2024 -- S 2775 | |
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LC005517 | |
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND | |
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY | |
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2024 | |
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A N A C T | |
RELATING TO DELINQUENT AND DEPENDENT CHILDREN -- PROCEEDINGS IN | |
FAMILY COURT | |
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Introduced By: Senators Acosta, DiMario, Mack, Kallman, and Valverde | |
Date Introduced: March 08, 2024 | |
Referred To: Senate Judiciary | |
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: | |
1 | SECTION 1. Sections 14-1-27 and 14-1-36 of the General Laws in Chapter 14-1 entitled |
2 | "Proceedings in Family Court" are hereby amended to read as follows: |
3 | 14-1-27. Temporary detention in public or private institutions. |
4 | (a) Subject to § 14-1-11, provision may be made by the family court for the temporary |
5 | detention of children at the training school for youth or in the custody of the director of the |
6 | department of children, youth and families. Provided, the family court shall not detain any juvenile |
7 | under the age of fourteen (14) years at the training school for any offense unless the child is charged |
8 | with murder, first degree sexual assault, or an attempt to commit such offenses. The court may |
9 | authorize the temporary placement of children in private homes licensed and approved by the |
10 | department of children, youth and families and subject to the supervision of the court, or may |
11 | arrange with any incorporated institution or agency licensed for child care, to receive for temporary |
12 | care children ordered detained by the court. Unless good cause is shown to delay the |
13 | commencement of the adjudicatory hearing, if a child is in detention, the family court shall |
14 | commence the adjudicatory hearing within thirty (30) calendar days from whichever of the |
15 | following events occurs latest: the date the petition is served on the child; or the date the child is |
16 | placed in detention. In all such cases, the family court shall conclude the adjudicatory hearing |
17 | within fifteen (15) calendar days of the commencement of the hearing unless good cause is shown |
18 | to extend an adjudicatory hearing beyond fifteen (15) calendar days. |
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1 | (b) In any case wherein the attorney general files an application to waive and/or certify a |
2 | youth, the juvenile may be detained at the training school for a period not to exceed ninety (90) |
3 | days. In such cases, the department shall present to the family court a waiver report within forty- |
4 | five (45) calendar days. At the expiration of ninety (90) days, the attorney general’s petition for |
5 | waiver and/or certification shall be decided by the family court, unless good cause is shown to |
6 | extend the time upon which the family court may render such a decision. |
7 | (c) When DCYF makes application to the court to take a child into temporary custody due |
8 | to allegations of abuse and/or neglect or dependency, DCYF shall have the duty to investigate the |
9 | possibility of placing the child or children with a fit and willing relative not residing with the |
10 | parents. DCYF shall conduct an assessment into the appropriateness of placement of the child or |
11 | children with the relative within thirty (30) days of the child’s placement in the temporary custody |
12 | of DCYF. If the department determines that the relative is a fit and proper person to have placement |
13 | of the child, the child shall be placed with that relative, unless the particular needs of the child make |
14 | the placement contrary to the child’s best interests. All placements with relatives shall be subject |
15 | to criminal records checks in accordance with § 14-1-34, foster care regulations promulgated by |
16 | DCYF, and interstate compact approval, if necessary. |
17 | (d) If DCYF proposes to place the child with a relative outside the state of Rhode Island, |
18 | DCYF shall notify the parent who shall have an opportunity to file an objection to the placement |
19 | with the family court within ten (10) days of receipt of the notice. A hearing shall be held before |
20 | the child is placed outside the state of Rhode Island. |
21 | (e) If the request of a relative for placement of a child or children is denied by DCYF, that |
22 | relative shall have the right to petition the court for review. The court shall within five (5) days of |
23 | the request conduct a hearing as to the suitability of temporary placement with the relative and shall |
24 | make any orders incident to placement that it deems meet and just. |
25 | (f) Whenever the court determines that permanent placement or adoption is in the best |
26 | interest of a child, a fit and willing relative who has been awarded placement of the child shall be |
27 | given priority over a non-relative, provided that the placement or adoption is in the best interest of |
28 | the child. |
29 | 14-1-36. Commitment of delinquent and wayward children. |
30 | (a) In all proceedings under this chapter, the court may order a delinquent or wayward child |
31 | to be committed to the training school for youth for a sentence no longer than the youth’s nineteenth |
32 | birthday. Provided, the family court shall not commit any juvenile under the age of fourteen (14) |
33 | years to the training school for any offense other than murder, first degree sexual assault, or an |
34 | attempt to commit such offenses. Should a juvenile under the age of fourteen (14) years be |
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1 | sentenced for such an offense, the family court shall not commit the juvenile to the training school |
2 | unless the court determines, in the court's judgment, that there are no other reasonable placement |
3 | locations and/or conditions that will ensure the safety of the juvenile or any other person or persons. |
4 | However, nothing contained in this section shall be construed to prohibit the placing of any child |
5 | in the custody of the department of children, youth and families or any other agency, society, or |
6 | institution, pursuant to § 14-1-32. The commitment of delinquent or wayward children shall be by |
7 | an order and all assignments of the custody of dependent, neglected, delinquent, or wayward |
8 | children to the state training school for youth or to the custody of the department of children, youth |
9 | and families or to any of the private institutions, agencies, or societies mentioned in this chapter |
10 | shall be by a decree signed by the justice of the court by whom the order or decree is issued, and |
11 | that order or decree shall be directed to any person that the court may designate, and shall require |
12 | that person to take the child and deliver him or her to the officer in charge of the training school |
13 | for youth or to the custody of the director of children, youth and families or of the public or private |
14 | institution, agency, or society, and the order or decree shall constitute the person charged with it, |
15 | while he or she has the order in his or her possession for service, an officer for all purposes under |
16 | this chapter, in any county of the state in which it may be necessary for him or her to go. The person |
17 | charged with carrying out the order or decree shall also deliver to the officer of the public or private |
18 | institution, agency, or society or to the training school for youth or the director of children, youth |
19 | and families a copy of the order or the decree signed by the justice of the court issuing it, and |
20 | subject to the provisions of this chapter, the officer and other authorities in charge of the training |
21 | school for youth or the director of children, youth and families or any public or private institution, |
22 | agency, or society shall hold the child according to the terms of any other order or decree that may |
23 | from time to time thereafter be issued by the court in relation to the child. |
24 | (b) Whenever the court shall commit a child to the training school for youth or to the |
25 | director of children, youth and families or any other institution or agency, it shall transmit with the |
26 | order of commitment a summary of its information concerning the child. |
27 | SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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EXPLANATION | |
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL | |
OF | |
A N A C T | |
RELATING TO DELINQUENT AND DEPENDENT CHILDREN -- PROCEEDINGS IN | |
FAMILY COURT | |
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1 | This act would prohibit the family court from detaining any juvenile or committing any |
2 | juvenile, under the age of fourteen (14) years, to the training school, for any offense other than |
3 | murder, first degree sexual assault, or an attempt to commit such offenses, and the court determines |
4 | that there is no other reasonable placement to ensure the safety of the juvenile and the general |
5 | public. |
6 | This act would take effect upon passage. |
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