PRINTER'S NO. 243
No. 201 Session of 2007
INTRODUCED BY KASUNIC, GREENLEAF, STOUT, BOSCOLA, STACK, FONTANA, KITCHEN, RHOADES AND WAUGH, MARCH 7, 2007
REFERRED TO JUDICIARY, MARCH 7, 2007
AN ACT 1 Amending Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the 2 Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, authorizing disposition 3 of delinquent children to motivational boot camps. 4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 5 hereby enacts as follows: 6 Section 1. Section 6352 of Title 42 of the Pennsylvania 7 Consolidated Statutes, amended November 30, 2004 (P.L.1703, 8 No.217), is amended to read: 9 § 6352. Disposition of delinquent child. 10 (a) General rule.--If the child is found to be a delinquent 11 child the court may make any of the following orders of 12 disposition determined to be consistent with the protection of 13 the public interest and best suited to the child's treatment, 14 supervision, rehabilitation and welfare, which disposition 15 shall, as appropriate to the individual circumstances of the 16 child's case, provide balanced attention to the protection of 17 the community, the imposition of accountability for offenses 18 committed and the development of competencies to enable the
1 child to become a responsible and productive member of the 2 community: 3 (1) Any order authorized by section 6351 (relating to 4 disposition of dependent child). 5 (2) Placing the child on probation under supervision of 6 the probation officer of the court or the court of another 7 state as provided in section 6363 (relating to ordering 8 foreign supervision), under conditions and limitations the 9 court prescribes. 10 (3) Committing the child to an institution, youth 11 development center, camp, motivational boot camp or other 12 facility for delinquent children operated under the direction 13 or supervision of the court or other public authority and 14 approved by the Department of Public Welfare. 15 (4) If the child is 12 years of age or older, committing 16 the child to an institution or motivational boot camp 17 operated by the Department of Public Welfare. 18 (5) Ordering payment by the child of reasonable amounts 19 of money as fines, costs, fees or restitution as deemed 20 appropriate as part of the plan of rehabilitation considering 21 the nature of the acts committed and the earning capacity of 22 the child, including a contribution to a restitution fund. 23 The president judge of the court of common pleas shall 24 establish a restitution fund for the deposit of all 25 contributions to the restitution fund which are received or 26 collected. The president judge of the court of common pleas 27 shall promulgate written guidelines for the administration of 28 the fund. Disbursements from the fund shall be made, subject 29 to the written guidelines and the limitations of this 30 chapter, at the discretion of the president judge and used to 20070S0201B0243 - 2 -
1 reimburse crime victims for financial losses resulting from 2 delinquent acts. For an order made under this subsection, the 3 court shall retain jurisdiction until there has been full 4 compliance with the order or until the delinquent child 5 attains 21 years of age. Any restitution order which remains 6 unpaid at the time the child attains 21 years of age shall 7 continue to be collectible under section 9728 (relating to 8 collection of restitution, reparation, fees, costs, fines and 9 penalties). 10 (6) An order of the terms of probation may include an 11 appropriate fine considering the nature of the act committed 12 or restitution not in excess of actual damages caused by the 13 child which shall be paid from the earnings of the child 14 received through participation in a constructive program of 15 service or education acceptable to the victim and the court 16 whereby, during the course of such service, the child shall 17 be paid not less than the minimum wage of this Commonwealth. 18 In ordering such service, the court shall take into 19 consideration the age, physical and mental capacity of the 20 child and the service shall be designed to impress upon the 21 child a sense of responsibility for the injuries caused to 22 the person or property of another. The order of the court 23 shall be limited in duration consistent with the limitations 24 in section 6353 (relating to limitation on and change in 25 place of commitment) and in the act of May 13, 1915 (P.L.286, 26 No.177), known as the Child Labor Law. The court order shall 27 specify the nature of the work, the number of hours to be 28 spent performing the assigned tasks, and shall further 29 specify that as part of a plan of treatment and 30 rehabilitation that up to 75% of the earnings of the child be 20070S0201B0243 - 3 -
1 used for restitution in order to provide positive 2 reinforcement for the work performed. 3 In selecting from the alternatives set forth in this section, 4 the court shall follow the general principle that the 5 disposition imposed should provide the means through which the 6 provisions of this chapter are executed and enforced consistent 7 with section 6301(b) (relating to purposes) and when confinement 8 is necessary, the court shall impose the minimum amount of 9 confinement that is consistent with the protection of the public 10 and the rehabilitation needs of the child. 11 (b) Limitation on place of commitment.--A child shall not be 12 committed or transferred to a penal institution or other 13 facility used primarily for the execution of sentences of adults 14 convicted of a crime. 15 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days. L12L42JS/20070S0201B0243 - 4 -