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July 23, 2003
The Lodge at Rawlins
Rawlins, Wyoming
Dan Wilde, Attorney General's Office, Chairman;
Representative George Bagby;
Governor's Appointees:
Division of Behavioral Health, Dr. Pablo Hernandez, M.D.
Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs: Ric Paul
Department of Education: Kathy Wilder.
Mike Causey, Staff Attorney.
Please refer to Appendix 1 to review the Committee Sign-in Sheet for a list of other individuals who attended the meeting.
none
All meeting materials and handouts provided to the Committee by the Legislative Service Office (LSO), public officials, lobbyists, and the public are referenced in the Meeting Materials Index, attached to the minutes. These materials are on file at the LSO and are part of the official record of the meeting.
Chairman Wilde called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. The following sections summarize the Committee proceedings by topic. Please refer to Appendix 2 to review the Committee Meeting Agenda.
Before beginning the discussion of the general topics, Dr. Hernandez provided the Subcommittee with an update on federal attempts to deal with the current problems with mental health awareness across the country. Specifically, Dr. Hernandez talked about President George W. Bush's New Freedom Initiative, a plan to help integrate those with mental health concerns into the communities. The plan has six major goals, including increasing awareness of the need to include mental health as a part of "regular" health care and early screening for mental health concerns. Dr. Hernandez indicated that anyone interested in seeing documentation on the initiative should visit the federal website: www.mentalhealthcommission.gov.
Chairman Wilde distributed copies of a proposal to amend the language of 2003 Senate File 0029 to create a new statute authorizing an inter-agency children's collaborative (see Appendix 3). After discussing the proposal, the Subcommittee decided to make several minor amendments to the proposed language and to proceed with the proposal as amended. LSO staff was then directed to prepare a formal bill draft for consideration at the last Select Committee on Juveniles meeting scheduled in August.
The Subcommittee next discussed 04LSO-0049.W1—a bill draft relating to the involuntary commitment of juveniles—and opened the discussion to the public (see Appendix 4). Don Rardin of the Wyoming State Hospital indicated that he supported many of the changes in the bill draft but had concerns over the use of several terms in the bill, including the terms "incompetents" and "allied health care professionals." David Clark, Carbon County and Prosecuting Attorney, indicated that he had some concern with the use of competency hearings in delinquency proceedings. Donna Sheen of the Department of Family Services (DFS) told the Subcommittee why the language had been drafted in the manner in which it had.
After further discussion, the Subcommittee decided to make several amendments to the draft bill, including replacing the term "incompetents" in the statute's title and adding the term "mental health professional." The Subcommittee also decided to replace the term "commitment" with "placement" in several provisions in the draft bill. The Subcommittee also directed LSO staff to review the children in need of supervision statutes to determine if additional changes may be needed to conform those statutes to the Subcommittee's recommendations.
The Subcommittee discussed several items relating to the custody of children involved with certain Title 14 legal processes. Specifically, the Subcommittee reviewed portions of 2003 Senate File 0029 as presented to the Select Committee on Juveniles in the binder of materials at the first meeting of the Select Committee. The Subcommittee directed LSO staff to make several amendments to language, including requiring transportation in the services provided to the child.
The Subcommittee also discussed potential areas of concern regarding communications between law enforcement and other public service agencies, including DFS. After deliberation, the Subcommittee directed LSO staff to examine whether the statutes currently require communication between DFS and law enforcement and, if not, to amend the statutes (i.e., W.S. 14-3-205 and 14-3-206) to require the communication.
Donna Sheen, DFS, provided an overview of the central registry system in Wyoming as well as the proposed changes to the system that were included in 2003 Senate File 0029. Ms. Sheen indicated that the language in Senate File 0029 was based largely on a Colorado statute that has since been repealed because of difficulties in implementation. However, Ms. Sheen stated that several of the problems associated with the Colorado statute should not be of concern in Wyoming because of differences in the language. Ms. Sheen provided the Subcommittee with new language to address the concerns that were present in Senate File 0029 (see Appendix 5).
After further consideration of the matter, the Subcommittee decided to proceed with a bill draft incorporating the language of Appendix 5. In addition, the Subcommittee made several changes to the language, including changing the timeline for reclassification of information in the central registry. The Subcommittee directed LSO staff to examine whether notice requirements in W.S. 14-3-213(f) as proposed in Appendix 5 would be better placed in another section so as to eliminate the possibility of requiring more hearings than necessary. The Subcommittee also decided that information should be provided to employers for cases listed as "under investigation" and "substantiated." As a final note, the Subcommittee requested that a comment be placed in the draft to remind the Subcommittee to revisit the issue of fees for conducting searches of the central registry.
Ms. Sheen indicated that the Legal Process Subcommittee of the Select Committee on Juveniles did not discuss childcare facilities, so the Subcommittee reviewed 04LSO-0048.W1, Department of family services-child care facilities, which repeals DFS's authority to contract or pay for services provided to children placed in child care facilities under court order (see Appendix 6). Ms. Sheen then indicated that the issue of who will pay for the services remains to be answered, and the Subcommittee agreed that the issue would need to be examined at some later time. Ms. Sheen also handed the Subcommittee copies of a report by the Columbia Research Center, Inc., regarding the juvenile justice system in Wyoming (see Appendix 7).
Given the number of minor amendments and new bill draft requests to be presented at the Select Committee meeting August 15, 2003, the Subcommittee directed LSO staff to set up a telephone conference call at 3:00 p.m. August 12, 2003 to allow for additional comment and review of the amendments.
There being no further business, Chairman Wilde adjourned the meeting at 1:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Dan Wilde, Senior Assistant Attorney General,
Chairman