Colorado § 19-2.5-1518 - Commitment to department of human services.

§ 19-2.5-1518. Commitment to department of human services.

(1) (a) When a juvenile is placed in a community placement by the department of human services following commitment pursuant to section 19-2.5-1127 or 19-2.5-1103, an administrative review must be conducted every six months after the placement for as long as the juvenile remains in a community placement under the department of human services.

(b) When a juvenile is placed in a community placement for a period of twelve months or longer, a court of competent jurisdiction or an administrative body appointed or approved by the court that is not under the supervision of the department of human services shall conduct a permanency hearing pursuant to the federal "Social Security Act", 42 U.S.C. sec. 675 (5)(C) no later than the twelfth month of the community placement and at least every twelve months thereafter while the juvenile remains in a community placement. At the permanency hearing, the entity conducting the hearing shall determine whether:

(I) Continued community placement is in the best interests of the juvenile and the community;

(II) The juvenile's safety is protected in the community placement;

(III) Reasonable efforts have been made to finalize the juvenile's permanency plan that is in effect at that time;

(IV) Continued community placement is necessary and appropriate;

(V) There has been compliance with the juvenile's case plan;

(VI) Progress has been made toward alleviating or mitigating the causes that necessitated the community placement;

(VII) There is a date projected by which the juvenile will be returned and safely maintained in the home, placed for legal guardianship, or placed in a planned and permanent living arrangement; and

(VIII) Procedural safeguards to preserve parental rights have been applied in connection with the removal of the juvenile from the home, any change in the juvenile's community placement, or any determination affecting family time.

(c) The entity conducting the permanency hearing shall consult with the juvenile, in an age-appropriate manner, concerning the juvenile's permanency plan.

(2) Parole supervision of juveniles committed to the department of human services pursuant to section 19-2.5-1127 or 19-2.5-1103, as determined by the juvenile parole board, must not exceed six months, except as otherwise provided by statute.

(3) When a juvenile is released or released to parole supervision by the department of human services or escapes from the department, the department shall notify the committing court, the district attorney, the Colorado bureau of investigation, and the initiating law enforcement agency. If the juvenile is on parole status, the division of youth services shall notify the juvenile parole board, pursuant to section 19-2.5-1203 (7)(b)(II), of any discharge as a matter of law, any placement change that may impact public safety or victim safety as determined by the division of youth services, and any escape and recapture that occurs during the period of parole.

(4) If the terms and conditions of a juvenile's parole include the condition that the juvenile attend school, the department of human services shall notify the school district in which the juvenile will be enrolled of this condition.

(5) When a juvenile is released by the department of human services to parole supervision, the payment of any remaining restitution must be a condition of parole.

(6) At least ninety-one days prior to expiration of commitment to the department of human services, notification must be given to the responsible person who had custody of the juvenile immediately prior to the commitment. Reasonable efforts must be made to return custody of the juvenile to the family or responsible person who had custody of the juvenile immediately prior to the commitment, unless a court of competent jurisdiction orders that custody of the juvenile is with a different person.

(7) When custody of a juvenile who will be under the age of eighteen years at the time of expiration of commitment cannot be determined or none of the resources described in subsection (6) of this section exist, the division of youth services shall make a referral to the last-known county of residence of the responsible person having custody of the juvenile immediately prior to the commitment. The referral to the county must be made by the division of youth services at least ninety-one days prior to the expiration of the juvenile's commitment. The county department of human or social services shall conduct an assessment of the juvenile's child protection needs and, pursuant to rules adopted by the state board, provide services in the best interest of the juvenile. The division of youth services shall work in collaboration with the county department of human or social services conducting the assessment and shall provide parole supervision services as described in section 19-2.5-1204.

(8) If a juvenile who is committed to the department of human services escapes from a facility operated by the department or a facility with which the department contracts, the department shall not count the time the juvenile is on escape status toward completion of the juvenile's commitment.

Source: L. 2021: Entire article added with relocations, (SB 21-059), ch. 136, p. 697, § 2, effective October 1. L. 2023: (1)(b)(VIII) amended, (HB 23-1027), ch. 284, p. 1682, § 12, effective June 1.

Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 19-2-921 (5) to (11) as it existed prior to 2021.

Cross references: For the legislative declaration in HB 23-1027, see section 1 of chapter 284, Session Laws of Colorado 2023.

ANNOTATION

Annotator's note. The following annotations include cases decided under former provisions similar to this section.

Construction of consecutive sentence provisions. Statute requiring the mandatory imposition of consecutive sentences for attempted escape, statute applying the statute on attempted escapes to juvenile offenders, and general children's code statute on commitment of persons to the department of institutions were construed to be in accord with each other, and the imposition of consecutive sentences was held to be an exception to the general children's code section limiting commitments of persons 18 years of age or older to a total of two years. People in Interest of E.Z.L., 815 P.2d 987 (Colo. App. 1991).

There is nothing unfair or shocking to the conscience either in the trial court's imposition of a two-year commitment for juvenile as provided by former § 19-2-704 (3) or in its refusal to grant credit for pre-dispositional detention. People v. T.S.R., 843 P.2d 105 (Colo. App. 1992).

Juvenile court correctly noted that the maximum sentence the juvenile court can impose under the Colorado Children's Code in the first instance is two years. People v. Rivera, 968 P.2d 1061 (Colo. App. 1997).

Subsection (3)(c) sets a ceiling of two years but sets no floor. A court therefore is not limited to imposing any particular minimum period of commitment in sentencing a juvenile. People in Interest of J.C., 2018 COA 22, 428 P.3d 617.

Applied in J.T. v. O'Rourke ex rel. Tenth Judicial Dist., 651 P.2d 407 (Colo. 1982); Rocha v. People, 713 P.2d 350 (Colo. 1986).