Criminal Justice (Juvenile Justice)

AB 90 expands the definition of "detention facility" to include regional facilities focused on treating and rehabilitating children, ensuring these centers must now provide the same juvenile justice rights as local and state facilities. It requires juvenile courts to make two specific findings before sending a child to a regional facility: that community alternatives were exhausted or failed, and that the child poses a public safety risk based on a risk assessment, prior offenses, and offense seriousness. This directly affects children placed in regional treatment facilities and juvenile courts making custody decisions. The bill updates existing requirements to cover these regional centers uniformly, without adding new costs to state or local governments.