BILL ANALYSIS
AB 407
Page A
Date of Hearing: April 11, 2007
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Gene Mullin, Chair
AB 407 (Swanson) - As Introduced: February 15, 2007
[Note: This bill is double-referred to the Assembly Public
Safety Committee and will be heard as it relates to the issues
under its jurisdiction.]
SUBJECT : Probation Youth Success Act
SUMMARY : Authorizes the Los Angeles County Office of Education
and the Alameda County Office of Education to conduct a
three-year pilot project to provide integrated services to
selected wards from 15 to 18 years of age, in selected juvenile
ranches, camps, and forestry camps. Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes several findings and declarations related to juvenile
offenders.
2)Allows the two participating county offices of education to
cooperate with their respective county probation departments
and other partners in the provision of specified services to a
minimum of 400 wards per county office.
3)Requires each participating county office of education to
provide or ensure provision of a standards-based vocational or
career technical education program, tutoring and literacy
support, educational and vocational counseling, prerelease
planning, mental health services, and up to one year of
post-release support services to selected wards.
4)Requires each participating county office of education to
select between one and three juvenile ranches or camps as the
pilot sites based upon demonstrated ability to implement and
manage such a program and track outcomes.
5)Provides specific criteria to be considered in the selection
of participating wards.
6)Provides that the maximum state grant for this three-year
project shall not exceed $4.5 million, including costs for the
evaluation, and requires state funds supplement and not
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supplant existing resources and be matched by the county
offices of education or program partners with $1 for each $5
allocated by the state.
7)Requires participating county offices of education to complete
a report that evaluates the effectiveness of the pilot program
including specified outcome measures, and requires the report
be submitted to the Legislature on or before June 30, 2012.
8)Repeals this measure as of January 1, 2013, unless a later
enacted statute deletes or extends that date.
EXISTING LAW
1)Allows probation departments to engage in activities designed
to prevent juvenile delinquency and provides that those
activities include rendering direct and indirect services to
any juvenile in the community.
2)Authorizes the establishment of juvenile ranches, camps or
forestry camps in order to provide appropriate facilities for
the housing of wards of the juvenile court in the counties of
their residence or in adjacent counties so that those wards
may be kept under direct supervision of the court.
FISCAL EFFECT : Specifies that the maximum state grant for this
project over three years shall not exceed four million five
hundred thousand dollars ($4,500,000).
COMMENTS : The juvenile justice system is primarily a
responsibility of county probation departments. Juvenile
offenders, if made a ward of the court, are placed under the
supervision of the county probation department and depending on
various factors may be placed in a county facility such as
juvenile hall or a camp for treatment. County offices of
education provide educational services to wards in these
facilities.
According a recent report from the Legislative Analyst's Office,
counties currently are responsible for more than 98 percent of
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all juvenile offender cases.<1> According to information
provided by the author, "About 9,000 children and youth are
incarcerated in county probation department facilities. The
average reading level of the incarcerated youth is at or below
the 5th grade level and they are 2-3 times more likely to
require special education."
The author states, "The purpose of this bill is to provide a
3-year pilot program of career and technical education (CTE),
literacy support and transition services to reduce recidivism
among youth in selected county-operated probation camps and
similar facilities."
The bill does not identify a source of funding for the program
nor does it specify how the funds would be distributed to the
county offices for administration, evaluation and program
services. Staff recommends the bill be amended to add language
specifying that this bill shall become operative only if an
appropriation is made for its purposes in the annual Budget Act
or other statute. Staff further recommends that as the bill
moves forward, the author identify a source of funding and
provide a method for the distribution of the funds.
The author will be offering an amendment to specify that
matching funds from the county office may be in cash from
existing or new non-federal sources or from in-kind
contributions.
The Citizens Commission on Human Rights has a "Support if
Amended" position and the letter states, "All references to
'mental health' and any increase in psychiatric or psychological
programs for youth in custody should be removed and rejected."
Prior legislation : AB 2798 (Goldberg) of 2006 established a
three-year pilot project in Los Angeles, Alameda and Sacramento
counties to provide comprehensive integrated services to
selected wards ages 15 to 18 in juvenile ranches, camps and
forestry camps. AB 2798 was held in the Assembly Appropriations
Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
---------------------------
<1> California's Criminal Justice System: A Primer. January,
2007.
AB 407
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Alameda County Office of Education (Co-sponsor)
Los Angeles County Education Foundation (Co-sponsor)
Los Angeles County Office of Education (Co-sponsor)
Berkeley Youth Alternatives
California Teachers Association
Catholic Charities of the East Bay
Citizens Commission on Human Rights (if amended)
City Council of Compton
Junior Achievement of Southern California, Inc.
Lambda Letters Project
Leadership Excellence
Los Angeles County Probation Officers' Union
Los Angeles Unified School District
Los Angeles Youth Opportunity Movement
Maria's Italian Kitchen
Thunder Road Adolescent Treatment Center
Toberman Settlement House, Inc.
2 Individuals
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Marisol Avi?a / ED. / (916) 319-2087