SECTIONS 743-749 - California Statutes

WELFARE AND INSTITUTIONS CODE

SECTION 743-749

743. Contingent upon the appropriation of funds therefor, there is
hereby established a three-year pilot project which shall be known as
the "Repeat Offender Prevention Project." This project shall operate
in the Counties of Fresno, Humboldt, Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego,
San Mateo, and Solano, and the City and County of San Francisco,
unless the board of supervisors of one or more of these counties
adopts a resolution to the effect it will not participate in the
project, each of which shall either design, establish, implement, and
evaluate a model program to meet the needs of a juvenile offender
population identified as having the potential to become repeat
serious offenders utilizing the findings of exploratory studies
conducted in Orange County between 1989 and 1993 by the research
staff of the Orange County Probation Department and which identified
certain minors who were designated as the "8 percent" population. The
main goal of this program is to develop and implement a
cost-effective multiagency, multidisciplinary program which targets
youth displaying behavior that may lead to delinquency and
recidivism.

744. (a) The Repeat Offender Prevention Project shall be
administered by the Board of Corrections and each program shall be
under the onsite administration of the chief probation officer in the
county selected for participation in the project or under a
consortium of chief probation officers representing each
participating county.
(b) Pursuant to this article, a chief probation officer or the
regional consortium, with the approval of the appropriate board or
boards of supervisors, may apply to the Board of Corrections for
funding to implement a program meeting the criteria specified in
subdivision (b) of Section 745. The goal of each program shall be to
develop and demonstrate intervention strategies which will end each
participating minor's escalating pattern of criminal and antisocial
behavior, a pattern that leads to chronic delinquency and,
potentially, to adult criminal careers. These strategies shall be
provided within the parameters of community protection and offender
accountability. Application for program funding shall be made in
accordance with written guidelines established by the Board of
Corrections in consultation with chief probation officers throughout
the state.

745. The Board of Corrections shall establish goals and deadlines
against which the success or failure of the program demonstration
projects may be measured. The board shall also develop selection
criteria and funding schedules for participating counties which shall
take into consideration, but not be limited to, all of the
following:
(1) Size of the eligible target population as defined in Section
746.
(2) Demonstrated ability to administer the program.
(3) Identification of service delivery area.
(4) Demonstrated ability to provide or develop the key
intervention strategies described in Section 748 to the eligible
target population and their families.
(5) A formal research component utilizing an experimental research
design and random assignment to the program.

746. A minor shall be selected for participation in a program
established pursuant to this article based upon the following
factors:
(a) The minor is 15 1/2 years of age or younger, has been declared
a ward of the juvenile court for the first time and is to be
supervised by a probation department selected for participation in
this project.
(b) The minor has been evaluated and found to have at least three
of the following factors, that place the minor at a significantly
greater risk of becoming a chronic juvenile or adult offender:
(1) School behavior and performance problems. This shall include
at least one of the following: attendance problems; school suspension
or expulsion; or failure in two or more academic classes during the
previous six months or comparable academic period.
(2) Family problems. These shall include at least one of the
following: poor parental supervision or control; documented
circumstances of domestic violence; child abuse or neglect; or family
members who have engaged in criminal activities.
(3) Substance abuse. This shall include any regular use of alcohol
or drugs by the minor, other than experimentation.
(4) High-risk predelinquent behavior. This shall include at least
one of the following: a pattern of stealing; chronic running away
from home; or gang membership or association.
(5) The minor matches the at-risk profile for becoming a chronic
and repeat juvenile offender according to the criteria developed by
the Multi-Agency At-Risk Youth Committee (MAARYC).

