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Senate committee hears bill to manage overcrowding at juvenile rehabilitation facilities; residents urge caution
Summary
Lawmakers and residents debated Engrossed 2nd Substitute Senate Bill 52-78, which would set bed-capacity triggers, expand transfer options and require internal behavioral management rules for juvenile rehabilitation institutions. Residents from Green Hill School urged the committee not to create automatic or punitive pathways to adult prison.
Engrossed Second Substitute Senate Bill 52-78, which the Senate Human Services Committee heard on June 25, would set a rated bed capacity for state juvenile rehabilitation institutions, require the Department of Children, Youth, and Families to plan when occupancy reaches 90% of that capacity, and authorize population-reduction steps if an institution exceeds 105% of rated capacity.
The bill also creates narrow pathways to transfer certain young people from juvenile rehabilitation institutions to Department of Corrections facilities, allows transfers to work-release for some adult-convicted people whose offenses occurred before age 18, and requires DCYF to adopt rules for an internal behavioral-management infraction system.
The measure’s sponsor, Sen. John Braun, said the bill is intended to give the agency tools to manage severe overcrowding at Green Hill School, which he said has been operating well above its rated capacity. "Right now, we're running somewhere between 240 and 250…
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