Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that requires the Maine Department of Corrections to close Long Creek Youth Development Center within two years.

Highlights:

• Requires the Maine Department of Corrections to do the following (Sec. 1):

• Review and evaluate the current state and national reports regarding the efficacy of the use of incarceration of youth in the State and nationally;

• Seek input from juvenile justice system stakeholders, including judges, defense attorneys, prosecutors, agency staff, residential and community-based service providers, youth advocates, and youth and families affected by the juvenile justice system;

• Develop a plan to close the Long Creek Youth Development Center by June 30, 2023, divest the center's budget from the Department of Corrections and reinvest the funds from the center's budget into community-based support for youth and repurpose the facility for use as a community center with supportive housing. This plan must include:

• Individual transition plans for remaining youth committed to the Long Creek Youth Development Center;

• A workforce development plan for Long Creek Youth Development Center staff developed in coordination with the Department of Labor;

• A process for establishing a community reinvestment fund; and

• Options for moving juvenile services out of the Department of Corrections and to another agency serving youth; and

• Develop recommendations for reinvestment of corrections funds currently designated for youth incarceration into a continuum of community-based alternatives.

• Requires the Department of Corrections to inform its work with information published and recommendations made to date around the efficacy of the youth prison model, conditions at the Long Creek Youth Development Center, and the steps needed to successfully create a continuum of community-based alternatives for youth (Sec. 1-1).

• Requires the Department of Corrections to analyze to determine the potential reinvestment of current youth incarceration funds into community-based programming focused on those communities most affected by youth incarceration (Sec. 1-4).

• Requires the Department of Corrections to submit its plan to close the Long Creek Youth Development Center and a report that includes its findings and recommendations, including suggested legislation, to the Joint Standing Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety (Sec. 2).

• Requires the Joint Standing Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety to study the selection of an entity to manage and distribute corrections funds currently designated for youth incarceration. The entity must include (Sec. 3):

• A formerly incarcerated person or an organization that represents formerly incarcerated persons;

• A representative of an organization that advocates for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, and asexual community;

• A person with expertise in racial justice issues; and

• A person with expertise in mental and behavioral health treatment.

Full Bill Text