BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2228
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 9, 2000
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Dion Aroner, Chair
AB 2228 (Aroner) - As Amended: May 8, 2000
SUBJECT : Juvenile probation assessment pilot project
SUMMARY : Establishes a pilot project to test methods of
assessing youths in the juvenile delinquency system.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes legislative findings that express the intent of the
Legislature to address the significant mental health needs of
youth in the juvenile delinquency system.
2)Establishes a three-year Juvenile Probation Assessment Pilot
Project in an unspecified number of counties to obtain
information regarding the mental health, substance abuse,
health, education and family history of wards of the juvenile
court.
3)Requires the Department of Mental Health (DMH) to develop
minimum screening and assessment instruments, protocols,
funding schedules, and procedures for data collection for use
by pilot counties.
4)Requires DMH to review and approve local plans and provide
counties participating in the pilot project with technical
assistance.
5)Requires that the funding schedule developed by DMH include a
set rate for the screening and assessment of youth and an
allocation for staff training and administration.
6)Requires the probation department in counties desiring to
participate in the pilot project to establish a local plan
consistent with DMH guidelines that provides for:
a) the development and application of a uniform needs
assessment tool;
b) screening of youth within timeframes identified by DMH,
referral of youth to more extensive assessment when needed,
and referral to needed services, to the extent local
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resources are available;
c) the establishment of an assessment team that includes,
at a minimum, the local probation department, which shall
serve as the lead agency, the mental health, health, and
substance abuse departments, and the county office of
education; and
d) minimum education and training requirements for staff
administering the pilot project.
7)Requires county probation departments in counties
participating in the pilot to:
a) identify the service needs of youth assessed in the
county;
b) develop a plan for providing an appropriate continuum of
treatment services; and
c) identify existing local, state, federal and private
resources that may be used to fund these services.
8)Authorizes county probation departments participating in the
pilot project to release information about youth to DMH for
oversight and evaluation purposes.
9)Requires that the effectiveness of the pilot projects be
independently evaluated.
10)Requires DMH, in collaboration with the pilot project
evaluators and participating counties, to gather and integrate
information collected by the pilot counties and make this
information available to the statewide chief probation
officers association.
11)Appropriates an unspecified sum of money from the General
Fund for the administration of the pilot projects.
EXISTING LAW
1)Requires county probation departments to provide care and
supervision to delinquent children who are or may become wards
of the juvenile court.
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2)Requires county mental health departments, to the extent
resources are available, to provide mental health services to
seriously emotionally disturbed children and adolescents as
the first service priority.
3)Establishes the Children's Services Mental Health Act under
which participating counties are required to develop a system
of care for the treatment of emotionally disturbed children.
4)States legislative intent that mental health assessment and
treatment services be available to wards and dependents of the
juvenile court and requires DMH to develop an individualized
needs assessment protocol for that purpose.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)According to the author: "Various estimates state that between
one-third and two-thirds of youth in the juvenile delinquency
system suffer from mental health problems. In addition, a
significant proportion of these youth has substance abuse
problems. California currently has no structured procedure for
the assessment of youth when they enter the delinquency system
in order to identify mental health, health, or substance abuse
problems, or educational needs. Services to address youth's
problems in these areas are often not provided until a crisis
point is reached. Early assessment and identification of
youth's problems will enable county probation departments to
identify the services that will directly address the reasons
youth are in the delinquency system in the first place."
2)In December 1999, this Committee held a hearing in Oakland on
"Improving Services to Delinquents with Serious Mental Health
Problems." At the hearing, testimony was received from a
variety of juvenile justice professionals, educators, mental
health professionals, parents, service providers, and
advocates. The testimony generally expressed the concern that
in the past decade the treatment needs of juvenile offenders
have become increasingly complex with many youth requiring
treatment services that are often unavailable.
3)Recent reports by the National Council on Crime and
Delinquency, the Center For Juvenile and Criminal Justice, and
the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention have
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identified the development of uniform data collection systems
and the adequate assessment of juveniles as the essential
first step in developing an appropriate continuum of service
responses for juvenile offenders. The development of
appropriate assessments will help counties to identify mental
health and acute medical needs, distinguish alcohol and drug
users from nonusers, identify special education and other
treatment needs, make initial treatment recommendations and
case management decisions, and provide essential information
for prioritizing resources for program development.
4)The clear intent of existing law is to assess the service
needs of youth in the dependency and delinquency systems. In
fact, existing law, established in the early 1990s and
contingent upon funding in the annual budget act, directs DMH
to establish a service needs assessment tool and develop a
rate system for various types of services to youth. However,
this provision of law has never been funded and therefore has
not been implemented.
5)Technical Amendments : Staff recommends making a number of
technical, numbering, and punctuation changes, including
adding an "(a)" on page 3, line 23, after "SEC. 2.", and
inserting "and" after "staff training" on page 5, line 21.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Chief Probation Officers of California
National Alliance for the Mentally Ill
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Andy Shaw / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2247