Nevada hearing considers expanding juvenile ‘‘day court’’ to include FASD and NAS

A Nevada Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Senate Bill 140 convened for testimony on expanding a therapeutic juvenile court model used in Clark County to include youth affected by fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) and neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS).

Sponsor Senator James Orangehall, who introduced SB140, told the committee the bill would broaden the existing ‘‘day court’’ for youth on the autism spectrum so those with other neurobehavioral disorders can access the same diagnostic and treatment pathways. ‘‘This expansion will allow for the same intervention that we're already utilizing in day court,’’ Orangehall said.

The proposal would allow youth suspected of having FASD or NAS to be diverted into a court model that speeds diagnosis and links children to applied behavior analysis (ABA) and other wraparound services. Judge Sunny Bailey, who founded the Clark County diversion program that inspired the bill, described the court’s outcomes: it began in 2018 with a single case and, she said, has graduated its 100th youth with an asserted 90 percent success rate. Bailey said the court shortened diagnostic wait times from about a year to roughly three to four months for participating youth.

Advocates and public-safety organizations gave oral support at the hearing. Carissa Pierce of the Children’s Advocacy Alliance told the committee that youth with prenatal exposure face higher rates of school failure and system involvement and said the bill aligns with juvenile justice best practices. Jonathan Norman of Legal Aid said advocates in the diversion court help ensure appropriate individualized education programs (IEPs) and school supports are secured. Representatives from unions and county juvenile services also voiced support.

Committee members asked for details about diagnostics, costs and post-diagnosis coverage. Judge Bailey said Medicaid covers most ABA services after diagnosis but covers only about $750 of an individual diagnostic evaluation; the court relies on grant funding to supplement the remainder. Bailey estimated the full diagnostic cost at about $7,500 per child and said the program currently performs roughly four diagnostics per month because of funding limits.

Witnesses cited published and programmatic figures during testimony: Bailey referenced a 2024 study noting that youth in the juvenile justice system are more likely to have FASD and said about 95 percent of those individuals are undiagnosed; another comment in the hearing cited 81 certifications of youth to adult court in Clark County in 2023, of which 44 (62 percent) were Black youth. The committee record also includes references by speakers to Nevada statutory language discussed during the hearing (transcript references include NRS 430.575 subsection 5 and NRS 62B.700 and a later citation the speakers identified as a 2021 Medicaid coverage change).

No committee vote on SB140 was recorded during the hearing. The chair closed testimony after supporters spoke from Carson City, Las Vegas and by phone and indicated the committee would reconvene the next day at the same time and place.

SB140 remains under committee consideration; the hearing record includes multiple supportive statements from legal-aid groups, public defenders, juvenile services and disability advocates who urged the committee to advance the bill so more youth can access diagnosis and treatment services.