Juvenile correctional facilities, youth aids, providing an exemption from emergency rule procedures, granting rule-making authority, and making an appropriation. (FE)

Under current law, DOC oversees all juvenile correctional services for juveniles who are under original adult court jurisdiction or who have been adjudged delinquent under the Juvenile Justice Code, placed under the supervision of DOC, and placed in a juvenile correctional facility, in the Serious Juvenile Offender Program (SJOP), or under community supervision. Under the bill, DOC maintains supervision over juveniles in SJOP, under community supervision, and under original adult court jurisdiction, but supervision over juveniles who are under any other correctional placement under the Juvenile Justice Code is transferred to county departments.

Under the bill, no later than July 1, 2020, the county board of supervisors of a county is required to ensure there is sufficient space in a secured residential care center for children and youth for all juveniles adjudicated delinquent by the county's circuit court and placed in a secured residential care center for children and youth.

The bill authorizes a county to establish, or contract with a child welfare agency to establish, a secured residential care center for children and youth, on its own or jointly with one or more counties, or to contract with another county to place juveniles in that county's secured residential care center for children and youth. In addition, as in current law, the bill allows a child welfare agency to be licensed to operate a secured residential care center for children and youth. Also by July 1, 2020, the bill requires DOC to construct or establish one or more Type 1 juvenile correctional facilities with sufficient space for all juveniles placed in a Type 1 juvenile correctional facility.

The bill creates a Juvenile Corrections Study Committee, which is required to research and develop recommendations on all of the following:

1. Optimal locations for the new Type 1 juvenile correctional facilities based on space and security needs, cost, proximity to the populations of juveniles the facilities would serve, and best practices for holding juveniles in secure custody. The bill requires the committee to favor the use of existing facilities and to conduct an inventory of existing state-owned facilities that have the capacity to be used as Type 1 juvenile correctional facilities. The bill requires the committee to submit its recommendations to DOC no later than November 1, 2018, and requires DOC to consider these recommendations in establishing the new facilities.

2. Rules governing the services and programming provided to juveniles in secured residential care centers for children and youth. The bill requires the committee to submit its findings and recommendations to the Department of Children and Families no later than September 1, 2018, and requires DCF to promulgate rules establishing standards for services in secured residential care centers for children and youth based on those recommendations. The bill requires DCF to promulgate emergency rules establishing these standards no later than December 31, 2018.

3. Updating DOC's rules governing juvenile detention centers. The bill requires the committee to submit these recommendations to DOC no later than July 1, 2020.

The committee is required under the bill to consult with the Council of State Governments, if it agrees, to aid the committee's research and development of recommendations. Under the bill, the committee terminates on July 1, 2020.

The bill requires the transfer from Lincoln Hills School and Copper Lake School of all juveniles who are under a correctional placement to the appropriate secured residential care center for children and youth and the transfer of all other juveniles to the new Type 1 juvenile correctional facilities. The bill then requires the closure of Lincoln Hills School and Copper Lake School once all juveniles have been transferred, but no later than July 1, 2020. By that date the bill also requires DOC to submit to the Joint Committee on Finance a report on the feasibility of converting the Lincoln Hills School and Copper Lake School facilities into an alcohol and other drug abuse treatment facility for adults or a correctional treatment facility for the treatment of substance abuse of inmates under the Wisconsin Substance Abuse Program Under the bill, once a juvenile is placed in a secured residential care center for children and youth under a correctional placement, or once a juvenile who was under a correctional placement at Lincoln Hills School or Copper Lake School is transferred to a secured residential care center for children and youth, the juvenile is under the supervision of the county department of the county in which the juvenile was adjudicated delinquent. Under the bill, DOC maintains supervision over juveniles in secured residential care centers for children and youth that are in SJOP or under original adult court jurisdiction.

The bill maintains DOC's authority under current law to license, supervise, and inspect secured residential care centers for children and youth. Under the bill, a county that proposes to construct or operate a secured residential care center for children and youth is required to submit its plans to DOC for approval.

Change of placement.

Under the bill, generally, a juvenile who is given a correctional placement under a county department's supervision may only be placed in a secured residential care center for children and youth. However, if, after a placement in a secured residential care center for children and youth, the juvenile's behavior presents a serious problem for the juvenile or others, the county department may place the juvenile in a different secured residential care center for children and youth that offers more appropriate care and services without a hearing. Similarly, if a juvenile is placed under DOC's supervision in a secured residential care center for children and youth and the juvenile's behavior presents a serious problem for the juvenile or others, DOC may place the juvenile in a different secured residential care center for children and youth without a hearing. Also under the bill, a juvenile in a secured residential care center for children and youth under the supervision of either DOC or a county department may be placed in a Type 1 juvenile correctional facility after a hearing if the court assigned to exercise jurisdiction under the Juvenile Justice Code (juvenile court) finds that the juvenile's behavior presents a serious problem for the juvenile or others in the secured residential care center and that all other placement options have been exhausted, including placement in at least one other secured residential care center for children and youth, if available.

