Signed by Governor Gavin Newsom

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to concur with House amendments and pass a bill that establishes the Office of Youth and Community Restoration.

Highlights:

• Establishes the intent of the Legislature to close the Division of Juvenile Justice by shifting responsibility for all youth adjudged a ward of the court, beginning July 1, 2021, to county governments and providing annual funding for county governments to fulfill this new responsibility (Sec. 30).

• Establishes the Office of Youth and Community Restoration in the California Health and Human Services Agency to support this transition (Sec. 50). 

• Prohibits wards from being committed to the Division of Juvenile Justice beginning July 1, 2021 (Sec. 30).

• Requires wards committed to the division prior to July 1, 2021 to remain in the custody of the division until the ward is discharged, released, or transferred (Sec. 30). 

• Establishes a Juvenile Justice Realignment Block Grant program to provide county-based custody, care, and supervision of youth who are realigned from the Division of Juvenile Justice or who would otherwise have been eligible for commitment to that division including, but not limited to, the following appropriations (Sec. 49):

• For the 2021-2022 fiscal year, $39,949,000 to be allocated to counties to provide appropriate rehabilitative and supervision services;

• For the 2022-2023 fiscal year, $118,339,000 to be allocated to counties to provide appropriate rehabilitative and supervision services;

• For the 2023-2024 fiscal year, $192,037,000 to be allocated to counties to provide appropriate rehabilitative and supervision services; and 

• For the 2024-2025 fiscal year and each year thereafter, $208,800,000 to be allocated to counties to provide appropriate rehabilitative and supervision services.

• Reduces the age up until which the jurisdiction of a juvenile court may continue from 25 to 23 years for wards that committed any offense listed in subdivision (b) of Section 707 (Sec. 24). 

• Specifies that the juvenile court’s jurisdiction continues until the ward, who has committed any offense listed in subdivision (b) of Section 707, attains 25 years of age if, at the time of adjudication of a crime or crimes, they would have faced an aggregate sentence of 7 years or more (Sec. 24).

• Requires the court to hold a hearing upon receipt of a petition to house a person which is 19 years of age or older in an adult facility with a rebuttable presumption that the person will be retained in a juvenile facility (Sec. 20).

• Requires any person whose case originated in juvenile court to remain in a county juvenile facility until they turn 25 years of age (Sec. 20).

• Prohibits any person who is 19 years of age or older and who has been committed to a county juvenile facility or a facility of a contracted entity from being subject to petition for transfer to an adult facility (Sec. 20).

• Requires the Department of Justice to submit a plan for the replacement of the Juvenile Court and Probation Statistical System (JCPSS) with a modern database and reporting system by January 1, 2023 (Sec. 15 ). 

• Appropriates $9,600,000 to the Youth Programs and Facilities Grant Program to award one-time grants to counties for the purpose of providing resources to assist the development of a local continuum of care (Sec. 51).

Full Bill Text

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to amend and pass a bill that establishes the Office of Youth and Community Restoration.

Highlights:

• Establishes the intent of the Legislature to close the Division of Juvenile Justice by shifting responsibility for all youth adjudged a ward of the court, beginning July 1, 2021, to county governments and providing annual funding for county governments to fulfill this new responsibility (Sec. 30).

• Establishes the Office of Youth and Community Restoration in the California Health and Human Services Agency to support this transition (Sec. 50). 

• Prohibits wards from being committed to the Division of Juvenile Justice beginning July 1, 2021 (Sec. 30).

• Requires wards committed to the division prior to July 1, 2021 to remain in the custody of the division until the ward is discharged, released, or transferred (Sec. 30). 

• Establishes a Juvenile Justice Realignment Block Grant program to provide county-based custody, care, and supervision of youth who are realigned from the Division of Juvenile Justice or who would otherwise have been eligible for commitment to that division including, but not limited to, the following appropriations (Sec. 49):

• For the 2021-2022 fiscal year, $39,949,000 to be allocated to counties to provide appropriate rehabilitative and supervision services;

• For the 2022-2023 fiscal year, $118,339,000 to be allocated to counties to provide appropriate rehabilitative and supervision services;

• For the 2023-2024 fiscal year, $192,037,000 to be allocated to counties to provide appropriate rehabilitative and supervision services; and 

• For the 2024-2025 fiscal year and each year thereafter, $208,800,000 to be allocated to counties to provide appropriate rehabilitative and supervision services.

• Reduces the age up until which the jurisdiction of a juvenile court may continue from 25 to 23 years for wards that committed any offense listed in subdivision (b) of Section 707 (Sec. 24). 

• Specifies that the juvenile court’s jurisdiction continues until the ward, who has committed any offense listed in subdivision (b) of Section 707, attains 25 years of age if, at the time of adjudication of a crime or crimes, they would have faced an aggregate sentence of 7 years or more (Sec. 24).

• Requires the court to hold a hearing upon receipt of a petition to house a person which is 19 years of age or older in an adult facility with a rebuttable presumption that the person will be retained in a juvenile facility (Sec. 20).

• Requires any person whose case originated in juvenile court to remain in a county juvenile facility until they turn 25 years of age (Sec. 20).

• Prohibits any person who is 19 years of age or older and who has been committed to a county juvenile facility or a facility of a contracted entity from being subject to petition for transfer to an adult facility (Sec. 20).

• Requires the Department of Justice to submit a plan for the replacement of the Juvenile Court and Probation Statistical System (JCPSS) with a modern database and reporting system by January 1, 2023 (Sec. 15 ). 

• Appropriates $9,600,000 to the Youth Programs and Facilities Grant Program to award one-time grants to counties for the purpose of providing resources to assist the development of a local continuum of care (Sec. 51).

Full Bill Text