs beyond the
ability of the DJJ to provide successful treatment; the
language in Section 736 may hinder the State of
California's ability to appropriately place such an
individual in another treatment program.
"SB 1742 deletes the references to obsolete mental
health terminology, and instead provides that all
offenders accepted by DJJ shall be considered based
upon the ability of the Department to provide
successful treatment s and rehabilitative services to
that individual. Additionally, the bill continues to
require that the Director of DJJ and the Director of
Mental Health continue to jointly develop policies on
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which cases shall be accepted by each department."
RJG:mel 5/17/06 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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