At the April 2018 meeting of the Public Protection Committee, staff was directed to return at a future meeting date with information regarding the Juvenile Justice Commission (JJC), the Delinquency Prevention Commission (DPC) and the Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council (JJCC). This information will allow the Committee to better assess a path forward for potential changes, mergers or consolidation of juvenile justice oversight by multiple advisory committees. Below is a summary of the JJC, the DPC and the JJCC.:
Juvenile Justice Commission:
The Juvenile Justice Commission is a state body created by statute and is in effect part of the Superior Court. (Welf. & Inst., § 229.). The charge of JJCs is, among other things, to inspect detention facilities or group homes in counties where a minor has been held in custody. In addition, a JJC may hold hearings from time-to-time and compel the attendance of individuals to testify at such hearings.
The JJC is not subject to the Brown Act, but rather the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Gov. Code, § 11120 et. seq.) and falls within an exemption to that Act specifically for courts. (Gov. Code, § 11121.1 (a).) The exemption allows for the Court to choose not to post agendas or otherwise meet publicly.
The JJC does not direct any County financial resources allocated for juvenile justice.
Delinquency Prevention Commission:
The board of supervisors in each county has statutory authority to create and appoint members to a Delinquency Prevention Commission. The charge of a DPC is to coordinate on a countywide basis activities of governmental and non-governmental entities related to juvenile delinquency prevention. In lieu of appointing all members, a county board may designate the JJC (the State body described above) to also serve as the DPC. In Contra Costa County, the Board has chosen to designate members of the Court's JJC as the County's DPC by ordinance. This means that the membership of the County DPC is appointed by the Court and not the County.
The DPC is a local body implemented in this County by an ordinance. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 233. Ord. Code, Ch. 26-6, “Delinquency Prevention Commission.”) Thus, it is a legislative body for purposes of the Brown Act. (Gov. Code, § 54952 (a), (b).) DPC meetings must be conducted in accordance with the Brown Act.
The DPC does not direct any County financial resources allocated for juvenile justice.
Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council:
The JJCC is created pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code section 749.22 and is charged with creating and maintaining a multi-agency juvenile justice plan composed of several critical parts, including, but not limited to:
(a) An assessment of existing law enforcement, probation, education, mental health, health, social services, drug and alcohol and youth services resources which specifically target at-risk juveniles, juvenile offenders, and their families.
(b) An identification and prioritization of the neighborhoods, schools, and other areas in the community that face a significant public safety risk from juvenile crime, such as gang activity, daylight burglary, late-night robbery, vandalism, truancy, controlled substance sales, firearm-related violence, and juvenile alcohol use within the council’s jurisdiction.
(c) A local action plan (LAP) for improving and marshaling the resources set forth in subdivision (a) to reduce the incidence of juvenile crime and delinquency in the areas targeted pursuant to subdivision (b) above and the greater community.
(d) Develop information and intelligence-sharing systems to ensure that county actions are fully coordinated, and to provide data for measuring the success of the grantee in achieving its goals.
(e) Identify outcome measures.
The JJCC does make recommendations for the allocation of County financial resources juvenile justice. Specifically, the multi-agency juvenile justice plan is required to received a state allocation of Youthful Offender Block Grant (YOBG) and Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act (JJCPA) each year. For fiscal year 2018/19, the County estimates receipt of $8.96 million ($4.7 million from JJCPA and $4.2 million from YOBG). In fiscal year 2017/18 the County received a combined amount of $8.2 million from both sources. |