BP BHEAD INT S

AN ACT Relating to structured transition for juvenile offenders; reenacting and amending RCW 13.40.020; adding new sections to chapter 13.40 RCW; creating a new section; prescribing penalties; and providing an effective date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds the present system of transitioning youths from residential status to parole status to discharge is insufficient to provide adequate rehabilitation and public safety in many instances. The legislature further finds that a structured transition program based on the following principles holds much promise for positively impacting recidivism rates for juvenile offenders: (1) Progressive increase in responsibility and freedom in the community; (2) facilitation of youths' interaction and involvement with their communities; (3) involvement of both the youth and targeted community support systems such as family, peers, schools, and employers, on the qualities needed for constructive interaction and successful adjustment with the community; (4) development of new resources, supports, and opportunities where necessary; and (5) ongoing monitoring and testing of youth on their ability to abide by community rules and standards.

The legislature intends for the department to create a structured transition program based on the principles stated in this section that will be available to all eligible juvenile offenders, at the discretion of the court, as an alternative to existing parole services. It is not the legislature's intent to replace all parole services with the structured transition program. Juvenile offenders who are not placed by the court in the structured transition program may continue to be placed on parole by the secretary as provided for in RCW 13.40.210.

Sec. 2. RCW 13.40.020 and 1995 c 395 s 2 and 1995 c 134 s 1 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:

For the purposes of this chapter:

(1) "Serious offender" means a person fifteen years of age or older who has committed an offense which if committed by an adult would be:

(a) A class A felony, or an attempt to commit a class A felony;

(b) Manslaughter in the first degree; or

(c) Assault in the second degree, extortion in the first degree, child molestation in the second degree, kidnapping in the second degree, robbery in the second degree, residential burglary, or burglary in the second degree, where such offenses include the infliction of bodily harm upon another or where during the commission of or immediate withdrawal from such an offense the perpetrator is armed with a deadly weapon;

(2) "Community service" means compulsory service, without compensation, performed for the benefit of the community by the offender as punishment for committing an offense. Community service may be performed through public or private organizations or through work crews;

(3) "Community supervision" means an order of disposition by the court of an adjudicated youth not committed to the department or an order granting a deferred adjudication pursuant to RCW 13.40.125. A community supervision order for a single offense may be for a period of up to two years for a sex offense as defined by RCW 9.94A.030 and up to one year for other offenses. As a mandatory condition of any term of community supervision, the court shall order the juvenile to refrain from committing new offenses. As a mandatory condition of community supervision, the court shall order the juvenile to comply with the mandatory school attendance provisions of chapter 28A.225 RCW and to inform the school of the existence of this requirement. Community supervision is an individualized program comprised of one or more of the following:

(a) Community-based sanctions;

(b) Community-based rehabilitation;

(d) Posting of a probation bond imposed pursuant to RCW 13.40.0357;

(4) Community-based sanctions may include one or more of the following:

(a) A fine, not to exceed one hundred dollars;

(b) Community service not to exceed one hundred fifty hours of service;

(5) "Community-based rehabilitation" means one or more of the following: Attendance of information classes; counseling, outpatient substance abuse treatment programs, outpatient mental health programs, anger management classes, education or outpatient treatment programs to prevent animal cruelty, or other services; or attendance at school or other educational programs appropriate for the juvenile as determined by the school district. Placement in community-based rehabilitation programs is subject to available funds;

(6) "Monitoring and reporting requirements" means one or more of the following: Curfews; requirements to remain at home, school, work, or court-ordered treatment programs during specified hours; restrictions from leaving or entering specified geographical areas; requirements to report to the probation officer as directed and to remain under the probation officer's supervision; and other conditions or limitations as the court may require which may not include confinement;

(7) "Confinement" means physical custody by the department of social and health services in a facility operated by or pursuant to a contract with the state, or physical custody in a detention facility operated by or pursuant to a contract with any county. The county may operate or contract with vendors to operate county detention facilities. The department may operate or contract to operate detention facilities for juveniles committed to the department. Pretrial confinement or confinement of less than thirty-one days imposed as part of a disposition or modification order may be served consecutively or intermittently, in the discretion of the court;

(8) "Court", when used without further qualification, means the juvenile court judge(s) or commissioner(s);

(9) "Criminal history" includes all criminal complaints against the respondent for which, prior to the commission of a current offense:

