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Regular-Law & Justice Services # 28.
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| Board of Supervisors |
Probation |
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| Subject |
| Receive presentation on placement decisions, due process rights, and related issues affecting youth placed in the Yolo County Juvenile Detention Facility under the Federal Office of Refugee Resettlement Program. (No general fund impact) (Cardall/Simmons) |
| Recommended Action |
| Receive presentation on placement decisions, due process rights, and related issues affecting youth placed in the Yolo County Juvenile Detention Facility under the Federal Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) Program. |
| Strategic Plan Goal(s) |
Operational Excellence
Safe Communities |
| Reason for Recommended Action/Background |
As the Board is aware, the County has a contract to provide secure placement services for unaccompanied children in the custody of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). The contract provides grant funding for 24 beds (and related staff and program services) in the Yolo County Juvenile Detention Facility for unaccompanied children that ORR has determined pose a danger to themselves or others, or that have been charged with having committed a criminal offense. The Board approved the most recent ORR grant award of $2,973,724 on May 9th, 2017, and it subsequently approved various terms and conditions for the provision of placement services on August 1, 2017.
In connection with its May 9 and August 1 actions, the Board placed several conditions on the award including, among other things, a request for certain policy updates and a review of due process and transparency issues. Probation staff, in collaboration with County Counsel’s Office, has prepared a presentation updating the Board on requested items from the May 9, 2017 and August 1, 2017 Board meetings.
The presentation will include information from relevant sections of the ORR Policy Guide (Attachment A) covering the unaccompanied alien child program, as well as current information on the right to bond hearings (to challenge secure placement decisions), gang-related referrals, and issues presented in the pending Gomez v. Sessions lawsuit filed by the ACLU. Briefly, excerpts from the ORR Policy Guide that are included in Attachment A address topics such as:
- initial placement decisions (Sections 1.2.1 and 1.2.4; Section 1.4.2)
- considerations applicable to placement in a secure or staff secure facility is appropriate (Section 1.2.4)
- federal agency referrals of children to ORR for placement (Sections 1.3 and 1.3.1)
- transfers of children to other facilities with ORR’s network (Section 1.4)
- the general policy of keeping children in the least restrictive setting (Section 1.4.1)
- a child’s ability to request reconsideration of placement (Section 1.4.7)
- bond hearings for unaccompanied children (Section 2.9)
The presentation will review the foregoing policies and related matters with the goal of providing a clear picture of how children are placed by ORR in the Juvenile Detention Center and their opportunities to challenge that placement. As the presentation will make clear, this is a dynamic and evolving area of federal law and policy. Recent litigation has clarified the rights of unaccompanied children by affirming their opportunity to challenge placement decisions in a so-called bond hearing with an impartial immigration judge. Their rights may continue to expand, either through ORR-initiated policy changes or litigation, and the presentation will conclude by identifying issues that may be decided in the Gomez v. Sessions action presently pending in federal court. |
| Collaborations (including Board advisory groups and external partner agencies) |
| County Counsel, Office of Refugee Resettlement. |
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| Fiscal Impact |
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| Source of Funds for this Expenditure |
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