H. B. 2691
(By Delegates Brown and Douglas)
[Introduced March 24, 1993; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section six-a, article five-a,
chapter forty-nine of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to amend
and reenact section seven, article five-b, of said chapter,
all relating to maintaining a unified state system of
predispositional detention for juveniles; including the
juvenile justice committee, the state board of education,
detention center personnel, juvenile probation officers in
those groups giving input for the plan; requiring the
development of policy and program goals for secure licensed
facilities; requiring identification of operational problems
of secure detention centers, establishment of policies
regarding overcrowding, security, violence, health needs,
educational needs, transportation problems, staff problems
and time limitations; requiring inclusion of statement of
policies and goals regarding licensing, placement criteria,
alternative placement, allocation of fiscal resources,
information and referral services and educational
regulations; requiring oversight by the legislative
commission on juvenile law or their subcommittee and
periodic review and updating of the plan; requiring the
department of health and human resources to make a
descriptive catalogue of its juvenile programs and services
available to local communities; and requiring periodic
updating of the catalogue.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section six-a, article five-a, chapter forty-nine of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that section seven,
article five-b, of said chapter be amended and reenacted, all to
read as follows:
ARTICLE 5A. JUVENILE REFEREE SYSTEM.
§49-5A-6a. State plan for predisposition detention of
juveniles.
(a) The commissioner secretary of the department of human
services department of health and human resources and the
legislative commission on juvenile law shall develop a
comprehensive plan to establish maintain and improve a unified
state system of predispositional detention for juveniles. to be
submitted to the West Virginia Legislature no later than the
first day of January, one thousand nine hundred eighty-five The
plan shall be developed with input from the department division
of corrections, the governor's task force committee on crime,
delinquency and correction, the juvenile justice committee, the
state board of education, detention center personnel, juvenile
probation officers of the department of health and humanresources and judicial and law-enforcement officials from
throughout the state.
The plan shall include, but not be limited to, the
following:
(1) The development of a coordinated plan The principal
purpose of the plan shall be, through statements of policy and
program goals, to provide for the effective and efficient use of
juvenile detention facilities licensed or operated by local units
of government and the state, including those operated regionally
by the department of human services department of health and
human resources. Standards and criteria shall be established
for the use of detention. Priorities for the utilization of
available space and transportation of juveniles to and from
detention facilities shall also be established.
(2) Recommendations on the use of regional detention centers
for detention hearings.
(3) Recommendations regarding the use of emergency home
shelters and foster homes for temporary detention.
(4) Recommendations regarding the use of regional detention
facilities and charges to counties for such services.
(5) An evaluation of the personnel needs and cost of
maintaining all facilities and services recommended in the plan.
(b) Until the development and implementation of the plan set
forth in subsection (a) of this section, the commissioner of the
department of human services shall do the following:
(1) Identify and coordinate all programs currently available
in local communities for children in need of detention. These
programs shall be listed in a central resource directoryavailable for local authorities. This directory shall identify
which juveniles are acceptable to each program and the cost of
each program. Any program listed which is operated by a county
or community must conform to guidelines established by the
department of human services.
(2) Develop additional emergency shelters in those
communities where no such facilities are now in existence, and
where there is a demonstrable need for them.
(3) Coordinate a transportation assistance program for
counties which have significant difficulty transporting youth to
detention facilities. Grants will be made on the basis of
proposals submitted to the department by local government units
demonstrating special needs based on travel distance, youth
detention need and lack of local resources despite good faith
attempts to establish or utilize local programs. Reimbursement
grants will not exceed forty thousand dollars for fiscal year one
thousand nine hundred eighty-two.
(b) The plan shall identify operational problems of secure
detention centers. The plan shall establish policies which will
generate the means to deal with overcrowding, security and
violence within centers, difficulties in moving juveniles through
the centers within required time periods, health needs,
educational needs, transportation problems, staff turnover and
morale and other perceived problem areas.
(c) The plan shall include, but not be limited to,
statements of policies and goals in the following areas:
(1) Licensing of secure detention centers;
(2) Criteria for placing juveniles in detention;
(3) Alternatives to secure detention;
(4) Allocation of fiscal resources to the costs of secure
detention facilities;
(5) Information and referral services; and
(6) Educational regulations developed and approved by the
West Virginia board of education.
(d) The legislative commission on juvenile law, or a
designated subcommittee or task force thereof, shall act in a
continuing capacity as an oversight committee, and shall assist
the secretary of the department of health and human resources in
the periodic review and update of the state plan for the
predisposition detention of juveniles.
ARTICLE 5B. WEST VIRGINIA JUVENILE OFFENDER REHABILITATION ACT.
§49-5B-7. Reporting requirements; cataloguing of services.
(a) The department of welfare health and human resources
shall from time to time, but not less often than annually, review
its programs and services and submit a report to the governor,
the Legislature and the supreme court of appeals, analyzing and
evaluating the effectiveness of the programs and services being
carried out by the department. Such report shall include, but
not be limited to, an analysis and evaluation of programs and
services continued, established and discontinued during the
period covered by the report, and shall further describe programs
and services which should be implemented to further the purposes
of this article. Such report shall also include, but not be
limited to, relevant information concerning the number of
children comprising the population of any rehabilitative facility
during the period covered by the report, the length of residence,the nature of the problems of each child, the child's response to
programs and services and such other information as will enable
a user of the report to ascertain the effectiveness of the
facility as a rehabilitative facility.
(b) The department of welfare health and human resources
shall on or before the first day of August, one thousand nine
hundred seventy-nine, and from time to time thereafter, but not
less often than annually prepare a descriptive catalogue of its
juvenile programs and services available in local communities
throughout this state and shall distribute copies of the same to
every juvenile court in the state and, at the direction of the
juvenile court, such catalogue shall be distributed to attorneys
practicing before such court. Such catalogue shall also be made
available to members of the general public upon request. The
catalogue shall contain sufficient information as to the persons
or agencies responsible for particular programs and services so
as to enable a user of the catalogue to make inquiries and
referrals. The catalogue shall be constructed so as to
meaningfully identify and describe programs and services rather
than simply listing specific agencies or the individuals in
charge of programs at a given time. The catalogue shall be
updated and republished or supplemented from time to time as may
be required to maintain its usefulness as a resource manual.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to redesign the state
plan for predisposition detention of juveniles and the
descriptive catalogue of juvenile programs and services.