2006 Louisiana Laws - RS 46:2605.2 — Louisiana juvenile justice planning and coordination board

§2605.2.  Louisiana Juvenile Justice Planning and Coordination Board

A.  The Louisiana Juvenile Justice Planning Coordination Board, hereafter referred to as the "Louisiana board", is hereby established as an interim, planning and coordination board of the cabinet authorized to perform the following responsibilities:

(1)  Develop a strategic planning process for juvenile justice that utilizes data collection and trend analysis, addresses resources and gaps in services, identifies research-based effective programs and practices, and incorporates impact evaluation methodology to measure outcomes, and to develop an annual implementation plan.

(2)(a)  Develop and recommend a plan delineating how the following functions will be accomplished in the state's regional service areas, including establishing the entities responsible for performing these functions:

(i)  Identifying and prioritizing gaps in the continuum of services needed for each area.

(ii)  Conducting regular regional, multi-parish, or area training, especially with regard to comprehensive strategizing, restorative justice concepts, and graduated sanctions.

(iii)  Communicating the vision, goals, and strategies of the Juvenile Justice Reform Act within each region.

(iv)  Providing recommendations to the Children's Cabinet.

(b)  Provide the agencies identified in R.S. 46:2605.3 a forum in which to discuss and resolve any differences or disputes regarding the coordinated delivery of services within a regional service area.

(3)  Monitor and report as needed during its tenure to the governor, the cabinet, the Juvenile Justice Reform Act Implementation Commission, other appropriate legislative committees, and the general public on Louisiana's progress in developing and implementing the strategic plan and the annual implementation plan.

(4)  Ensure and supervise the preparation of a juvenile justice component of the children's budget and assist the cabinet in presenting the budget to the appropriate legislative budget committees and to the Juvenile Justice Reform Act Implementation Commission.

(5)  Create, with the advice and counsel of the Children's Cabinet Research Council, a system of statistics, indicators, and measures, and a system for contracting, monitoring, and evaluating the performance and outcomes of the juvenile justice system throughout the state.

(6)  Ensure the planning, development, and maintenance of a central repository of bibliographic, statistical, and directory information on juvenile justice in association with an appropriate state database and web-based function.

(7)  Ensure that the priorities of state entities funding children and family services are consistent with the policies of the cabinet and the Louisiana board by:

(a)  Receiving reports of the allocations and expenditures of all federal and state juvenile grant funds earmarked for law enforcement, treatment, rehabilitation and education.

(b)  Evaluating how juvenile monies, both state and federal, are utilized in implementing juvenile delinquency prevention programs by state and local agencies.

(c)  Identifying and evaluating the effectiveness of state and local public awareness and delinquency prevention programs in both the public and private sectors to develop a series of recommendations for improving the effectiveness of such programs.

(d)  Evaluating specific problem areas relating to the enforcement of laws concerning juvenile delinquency and making recommendations to improve the impact of those laws through legislative refinement or executive order.

(e)  Assessing the roles and interaction of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies and entities in combating juvenile delinquency to make recommendations for improving their effectiveness.

(8)  Ensure that the design of Louisiana's continuum of services for children includes the full range of juvenile justice services, including alternative and community-based services.

(9)  Coordinate the development and acceptance of common assessment instruments including risk, safety, needs, family, and strengths-based instruments that are practice oriented and not just theoretical in design, by all child welfare, juvenile justice, mental health, and substance abuse agencies.

(10)  Assist the cabinet in the development of a centralized intake system that would allow all providers to access common intake forms and to assist their clients in completing and returning them via a website to a central intake database and to a system of case managers.

(11)  Assist community, local, and regional entities in developing a planning and collaborative capacity, especially with respect to the comprehensive strategy, the principles of balanced and restorative justice, and the continuum of community-based, graduated sanctions and services.

(12)  Develop a comprehensive strategy to foster interagency agreements and cooperation regarding the sharing of information and data concerning children, youth, and families involved in the juvenile justice system, and provide a forum for the presentation of interagency recommendations and the resolution of disagreements relating to the contents of the interagency agreements or the performance of the parties of their respective obligations under the agreement.

B.(1)  The Louisiana board shall be composed of the executive director of the cabinet, the chairman of the North Delta Law Enforcement Planning District, the chairman of the Capital District Law Enforcement Planning Council, one assistant district attorney who regularly prosecutes juveniles appointed by the Louisiana District Attorney's Association, and one appointed representative of each of the following entities:  The office of the governor, the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement, Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention Board, the Supreme Court of Louisiana, the Louisiana Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges Association, the Louisiana Court Administrators' Association, the Louisiana District Attorney's Association, the Louisiana Sheriffs' Association, the Louisiana Association of Chiefs of Police, the Independent Juvenile Probation Officers, the Independent Juvenile Detention Centers, Victims and Citizens Against Crime, the Louisiana State University Office of Social Services Research and Development, the Louisiana Association of Child Care Agencies, You Who, Prevent Child Abuse, the Louisiana Children's Trust Fund, the Louisiana Indigent Defense Assistance Board, the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana, the Children's Cabinet Research Council, Families and Friends of Louisiana's Incarcerated Children, Agenda for Children, Urban League of Greater New Orleans, Mental Health Association of Louisiana, Metropolitan Crime Commission, Louisiana Interfaith Together (LIFT), and the Magnolia Peace Officers Association.

(2)  Members shall serve for a term of two years or until their term of service is ended on December 31, 2004, at which time the board shall cease to exist.  Members may be replaced at any time by written communication of the appointing authority directed to the director of the Louisiana board.  All members shall serve without compensation or travel reimbursements, and without reimbursement of expenses from the state.

(3)  The Louisiana board shall be chaired by a member appointed by the executive director of the cabinet or the director's designee.  The vice chair and other officers of the Louisiana board shall also be appointed by the executive director of the cabinet or the director's designee.  The Louisiana board shall meet at least quarterly according to a schedule established by the chair.  Meetings shall also be held on call of the chair or at the request of at least three members of the Louisiana board.  The chair shall give seven days' notice to the members of the Louisiana board of the date, time, and place where regular or special meetings will be held.

(4)  A quorum shall consist of a majority of members of the Louisiana board.  The use of proxies is not permitted.

(5)  The executive director of the Louisiana board shall be appointed by the governor.  At the request of the executive director of the Louisiana board and with the approval of the appointing entities, the Louisiana board may receive intergovernmental staffing assistance from other executive branch agencies, either or both houses of the legislature, the supreme court, and local governments.

Acts 2003, No. 1225, §6.