Comprehensive Multi-Agency Juvenile Justice Plan
To be eligible to receive Justice Crime Prevention Act (JJCPA) and the Youthful Offender Block Grant (YOBG) funds, counties must form a juvenile justice coordinating council to develop a comprehensive, multi-agency plan that identifies the resources and strategies for providing an effective continuum of responses for the prevention, intervention, supervision, treatment, and incarceration of juvenile justice-impacted youth, including strategies to develop and implement locally based or regionally based out-of-home placement options. Yolo County’s Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council was formed in 1998 and the Probation Department has since met with the Council at least annually to consider, and as needed, update the County’s Comprehensive Multi-Agency Juvenile Justice Plan for submission to the Board of State and Community Corrections by May 1 each year.
Of note, the updated annual plan continues to identify strategies to increase opportunities for prevention and diversion from the juvenile justice system, as well as expand and update programming to include vocational training and independent living skills. Other priorities consist of ensuring cultural competency in programming offered.
By May 1, the Comprehensive Multi-Agency Juvenile Justice Plan will be submitted to the Board of State and Community Corrections and will be posted on the Probation Department’s website so residents can benefit from the plan’s catalog of existing law enforcement, probation, education, mental health, health, social services, drug and alcohol, and youth services resources which specifically target at-promise juveniles, juvenile justice-impacted youth and their families, as well as the County’s plan to improve upon and marshal those resources to support safe communities and thriving residents.
Juvenile Justice Realignment Plan
In September 2020, Senate Bill 823 was signed into law with the intent to end placement of justice system-involved youth in State facilities by July 1, 2021, and instead, realign the responsibility to provide rehabilitative services for this population to their respective counties of residence (Secure Track). To be eligible for related funding allocations (Juvenile Justice Realignment Block Grant) each county has been tasked with developing a plan for rehabilitative treatment for those youth committed to Secure Youth Treatment Facilities – the highest level, serious juvenile offenders requiring long-term treatment and custodial care who could not have their needs addressed through intensive community-based services.
In accordance with Welfare and Institutions Code Sections 1990-1995, Yolo County’s Juvenile Justice Realignment Plan was developed by the Probation Department in partnership with the Juvenile Justice Realignment Subcommittee of the multi-agency Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council. Of note, the Subcommittee considered the benefits and the risks of: a) creating a local long-term treatment program; b) contracting with another county for these services; and c) appointed a co-chair.
Since then, the Department and Subcommittee have developed the attached Juvenile Justice Realignment Plan which contemplates a plan for any youth committed to a Secure Youth Treatment Facility and includes the following components:
- Description of Realignment Target Population
- Description of Programs and Services, including facilities, programs, placements, services and service providers, supervision, and other responses to be provided to target population
- How the County plans to apply grant funds, for the benefit of the target population to address:
- mental health, sex offender treatment, or related behavioral or trauma-based needs
- support programs or services that promote healthy adolescent development
- family engagement in programs
- reentry, including planning and linkages to support employment, housing, and continuing education
- evidence-based, promising, trauma-informed, and culturally responsive services
- How the County plans to apply grant funds to include services or programs for the target population that are provided by non-governmental or community-based providers
- How facilities will ensure the safety and protection of youth having different ages, genders, special needs, and other relevant characteristics
- How the County will incentivize or facilitate the retention of the target population within the jurisdiction and rehabilitative foundation of the juvenile justice system, in lieu of transfer to the adult criminal justice system
- Regional efforts
- Data collection and outcome measures
To continue to receive Juvenile Justice Realignment funding, the Subcommittee shall annually consider the Plan, and revised or not, the Plan shall be submitted to the Office of Youth and Community Restoration by May 1 of each year.
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