California Welfare and Institutions Code

§ 601.5

WIC § 601.5 Effective Jan 1, 1998Div. 2 · Part 1 · Ch. 2 · Art. 14

Statute text

(a)Any county may, upon adoption of a resolution by the board of supervisors, establish an At-Risk Youth Early Intervention Program designed to assess and serve families with children who have chronic behavioral problems that place the child at risk of becoming a ward of the juvenile court under Section 601 or 602. The purpose of the program is to provide a swift and local service response to youth behavior problems so that future involvement with the justice system may be avoided.

(b)The At-Risk Youth Early Intervention Program shall be designed and developed by a collaborative group which shall include representatives of the juvenile court, the probation department, the district attorney, the public defender, the county department of social services, the county education department, county health and mental health agencies, and local and community-based youth and family service providers.

(c)The At-Risk Youth Early Intervention Program shall include one or more neighborhood-based Youth Referral Centers for at-risk youth and their families. These Youth Referral Centers shall be flexibly designed by each participating county to serve the local at-risk youth population with family assessments, onsite services, and referrals to offsite services. The operator of a Youth Referral Center may be a private nonprofit community-based agency or a public agency, or both. A center shall be staffed by youth and family service counselors who may be public or private employees and who shall be experienced in dealing with at-risk youth who are eligible for the program, as described in subdivision (d). The center may also be staffed as a collaborative service model involving onsite youth and family counselors, probation officers, school representatives, health and mental health practitioners, or other service providers. A center shall be located at one or more community sites that are generally accessible to at-risk youth and families and shall be open during daytime, evening, and weekend hours, as appropriate, based upon local service demand and resources available to the program.

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Legislative history

Added by Stats. 1997, Ch. 909, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 1998.