Committee on Children
Judiciary Committee
AN ACT CONCERNING DETAINED YOUTH
SUMMARY: This act eliminates the requirements that the Department of Children and Families (DCF) in maintaining the Connecticut Juvenile Training School use the American Correctional Association's (ACA) Manual of Standards for Juvenile Training Schools to improve resident and staff safety and allow the school to be accredited by ACA.
It also establishes new reporting requirements for DCF, the Department of Correction (DOC), and the child advocate.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2016
REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
DCF
Existing law requires DCF, through 2019, to biennially submit and present to the governor and Appropriations and Children's committees (1) progress reports on efforts to meet Connecticut children's mental, emotional, and behavioral health needs under a comprehensive implementation plan and (2) any data-driven recommendations to change or augment the implementation. The act requires DCF, starting October 1, 2016, to collaborate on the progress reports and recommendations with the (1) departments of Developmental Services, Education, Public Health, and Social Services; (2) Office of Early Childhood; and (3) judicial branch's Court Support Services Division.
The act also requires DCF, by October 1, 2017 and in collaboration with the judicial branch and DOC, to submit to the governor and the Appropriations and Children's committees a plan to prevent or reduce the negative impact of mental, emotional, and behavioral health issues on children and youth age 20 or younger who are held in secure detention or correctional confinement.
DOC
The act requires the DOC commissioner, by October 1, 2017, to begin to annually (1) compile records on the frequency and use of physical restraint and seclusion on children and youth age 20 or younger who are in DOC custody at the John R. Manson Youth Institution in Cheshire and (2) submit a report to the Children's Committee summarizing those records. The report must address the prior year and indicate, at a minimum, how often (1) physical restraint was used as an emergency or nonemergency intervention and (2) restricted housing or other types of administrative segregation or seclusion were used at the facility.
Child Advocate
The act requires the child advocate to prepare an in-depth report on the confinement conditions for children age 20 or younger held in secure detention or correctional confinement in any state-operated facility. The report must also examine the facilities' compliance with the law limiting the use of restraint and seclusion. It must be submitted to the Children's Committee biennially, starting by March 1, 2017.
OLR Tracking: KMD; MK; MS; PF; MK: tjo