System of Sanctions for Delinquent Acts
Sample of Responses
Colorado Juvenile Justice System continued...
G. The Colorado Trust
The Colorado Trust, a not-for-profit trust funded through the consolidation
and sale of Colorado hospitals, is a very active partner in the violence prevention arena. In 1996, the Trust dedicated several million
dollars over five years to implement the Minneapolis-based Asset approach to developing healthy youth. The Trust will be funding two
communities as pilot sites in year one to test the asset initiative, and follow up with nine additional communities. Evaluation, training,
and technical assistance will all play prominent roles in the initiative. The Trust has also funded a risk-focused approach to violence
prevention for several years. Under this initiative communities are able to compete for dollars designed to identify factors, which
place a youth at higher risk of committing violent acts, and develop strategies to alleviate the risk.
F.
Wrap Around Program (WRAP) Initiative
In 1996, the legislature appropriated $500,000 to be competed for by communities throughout
the state for the purpose of developing Wrap Around Programs for youths who are at risk of some type of out-of-home placement. After
a three-year successful trial in Mesa County, the program has expanded to nine communities this fiscal year, and is expected to expand
to additional communities in the coming year. The dollars are used by local, interagency community evaluation teams (CET) to identify
creative strategies for circumstances in which a youth can be diverted from detention or other out of home placement, but there is
no mechanism for accessing or developing the alternative. In Mesa County, for example, the program funds have been used to hire school
trackers, provide respite care for foster parents, provide babysitting services to allow for the operation of home based businesses,
and more. None of the services covered by WRAP are supported by existing social service or juvenile justice program dollars. The only
significant eligibility requirement, aside from the development of a community evaluation team, is a dollar for dollar unobligated
local match. The program is quite new, so its efficacy is still undetermined, but based on the successes in Mesa County, it is anticipated
that the program will provide significant cost savings compared to residential care and reduce the number of youths placed out of
home.
IV. Demonstration of Accountability Based System of Sanctions
The Innovative Local
Law Enforcement and Community Policing Program requires demonstration of an accountability based system of sanctions (or a plan to
develop such a system) in the description of the state juvenile justice system section of the three year plan. This is presented to
fulfill that requirement. Colorado has developed, through serendipity rather than a long-term strategic plan, a rather comprehensive
system of accountability for every offense committed by juvenile offenders in the state. Although the system is fragmented and difficult
to demonstrate, research of the Children’s Code and court processes conducted by DCJ reveals an elaborate system of checks and balances.
"The General Assembly hereby finds that the intent of this article is to protect and improve the public safety by creating a system
of juvenile justice that will appropriately sanction juveniles who violate the law. The General Assembly further finds that, while
holding paramount the public safety, the juvenile justice system shall take into consideration the best interests of the juvenile
in providing appropriate treatment to reduce the rate of recidivism in the juvenile justice system and to assist the juvenile in becoming
a productive member of society."
This preamble will guide policy decisions made by the legislature in the years ahead. The Children’s
Code also provides for a rather sophisticated system of sanctions for every act for which a juvenile is found to be delinquent. Further,
that system is graduated in its response to juvenile crime, although there is consensus among system professionals and observers that
more diverse responses are required. The Children’s Code also clearly delineates the process by which sanctioning occurs. An abbreviate
version of the code is demonstrated in the flow chart presented here. A more thorough description of this process was presented above
in the justice system section of the plan.
Offender Type
Sanction
First time offenders
Fine, placement w/ relative, restitution, probation, school attendance requirements, requirements on parents, electronic monitoring, day reporting, evening reporting, school trackers
More serious offenders
All of the above, plus, sentenced detention, commitment to Department of Human Services (training school, foster care, group home), supervised work program
Violent offenders
All of the above, plus, sentence as mandatory sentence offender*, sentence as repeat juvenile offender*, sentence as violent offender*, sentence as aggravated juvenile offender*, waiver to adult court, direct file in adult court
- these sanctions include determinant sentencing considerations
Flow of Accused Youth Through Colorado Juvenile Justice System
STEP
EVENT
TIME FRAME
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Arrest
Detention Hearing
Petition Filed
Advisement
Preliminary Hearing
Entry of Plea
Adjudicatory Trial
Sentencing
-
48 hours
72 hours from detention hearing
30 days from summons
-
45 days from petition
60 days from plea
45 days from adjudication