(a) Whenever a person has been adjudged a ward of the juvenile court and has been committed or otherwise disposed of as provided in this chapter for the care of wards of the juvenile court, the court may order that the ward be detained until the execution of the order of commitment or of other disposition.
(b) In any case in which a minor or nonminor is detained for more than 15 days pending the execution of the order of commitment or of any other disposition, the court shall periodically review the case to determine whether the delay is reasonable. These periodic reviews shall occur at a hearing held at least every 15 days, commencing from the time the minor or nonminor was initially detained pending the execution of the order of commitment or of any other disposition. Prior to the hearing, the probation officer shall contact appropriate placements in order to identify specific, appropriate, and available placements for the minor or nonminor. During the course of each review, the court shall inquire regarding the action taken by the probation department to carry out its order, the reasons for the delay, and the effect of the delay upon the minor or nonminor. The probation department shall explain to the court what steps have been taken to identify an appropriate placement for the minor or nonminor.
(c) (1) A court shall not consider any of the following to be a reasonable delay:
(A) The probation officer’s inability to identify a specific, appropriate, and available placement for the minor or nonminor when the court finds that the probation officer has not made reasonable efforts to identify a specific, appropriate, and available placement for the minor or nonminor.
(B) A delay caused by administrative processes, including, but not limited to, the workload of county personnel, transfer or reassignment of a case, or the availability of reports or records.
(C) A delay in convening any meetings between agencies. For purposes of this paragraph, “agency” has the same meaning as defined in Section 727.
(2) This subdivision does not preclude the court from determining that any other delay is not reasonable, including, but not limited to, in the case of a minor or nonminor who was previously adjudged to be a dependent child of the court and was in foster care at the time the petition was filed pursuant to Section 601 or 602, if the probation officer does not identify a specific, appropriate, and available placement for the minor or nonminor in the case plan described in Section 706.6 upon the court issuing its orders pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 727, unless the probation officer provides documentation that his or her efforts to find an appropriate placement were reasonable.
(d) (1) If the court finds the delay to be unreasonable, the court shall order the probation officer to assess the availability of any suitable temporary placements or other alternatives to continued detention of the minor or nonminor in a secure setting. The court may order that the minor or nonminor be placed in a suitable and available temporary nonsecure placement or alternative to continued detention after consultation with all interested parties present at the hearing, including the probation officer, the minor or nonminor, the family of the minor or nonminor, and other providers of services. In addition to the orders authorized by this subdivision, the court may issue any other orders or relief pursuant to its authority under paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 727.
(2) The court shall continue to periodically review the case, pursuant to subdivision (b), until the execution of the order of commitment or of other disposition.
(e) It is the intent of the Legislature, in amending this section in the 2013–14 Regular Session, that minors and nonminors are to be released to their court-ordered dispositions expeditiously, and that any unreasonable periods of detention must be eliminated because they are not in the best interests of the minor or nonminor.
(Amended by Stats. 2014, Ch. 615, Sec. 2. (AB 2607) Effective January 1, 2015.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018