An Act To Amend the Laws Gover~ing the Right to Periodic Review under the Maine Juvenile Code
Maine Legislature, Session 122, LD 1376
Committee: Judiciary
Sponsors: STRIMLING, BLANCHETTE, CLUKEY, DIAMOND, NUTTING, CHURCHILL, DAVIS, GERZOFSKY, SYKES, WEBSTER

Legislative Document 
No. 1376 
S.P.474 
In Senate, March 17, 2005 
An Act To Amend the Laws Gover~ing the Right to Periodic Review 
under the Maine Juvenile Code 
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Senator STRIMLING of Cumberland. 
Cosponsored by Representative BLANCHETTE of Bangor and 
JOY J. O'BRIEN 
Secretary of the Senate 
Senators: CLUKEY of Aroostook, DIAMOND of Cumberland, NUTTING of Androscoggin, 
Representatives: CHURCHILL of Washburn, DAVIS of Augusta, GERZOFSKY of 
Brunswick, SYKES of Harrison, WEBSTER of Freeport. 
Printed on recycled paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 15 MRS A §3315, sub-§I, as amended by PL 2001, c. 696, 
§6 and PL 2003, c. 689, Pt. B, §6, is further amended to read: 
1. 
Right to review. Every disposition pursuant to section 
3314, other than unconditional discharge, must be reviewed not 
less than once in every 16 Q months until the 
juvenile is 
discharged. The review must be made by a representative of the 
Department of Corrections unless the juvenile was committed to 
the Department of Health and Human Services, in which case such 
review must be made by a representative of the Department of 
Health and Human Services. A report of the review must be made in 
writing to the juvenile's parents, guardian or legal custodian. A 
copy of the report must be forwarded to the program or programs 
that were reviewed, and the department whose personnel made the 
review shall retain a copy of the report in ~ReiF ~ 
files. The 
written report must be prepared in accordance with subsection 2. 
When a juvenile is placed in the custody of the Department of 
Heal th 
and 
Human 
Services, 
reviews 
and 
permanency 
planning 
hearings must be conducted in accordance with Title 22, section 
4038. 
Title 22, sections 4005, 4039 and 4041 also apply. 
Sec. 2. 15 MRS A §3315, sub-§4 is enacted to read: 
4. 
Juvenile committed to a correctional facility. 
Whenever 
a 
juvenile is committed to the custody of the Department of 
Corrections pursuant to section 3314, subsection It paragraph F, 
the court shall appoint a guardian ad litem to represent the 
juvenile and shall ~et a date for review of that commitment. 
The 
date for review may be no more than 6 months from the date of the 
commitment and subsequent r0views must be held at least every 6 
months until the juvenile is no longer placed in a correctional 
facility. 
If 
a 
juvenile is 
released 
from 
the 
correctional 
facility and then returned on an aftercare violation, a review 
must be held within 3 months of the date of the return. 
The 
purpose 
of these 
reviews is to 
determine 
whether 
reasonable 
efforts have been made to eliminate the need for removal of the 
juvenile from the juvenile's home and whether the Department of 
Corrections has met its statutory obligations pursuant to Title 
34-A. 
The initial review must 
consist of 
a 
review of 
the 
report 
prepared by the guardian ad litem for the juvenile. 
The guardian 
ad litem for the juvenile shall prepare and submit that report to 
the court, with a copy to the District Attorney and a copy to the 
Attorney General, 7 days in advance of the review date set by the 
court. 
The District Attorney and the Attorney General may file a 
written response with the court. 
The guardian ad litem for the 
Page l-LR0724(1) 
• 
juvenile shall attend the initial review. 
The Attorney General 
is not required to attend the initial review. 
If the Attorney 
General declines to attend the initial review, the court may not 
enter any order directing the Department of Corrections to take 
or cease taking any action. 
If as a result of the initial review 
any party or the court determines that a complete review hearing 
is required, 
the court snaIl schedule the matter for further 
hearing and the clerk shall notify all parties of the date of the 
complete review hearing. 
At the complete review hearing, 
the 
parties 
may 
submit written evidence 
and 
may call witnesses, 
although the Maine 
Rules of Evidence 
do 
not apply. 
At 
the 
conclusion 
of 
the 
complete 
review 
hearing, 
if 
the 
court 
determines that services that have been identified as necessary 
to meet the requirements of Title 34-A, chapter 3, subchapter 5 
have not been provided to the juvenile or the juvenile's family, 
the 
court 
may 
make 
recommendations 
to 
the 
Department 
of 
Corrections to provide those services within a 
specific time 
period 
and 
may 
schedule 
a 
further 
hearing 
to 
review 
the 
department's 
response 
to 
those 
recommendations. 
At 
that 
subsequent hearing, the court may reopen the disposition in that 
matter 
and 
amend 
or modify 
the disposition as 
necessary to 
address the purposes of section 3002, including, but not limited 
to, 
the termination of the 
commitment of the 
juvenile to 
a 
Department of Corrections facility and putting the juvenile on 
probation, or take any other action permitted by this Part. 
From 
the date of 
commitment, 
the guardian ad litem for 
the 
juvenile must have access to all records in the custody of the 
Department of Corrections that relate to the juvenile, including, 
but 
not 
limited 
to, 
all 
documents 
that 
address 
evaluation, 
diagnosis and treatment of the juvenile. 
The guardian ad litem 
for the juvenile must be invited to and allowed to participate in 
all classification conference and quarterly review meetings or 
their equivalent. 
No less than 28 days prior to any review, the facility in which 
the juvenile is being held shall provide to the court and the 
guardian 
ad 
litem for 
the 
juvenile copies 
of 
the 
following 
documents: 
A. 
The integrated assessment, or its equivalent; 
B. 
The 
resident case plan, 
or its equivalent 
and 
any 
modifications to the plan; 
C. 
All 
psychological 
evaluations, 
including 
any 
sexual 
behavior treatment assessment, if applicable; 
D. 
All sexual behavior treatment plans, if applicable; 
E. 
All psychiatric evaluations; 
F. 
All assessments of the juvenile prepared by independent 
treatment providers with the Department of Corrections staff 
under contract with the Department of Corrections; and 
G. 
Minutes 
of 
all 
meetings 
regarding 
the 
juvenile, 
including, 
but 
not 
limited 
to, 
the 
classification 
conferences, quarterly reviews, unit treatment team meetings 
or their equivalents, that are kept in the juvenile's files. 
The Department of Corrections is not obligated to provide the 
court or guardian ad litem for the juvenile with records it has 
previously provided. 
SUMMARY 
This 
bill provides 
that 
a 
disposition 
under 
the 
Maine 
Juvenile Code must be reviewed not less than once in every 6 
months until the juvenile is discharged. 
Current law requires a 
review not less than once in every 12 months. 
The bill also 
provides that whenever a juvenile is committed to the custody of 
the Department of Corrections, the court shall assign a guardian 
ad litem to represent the juvenile and the court shall set a date 
for review of that commitment. 
The date may be no more than 6 
months from the date of the commitment. 
..