747. The Board of Corrections shall adopt written minimum standards
for project implementation, operation, and evaluation which shall
include a written commitment by a county or region to the following
objectives:
(a) Teamwork on the part of all treatment and intervention agents
involved in the project including the family, the professionals, and
any community volunteers.
(b) Empowerment of the family to recognize and, ultimately, to
solve the problems related to their minor's delinquent behavior and
their involvement as an integral part of the treatment team and
process.
(c) Creation of a multiagency, multidisciplinary, and culturally
competent team so that the program can effectively draw on the
professional knowledge, skill, and experience of many treatment
disciplines in areas including, but not limited to, the following:
education; job preparation and search; job skills and vocational
training; life skills; psychological counseling; mental health
services; drug and alcohol treatment; health care; parenting skills;
community service opportunities; building self-esteem and
self-confidence; mentoring programs; restitution programs; gang
intervention; crime prevention; recreational, social, and cultural
activities; and transportation and child care as needed.

748. Each county or region shall, in implementing their respective
programs, provide the following key intervention strategies to ensure
the following:
(a) Adequate levels of supervision, structure, and support to
minors and their families both during and after the intervention and
treatment process, in order to accomplish the following:
(1) Ensure protection of the community, the minor, and his or her
family.
(2) Facilitate the development of new patterns of thinking and
behavior.
(3) Eliminate any obvious stumbling blocks to the family's
progress.
(4) Facilitate the development of enhanced parenting skills and
parent-child relationships.
(b) Accountability on the part of the minor for his or her actions
and assistance to the minor in developing a greater awareness and
sensitivity to the impact of his or her actions on both people and
situations.
(c) Assistance to families in their efforts to ensure that minors
are attending school regularly.
(d) Assistance to the minor in developing strategies for attaining
and reinforcing educational success.
(e) Promotion and development of positive social values, behavior,
and relationships by providing opportunities for the minor to
directly help people; to improve his or her community; to participate
in positive leisure-time activities specially chosen to match his or
her individual interests, skills, and abilities; and to have greater
access and exposure to positive adult and juvenile role models.
(f) Promotion of partnerships between public and private agencies
to develop individualized intervention strategies which shall
include, but not be limited to, the following:
(1) Delivery of services in close proximity to the minor's or the
minor's family's home.
(2) Community case advocates to assist in building bridges of
trust, communication, and understanding between the minor, the
family, and all treatment and intervention agents.
(g) Provision of a continuum of care with strong followup services
that continue to be available to the minor and family as long as
needed, not just on a crisis basis.

749. (a) The Board of Corrections shall be responsible for
monitoring demonstration project and expansion program
implementations in accordance with an annual program plan submitted
by the participating counties or regions. Written progress and
evaluation reports shall be required of all participating counties
pursuant to a schedule and guidelines developed by the Board of
Corrections.
(b) The success of each funded demonstration project shall be
determined, at a minimum, by comparing a control group, consisting of
juvenile offenders who were not selected for participation in the
project, to an experimental group, consisting of juvenile offenders
who have participated in the project. Juveniles in each group shall
be evaluated at 6-, 12-, 18-, and 24-month intervals, according to
the following criteria:
(1) The number of subsequent petitions to declare the minor a ward
of the juvenile court, pursuant to Section 602, and the subject
matter and disposition of each of those petitions.
(2) The number of days served in any local or state correctional
facilities.
(3) The number of days of school attendance during the current or
most recent semester.
(4) The minor's grade point average for the most recently
completed school semester.
(c) The Board of Corrections, based on reports provided pursuant
to subdivision (a), shall report upon request to the Legislature on
the effectiveness of these programs in achieving the demonstration
project and program goals described in this article.
(d) The Board of Corrections shall determine county or regional
eligibility for funding and, from money appropriated therefor, the
board shall allocate and award funds to those counties or regions
applying and eligible therefor and selected for project
participation.
(e) The Repeat Offender Prevention Project shall be implemented
within six months of the appropriation of funds therefor and shall
terminate at the end of three years from that appropriation.
(f) Five percent of the funds allocated each fiscal year for the
Repeat Offender Prevention Project shall be set aside for the
administrative expenses of the Board of Corrections.