SB 468 (Marsden), which built on previous discussions about consolidation of juvenile detention centers, advanced from the Senate Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee on Friday, but was continued to 2027 on Wednesday in the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee. The bill would add elements to the statewide plan that the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) must produce biennially and require that this document include a plan for juvenile secure detention facilities, which would designate the total number of facilities to be in operation, the location of each facility, the localities each facility would serve, and the number of beds required for each facility. As introduced, the bill would have enabled DJJ to reduce or eliminate state funds to any localities that did not participate in the plan for juvenile secure detention facilities; amended language offered in the Senate Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee instead provided that the plan would inform state funding decisions. Amendments offered in Senate Rehabilitation and Social Services also would have required stakeholder participation in developing the plan.
The bill also would allow DJJ to designate up to three juvenile detention centers to provide additional support and services to juveniles identified as high-needs or high-risk, and included provisions dealing with costs for youth who are transferred from one juvenile detention center to another.
VACo has historically opposed mandates from the state regarding consolidation of juvenile detention centers and maintained that decisions regarding consolidation should be made by the affected local governments so that the benefits and drawbacks can be fully considered. In discussions with the patron, VACo encouraged the state planning process envisioned in the bill to encompass a qualitative review of how well the state system of juvenile correctional and juvenile detention centers is serving youth, rather than prescribing the number of facilities and beds in juvenile detention centers.
VACo Contact: Katie Boyle