AN ACT CONCERNING THE FUTURE OF THE CONNECTICUT JUVENILE TRAINING SCHOOL.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. (Effective July 1, 2005) (a) There is established a critical response team to make recommendations concerning the reorganization and operation of the Connecticut Juvenile Training School, and the oversight of delinquent children in the custody of the Department of Children and Families, as provided in subsections (b) and (c) of this section. The critical response team shall consist of: (1) The Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, or the secretary's designee; (2) the Commissioner of Children and Families, or the commissioner's designee, the director of the Juvenile Services Bureau of the Department of Children and Families, or the director's designee, and one additional representative of the Department of Children and Families who shall be knowledgeable regarding the treatment and rehabilitation of children and youths; (3) five members appointed by the Governor, one of whom shall be a representative of the Department of Correction, one of whom shall be a representative of the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, one of whom shall be a representative of the Department of Education, one of whom shall be a representative of the Office of the Child Advocate and one of whom shall be a representative of the Commission on Children; (4) one member who shall be a representative of The University of Connecticut School of Law; (5) two members, one of whom shall be a representative of a community-based nonprofit organization that is a residential treatment facility and one of whom shall be a representative of a community-based nonprofit organization that is not a residential treatment facility; (6) two members, each of whom shall be the parent of a child diagnosed with mental health needs and having a juvenile record of adjudication; (7) three members, each of whom shall be a member of the General Assembly and at least one of whom represents the residents of the area immediately surrounding the Connecticut Juvenile Training School; (8) one member who shall be a judge of the Superior Court having expertise in juvenile matters; (9) one member who shall be a child psychiatrist specializing in trauma-based treatment; and (10) two members, each of whom shall be a licensed clinical psychologist. Six of the members required by subdivisions (4) to (10), inclusive, of this subsection shall be appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives and six of such members shall be appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate, as the speaker and president pro tempore shall mutually agree. All appointments to the critical response team shall be made not later than thirty days after the effective date of this section. Any vacancy shall be filled by the appointing authority. The Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management shall convene the first meeting of the critical response team not later than sixty days after the effective date of this section. The critical response team shall select a chairperson or cochairpersons from among its members.

(b) The critical response team shall have as its primary purpose the development of recommendations for reorganizing the Connecticut Juvenile Training School into a short-term mental health assessment and treatment facility and as its secondary purpose the development of recommendations for relocating the children currently placed in the Connecticut Juvenile Training School to more appropriate regional facilities. The critical response team shall organize itself into appropriate subcommittees in order to carry out such purposes. The subcommittees shall develop recommendations regarding: (1) A program designed to provide extensive community-based mental health services for adolescent males prior to their involvement with the juvenile justice system; (2) increasing mobile crisis services in the four communities that send the highest percentage of children to the Connecticut Juvenile Training School in an effort to prevent further placement of such children at the Connecticut Juvenile Training School; (3) increasing in-home services and respite services for families of children placed at the Connecticut Juvenile Training School in preparation for the discharge of such children back into the community; (4) the development of new, appropriate and sufficient substance abuse programs and other clinical programs to serve the mental health needs of children discharged from the Connecticut Juvenile Training School; (5) strengthening transition, probation and other services to better monitor children discharged from the Connecticut Juvenile Training School; (6) the investigation and selection of alternatives to placement in the Connecticut Juvenile Training School, including placement in small regional facilities; (7) architectural changes to the structure and campus of the Connecticut Juvenile Training School and the expected costs thereof, including, but not limited to, removal of the fence, rearranging and consolidating the units into facilities, with beds, desks and windows, that are better suited to individual and group mental health treatment, creating separate short-term housing units for parents and children in order to accommodate the assessment of children as provided in subdivision (8) of this subsection, and creating a walking trail with vistas of the Connecticut River; (8) the development of a comprehensive multidisciplinary assessment protocol and an accompanying individual treatment plan for every child who enters the care and custody of the Department of Children and Families, including, but not limited to, family history, school attendance history, behavioral history, academic and reading level history, physical health history, mental health history, including the extent and severity of any substance abuse and any known psychological or psychiatric diagnosis, and work or employment history; (9) appropriate staffing levels for mental health assessment and treatment needs; and (10) the development of an eight-bed safe unit program dedicated to short-term respite care or emergency care for children who are referred by mobile crisis counselors and who are not under the supervision of the Commissioner of Children and Families.

(c) Not later than January 1, 2006, the critical response team shall submit a report of its recommendations to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the judiciary and human services, and the select committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to children, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes. Such report shall include: (1) A proposed design and demonstration for the Connecticut Juvenile Training School restructured as a campus for the delivery of mental health services and comprehensive assessments; (2) a timetable for relocating children placed in the Connecticut Juvenile Training School to more appropriate regional facilities; and (3) a summary of the recommendations of each subcommittee of the critical response team and a list of such recommendations prioritized by order of importance.

Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective January 1, 2006) The Office of Policy and Management, in consultation with the Department of Public Works, shall determine the potential sites for, and the costs associated with, the construction of two secure regional juvenile facilities for adolescent males up to age sixteen. Such regional juvenile facilities shall have not more than fifty residential beds each and shall be located in New Haven, Hartford or Bridgeport. Not later than September 1, 2008, the Department of Children and Families shall relocate all children placed in the Connecticut Juvenile Training School to such regional juvenile facilities. Notwithstanding any provision of the general statutes or any public or special act, if all such children are not relocated by said date in accordance with this section, the appropriation to the Department of Children and Families for the Connecticut Juvenile Training School, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009, and each fiscal year thereafter, shall be reduced by the annualized cost of maintaining a child at the Connecticut Juvenile Training School multiplied by the number of children still remaining at the Connecticut Juvenile Training School as of September first of such fiscal year.

Statement of Purpose:

To establish a critical response team to make recommendations concerning the reorganization of the Connecticut Juvenile Training School into a short-term mental health assessment and treatment facility and to provide for the relocation of children currently placed in the Connecticut Juvenile Training School to more appropriate regional facilities.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]