(a) The purpose of the Working Group is to create a plan to:
(1) close Juvenile Hall by no later than December 31, 2021;
(2) strengthen and expand community-based alternatives to detention;
(3) provide a rehabilitative, non-institutional place or places of detention, in a location approved by the Court, which is available for all wards of the Court and persons alleged to come within the jurisdiction of the Court;
(4) reinvest any monies saved by the closure of Juvenile Hall in high-quality, effective, community-based alternatives to detention; an alternative, rehabilitative, non-institutional center for youth who are detained; and mental health and educational support for detained youth; and
(5) preserve, protect and aim to expand the role of the public sector in the direct provision of juvenile rehabilitation services, both in community-based alternatives to detention and in any rehabilitative, non-institutional place or places of detention.
(b) In carrying out this purpose, the Working Group shall be guided by the following principles:
(1) A juvenile justice system should balance public safety, positive youth development, family and community health, and victim restoration.
(2) Detention has a devastating impact on youth, their families, and their neighborhoods, and undermines the safety and health of both detained youth and their communities.
(3) The rehabilitative goals of the juvenile justice system can best be accomplished in family-based settings in the communities where youth live.
(4) The vast majority of young people in detention should be diverted from that system and given access to developmentally appropriate, trauma-informed programs and services that address racial and ethnic disparities.
(5) Youth in the juvenile justice system and their families should have a role in identifying what kind of support would be most helpful to them.
(6) Resources invested in Juvenile Hall should instead be invested in youth, their families, and community-based programs, including mental health and educational support.
(7) Community-based programs that serve juvenile justice-involved young people should be supported, strengthened, and where appropriate, expanded.
(8) Youth in the juvenile justice system should be referred to programs and court-ordered placements in the City whenever possible.
(9) Juvenile Hall staff should be given the opportunity, consistent with civil service rules, to transfer to other jobs with the City or the San Francisco Unified School District once Juvenile Hall is closed.
(Added by Ord. , File No. 190392, App. 6/28/2019, Eff. 7/29/2019)