If DOC places a juvenile at a secured residential care center for children and youth or if a county department places a juvenile at a secured residential care center for children and youth other than its own, the bill requires that the entity operating the receiving secured residential care center for children and youth agree to the placement and requires that care and services for that juvenile be provided under a contract.

Juvenile corrections grant program.

The bill creates in DOC a Juvenile Corrections Grant Committee, which is required to establish and administer a juvenile corrections grant program, under which counties may apply for a grant to pay 95 percent of the costs of establishing or constructing secured residential care centers for children and youth. The bill allows multiple counties to jointly submit a grant application for construction of a secured residential care center for children and youth that will hold juveniles from all of the cooperating counties. The bill requires the committee to establish requirements, guidelines, and criteria for the grant program but requires that, in developing a grant application, the applicant must consider best practices in designing and operating facilities that hold juveniles in secure custody and the feasibility of developing an existing facility, and must solicit input on the design of the facility from judges at the court assigned to exercise jurisdiction under the Children's Code and the Juvenile Justice Code for each county participating in the grant application. The bill requires the committee to require that a proposed facility have the capacity to house no fewer than 24 juveniles. The bill also requires the committee to favor proposals that utilize existing facilities and to encourage multicounty coordination by favoring applications submitted jointly by multiple counties.

Under the bill, grant applications are due March 31, 2019, but the committee is authorized to work with applicants between that date and June 30, 2019, to modify applications in order to increase the likelihood of being awarded a grant. The bill requires the committee, in consultation with DOC and DCF, to develop a statewide plan that recommends which of the grant applications to approve. The committee is prohibited from recommending approval of an application unless DOC approves the plans and specifications for the site and the design and construction of the facility.

The bill requires the Juvenile Corrections Grant Committee to submit its plan to the Joint Committee on Finance no later than July 1, 2019, to request approval to proceed with the plan under a passive review process. If approved, the bill requires DOC to implement the plan by awarding the grants under the plan, and requires the Juvenile Corrections Grant Committee to monitor the progress of the projects funded by the grants to ensure compliance with the grant program and completion in time for the deadline for transferring juveniles from Lincoln Hills School and Copper Lake School to the new Type 1 juvenile correctional facilities and secured residential care centers for children and youth. Under the bill, the Juvenile Corrections Grant Committee terminates on the earlier of the date on which all projects funded with the grants are completed or July 1, 2020.

Department of Corrections employees.

The bill authorizes some preferential treatment for employees of Lincoln Hills School or Copper Lake School in applying for open positions at the new Type 1 juvenile correctional facilities and secured residential care centers for children and youth. Under the bill, a classified employee who, on the date DOC begins accepting applications for a position at a Type 1 juvenile correctional facility is employed at the Lincoln Hills School or Copper Lake School may apply to DOC to transfer to a position at the Type 1 juvenile correctional facility and DOC is authorized to transfer such an employee to certain positions at a new Type 1 juvenile correctional facility without competitive procedures. Similarly, an applicant for a position at a secured residential care center for children and youth operated by a county who is employed at Lincoln Hills School or Copper Lake School on the date that the county begins accepting applications for the position may be selected by the county without regard to the requirements of any county civil service system that would otherwise apply.

Finally, if, prior to July 1, 2020, a county enters into a contract with a child welfare agency under which the child welfare agency agrees to operate a new secured residential care center for children and youth, the county shall include in the contract a requirement that the child welfare agency grant an initial interview to any applicant for a position at the new secured residential care center for children and youth who is an employee of Lincoln Hills School or Copper Lake School on the date that the child welfare agency begins accepting applications for that position.

Youth aids funding.

Current law requires DCF to allocate to counties various state and federal moneys to pay for juvenile correctional services and community-based juvenile delinquency-related services (commonly referred to as “youth aids”). Under current law, youth aids funding may not be used to pay for land purchase, building construction, or maintenance of county buildings, for reimbursement of costs relating to holding juveniles in secure custody, city lockups, or temporary shelter care. Under current law, youth aids may be used to reimburse costs of program services in juvenile detention facilities, except for the costs of basic care and supervision. The bill removes this exception, so that youth aids may be used to reimburse costs of basic care and supervision in juvenile detention facilities, and adds that youth aids may be used to reimburse costs of program services in secured residential care centers for children and youth.