{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-15a.0652","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 15A.0652","heading":"Juvenile justice administrative regulations.","body":"The Department of Juvenile Justice shall promulgate administrative regulations that shall\ninclude:\n(1) Development or adoption of a validated risk and needs assessment that:\n(a) Considers factors such as the severity of the current offense, the child's\nprevious public offense record, and the child's assessed criminal risk factors;\n(b) Is administered for all children adjudicated on a public offense prior to\ndisposition and at regular intervals thereafter to determine risk levels and to\nidentify intervention needs; and\n(c) Is implemented based on policies and practices for utilization of the\nassessment instrument to objectively guide placement and the length and type\nof treatment for each child committed to the department or probated to the\ndepartment or other entity;\n(2) The provision of treatment for committed and probated children in accordance with\nevidence-based practices, including, at a minimum:\n(a) Development of a case plan for each child committed to the department or\nprobated to the department that targets the risk factors identified in the\nassessment, is responsive to individual characteristics, involves the family as\nappropriate, provides supervision or monitoring of children according to their\ncase plan, and establishes a treatment plan in accorda nce with subsection (3)\nof this section; and\n(b) Development and implementation of a graduated sanctions protocol of swift,\ncertain, proportionate, and graduated sanctions that a probation officer or\nemployee of the department shall apply in response to a child's violations of\nthe terms or conditions of probation. The graduated sanctions protocol shall:\n1. Include a continuum of sanctions that take into account factors such as\nthe severity of the current violation, the child's previous criminal record,\nthe number and severity of any previous probation violations, the child's\nassessed risk level, and the extent to which graduated sanctions were\nimposed for previous violations. The system shall also define positive\nreinforcements that the probated child may re ceive for compliance with\nhis or her terms or conditions of probation. A sanction of up to thirty\n(30) days' out-of-home placement may be imposed for a violation of the\nterms of probation. A child shall not be committed or recommitted to the\nDepartment of Juvenile Justice for the violation of the conditions of\nprobation;\n2. Provide that judicial review for a probated youth, or an administrative\nhearing for a committed youth, shall not be necessary to impose\ngraduated sanctions less than out-of-home placement; and\n3. Require that less -restrictive graduated sanctions be utilized prior to\nrequesting judicial review unless there is clear and convincing evidence\nthat there are no graduated sanctions available that are appropriate for\nthe child and the child is an  immediate threat to himself, herself, or\nothers;\n(3) Development and implementation of treatment plans for committed and probated\nchildren that:\n(a) Take into consideration the severity of the current offense and the child's\nassessed risk and needs as identified by a validated risk and needs assessment;\n(b) Involve the family in the treatment plan as appropriate;\n(c) Allow a child to complete treatment  in the community if resources are\navailable rather than in a secure or nonsecure facility; and\n(d) For committed children may include:\n1. A maximum of four (4) months of out -of-home placement if the child\nwas adjudicated for an offense that would be a mis demeanor if\ncommitted by an adult, other than a violation of KRS Chapter 510 or an\noffense involving a deadly weapon;\n2. A maximum of eight (8) months of out -of-home placement if the child\nwas adjudicated for an offense that would be a Class D felony if\ncommitted by an adult, other than a violation of KRS Chapter 510 or an\noffense involving a deadly weapon; and\n3. A provision that if a child has reached the maximum time allowed in\nout-of-home placement, as specified in subparagraphs 1. and 2. of this\nparagraph and further out -of-home placement is determined to be\nnecessary for completion of treatment, the child may be held for an\nadditional period only upon approval of the Administrative Transfer\nRequest Committee, or another appropriate entity within the de partment\nas designated by the commissioner of the department after review of the\nfacts and circumstances warranting the need for continued out -of-home\nplacement. If the commissioner approves continued out -of-home\nplacement, the maximum time the placement m ay be continued is the\nmaximum originally allowed under subparagraphs 1. and 2. of this\nparagraph and the total period of commitment shall not exceed that\npermitted under KRS 635.060;\n(4) Development and implementation of professional development programs for\ndepartment staff who interact with or who are responsible for the treatment,\nsupervision, or placement of children, that includes training on juvenile justice\nresearch relating to effectiveness of juvenile justice interventions, impacts of out-of-\nhome placement, alternatives to incarceration, use of graduated sanctions, case\nplanning, administration of a validated risk and needs assessment, and training to\naddress specific issues such as domestic violence, trauma, and family engagement;\n(5) Development of procedures for measuring the outcomes of each treatment and\nintervention program and practice to demonstrate that the program or practice has a\ndocumented evidence base and has been evaluated for effectiveness in reducing\nrecidivism for the children it serves, including:\n(a) A process for reviewing the objective criteria for evidence -based programs\nand practices established by the agency providing the program;\n(b) A process for auditing the effectiveness of the programs; and\n(c) An opportunity for progra ms that do not meet the criteria based on the audit\nresults to develop and implement a corrective action plan within one hundred\neighty (180) days of the audit;\n(6) Development of procedures to track juvenile recidivism, which shall include\nadjudication of a new public offense or conviction of a crime within three (3) years\nof release from an out -of-home placement or release from commitment, and\ncollaboration with the Department of Corrections and the Administrative Office of\nthe Courts to obtain adult conv iction and incarceration information to enable\ncollection of recidivism data;\n(7) Development of procedures to track the pre -adjudication and post -adjudication\nadmissions beginning no later than August 1, 2014; and\n(8) Development of procedures to ensure maximum utilization of available federal\nfunding resources which may be available to the agency.\nAs used in this section, \"evidence -based practices,\" \"graduated sanction,\" \"out -of-home\nplacement,\" and \"risk and needs assessment\" have the same meanings as in KRS 600.020.","path":["KRS Chapter 15A"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=43483","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:48:35Z","sha256":"fa9f2a4408b78587fb650c992853bad6d2f0326cfc7bc358d4a41016b0263038","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-15a.0651","next":"us-ky/krs-15a.0653"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}