(a) The allegations were found correct by a court. If a respondent is convicted of two or more charges arising out of the same course of conduct, only the highest charge from among these shall count as an offense for the purposes of this chapter; or

(b) The criminal complaint was diverted by a prosecutor pursuant to the provisions of this chapter on agreement of the respondent and after an advisement to the respondent that the criminal complaint would be considered as part of the respondent's criminal history. A successfully completed deferred adjudication shall not be considered part of the respondent's criminal history;

(10) "Department" means the department of social and health services;

(11) "Detention facility" means a county facility, paid for by the county, for the physical confinement of a juvenile alleged to have committed an offense or an adjudicated offender subject to a disposition or modification order. "Detention facility" includes county group homes, inpatient substance abuse programs, juvenile basic training camps, and electronic monitoring;

(12) "Diversion unit" means any probation counselor who enters into a diversion agreement with an alleged youthful offender, or any other person, community accountability board, or other entity except a law enforcement official or entity, with whom the juvenile court administrator has contracted to arrange and supervise such agreements pursuant to RCW 13.40.080, or any person, community accountability board, or other entity specially funded by the legislature to arrange and supervise diversion agreements in accordance with the requirements of this chapter. For purposes of this subsection, "community accountability board" means a board comprised of members of the local community in which the juvenile offender resides. The superior court shall appoint the members. The boards shall consist of at least three and not more than seven members. If possible, the board should include a variety of representatives from the community, such as a law enforcement officer, teacher or school administrator, high school student, parent, and business owner, and should represent the cultural diversity of the local community;

(13) "Institution" means a juvenile facility established pursuant to chapters 72.05 and 72.16 through 72.20 RCW;

(14) "Juvenile," "youth," and "child" mean any individual who is under the chronological age of eighteen years and who has not been previously transferred to adult court pursuant to RCW 13.40.110 or who is otherwise under adult court jurisdiction;

(15) "Juvenile offender" means any juvenile who has been found by the juvenile court to have committed an offense, including a person eighteen years of age or older over whom jurisdiction has been extended under RCW 13.40.300;

(16) "Manifest injustice" means a disposition that would either impose an excessive penalty on the juvenile or would impose a serious, and clear danger to society in light of the purposes of this chapter;

(17) "Middle offender" means a person who has committed an offense and who is neither a minor or first offender nor a serious offender;

(18) "Minor or first offender" means a person whose current offense(s) and criminal history fall entirely within one of the following categories:

(a) Four misdemeanors;

(b) Two misdemeanors and one gross misdemeanor;

(d) Three gross misdemeanors.

For purposes of this definition, current violations shall be counted as misdemeanors;

(19) "Offense" means an act designated a violation or a crime if committed by an adult under the law of this state, under any ordinance of any city or county of this state, under any federal law, or under the law of another state if the act occurred in that state;

(20) "Respondent" means a juvenile who is alleged or proven to have committed an offense;

(21) "Restitution" means financial reimbursement by the offender to the victim, and shall be limited to easily ascertainable damages for injury to or loss of property, actual expenses incurred for medical treatment for physical injury to persons, lost wages resulting from physical injury, and costs of the victim's counseling reasonably related to the offense if the offense is a sex offense. Restitution shall not include reimbursement for damages for mental anguish, pain and suffering, or other intangible losses. Nothing in this chapter shall limit or replace civil remedies or defenses available to the victim or offender;

(22) "Risk assessment" means a method of predicting the likelihood of a juvenile offender complying with applicable laws, court orders, and conditions imposed by the department, and avoiding the commission of further offenses.

(23) "Secretary" means the secretary of the department of social and health services. "Assistant secretary" means the assistant secretary for juvenile rehabilitation for the department;

((~~(23)~~)) (24) "Services" mean services which provide alternatives to incarceration for those juveniles who have pleaded or been adjudicated guilty of an offense or have signed a diversion agreement pursuant to this chapter;

((~~(24)~~)) (25) "Sex offense" means an offense defined as a sex offense in RCW 9.94A.030;

((~~(25)~~)) (26) "Sexual motivation" means that one of the purposes for which the respondent committed the offense was for the purpose of his or her sexual gratification;

((~~(26)~~)) (27) "Foster care" means temporary physical care in a foster family home or group care facility as defined in RCW 74.15.020 and licensed by the department, or other legally authorized care;

((~~(27)~~)) (28) "Structured transition program" means a multiphase community reentry program that requires intensive supervision and monitoring, offers an array of individualized treatment services, and emphasizes community involvement and support in order to reduce the likelihood a juvenile offender will commit further offenses.

(29) "Violation" means an act or omission, which if committed by an adult, must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, and is punishable by sanctions which do not include incarceration;

((~~(28)~~)) (30) "Violent offense" means a violent offense as defined in RCW 9.94A.030;

((~~(29)~~)) (31) "Probation bond" means a bond, posted with sufficient security by a surety justified and approved by the court, to secure the offender's appearance at required court proceedings and compliance with court-ordered community supervision or conditions of release ordered pursuant to RCW 13.40.040 or 13.40.050. It also means a deposit of cash or posting of other collateral in lieu of a bond if approved by the court;

((~~(30)~~)) (32) "Surety" means an entity licensed under state insurance laws or by the state department of licensing, to write corporate, property, or probation bonds within the state, and justified and approved by the superior court of the county having jurisdiction of the case.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 13.40 RCW to read as follows:

(1) At any time prior to a juvenile offender's release from confinement, a juvenile offender or the department may request the court to transfer the juvenile to the structured transition program. A juvenile offender is eligible to begin the structured transition program upon completion of his or her minimum term of confinement. The court's decision to authorize the transfer shall be based on a risk assessment of the juvenile offender conducted by the department. No transfer shall be authorized under this section if the risk assessment indicates a significant likelihood that the offender will violate the conditions of the structured transition program.

(2) Juvenile offenders transferred to the structured transition program pursuant to this section shall be ordered by the court to comply with, at a minimum, the following conditions:

(a) Reside at a specific address and be present at the address during specified hours;

(b) Submit to at least thirty days on electronic monitoring;

(d) Participate in training, education, and employment programs;

(e) Undergo available medical, psychiatric, and offense-related treatment services;

(f) Report at least once a week to an assigned community case manager;

(g) Obey all laws and refrain from any conduct that threatens public safety; and

(h) Meet all other requirements imposed by the community case manager related to participating in the structured transition program that are not inconsistent with the court's order.

(3) Violation of any conditions of the structured transition program shall be deemed a violation of parole for the purposes of processing and sanctioning noncompliance as outlined in RCW 13.40.210(4)(a), except as provided in subsection (4) of this section.

(4) When as a result of a violation, the department determines public safety may be at risk by a juvenile offender's continued participation in the structured transition program, the department may request the court to terminate the juvenile offender from the program and return the juvenile to a secure facility to serve up to the remaining time of the offender's maximum term of confinement.

(5) The length of a juvenile offender's structured transition program shall be set by the court to be no shorter than one hundred twenty percent and no longer than one hundred fifty percent of the juvenile's maximum term of confinement, except that a juvenile required under RCW 13.40.210(3) to serve a period of twenty-four months on parole shall be ordered to serve no less than twenty-four months in the structured transition program.

(6) Prior to a juvenile offender's transfer to the structured transition program, the department shall give notice of the transfer to the appropriate law enforcement agency in the jurisdiction where the juvenile will reside. The notice shall include the name and address of the juvenile and all terms and conditions of the juvenile's structured transition program imposed by the court and the juvenile's community case manager.

(7) Juvenile offenders transferred to the structured transition program are subject to the provisions of RCW 9A.44.130 and 13.40.215.

(8) If requested and approved under chapter 13.06 RCW, the secretary shall permit a county or group of counties to perform any or all of the structured transition program components.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 13.40 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The department shall, no later than January 1, 1997, implement a structured transition program which includes, at a minimum, the following program elements:

(a) A process of case management involving coordinated and comprehensive planning, information exchange, continuity and consistency, service provision and referral, and monitoring. The components of the case management system shall include assessment, classification, and selection criteria; individual case planning that incorporates a family and community perspective; a mixture of intensive surveillance and services; a balance of incentives and graduated consequences coupled with the imposition of realistic, enforceable conditions; and service brokerage with community resources and linkage with social networks;

(b) Administration of structured transition services that transcend traditional agency boundaries and professional interests and include courts, institutions, aftercare, education, social and mental health services, substance abuse treatment, and employment and vocational training; and

(c) A plan for information management and program evaluation that maintains close oversight over implementation and quality control, and determines the effectiveness of both the processes and outcomes of the program.

(2) The department shall report annually to the legislature, beginning December 1, 1997, on the department's progress in meeting the structured transition program evaluation goals required under subsection (1)(c) of this section.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. Section 3 of this act shall take effect January 1, 1997.