Opinion ID: 2367407
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: John M. and David C.: Placement Standards.

Text: On August 21, 1981, John M. was adjudicated delinquent by the Keene District Court ( Davis, J.) and was given a ninety-day suspended sentence at the Cheshire County House of Correction for what would be the crimes of burglary and possession of a controlled drug, had those crimes been committed by an adult. Because John M. has a learning disability, the court placed him at the Danvers Institute for Family and Life Learning in Danvers, Massachusetts. See RSA 169-B:19, I(f) (Supp. 1981). The City of Keene was found to be the unit legally liable for John M.'s expenses. See RSA 169-B:40, I (Supp. 1982). David C. was adjudicated delinquent by the Keene District Court ( Davis, J.) and was committed to the Youth Development Center (YDC) for the term of his minority. See RSA 169-B:19, I(i) (Supp. 1982). The YDC subsequently placed David C., who also has a learning disability, at the Danvers Institute. David C.'s expenses were ordered to be charged to the City of Keene as the legally liable unit. See RSA 169-B:40, I (Supp. 1982); RSA 621:22 (Supp. 1981). At a hearing in district court on the issue of liability, see RSA 169-B:40, II (Supp. 1982), the City of Keene objected to the placement of John M. and David C. and contested its liability for their expenses on the ground that RSA 169-B:19, I(f) (Supp. 1981) prohibits their placement, as delinquents, in a facility with abused or neglected children, or with children in need of services (CHINS). The parties agreed that twenty children at the Danvers Institute fell into categories other than delinquent. The district court transferred the case here without ruling on whether the placements of John M. and David C. violated the delinquent children statute. RSA 169-B:19, I(f) (Supp. 1981) provides: If the court finds that a minor is delinquent, the court may . . . [r]elease the minor in the care and supervision of a group home, crisis home or shelter care facility, which is not used for the placement of children in need of services or a child found to be abused or neglected, with expenses charged according to RSA 169-B:40. (Emphasis added.) The city contends that the district court violated a clear legislative mandate not to place delinquents with other problem children. That the legislature was concerned about mingling delinquent with non-delinquent children is reflected in the separate procedures created for dealing with delinquent children, abused or neglected children, and CHINS. RSA 169-B:19, I(f) (Supp. 1981), governing the placement of delinquents, reflects the same concern. In light of the limited number of specialized treatment facilities provided by or in the State of New Hampshire, however, we cannot read RSA 169-B:19, I(f) (Supp. 1981) as categorically as the city would have us do. RSA 169-B:19, I(f) (Supp. 1981) was part of a recodification of the State's juvenile laws in 1979, in which the legislature eliminated the more compelling language of provisions such as former RSA 169:13-a, I (LAWS 1975, 502:8), governing the disposition of persons in need of supervision: When a child is found to be a person in need of supervision, the court may place such child in a shelter care facility designated in this paragraph, if such facility is not one in which children alleged or adjudicated to be delinquent may be detained or committed under this chapter . . . . (Emphasis added.) The legislature appears to have been aware of the shortage of specialized treatment facilities in the State when it amended the juvenile laws. [1] We conclude that the new language of RSA 169-B:19, I(f) (Supp. 1981) is directory only, manifesting a legislative preference that, whenever possible, delinquent juveniles should not be mingled with CHINS, or with abused or neglected children. See In re Russell C., 120 N.H. 260, 264, 414 A.2d 934, 936 (1980). We assume, however, that district court judges or the YDC authorities will first exhaust the possibility of making appropriate in-State placements before issuing any order directing out-of-State placement of juveniles. The Keene District Court's placement of John M. at the Danvers Institute does not appear to be improper. The City of Keene seeks to avoid liability for the expenses of David C., also a delinquent, on the same ground, claiming that the YDC had no authority to place him at the Danvers Institute with other, non-delinquent children. The State responds that the YDC board of trustees has broader child-placement powers under RSA chapter 621 than does the district court under RSA 169-B:19, I(f) (Supp. 1981). The State therefore claims that it is not bound by the limiting language of the delinquency statute. Because of our holding that RSA 169-B:19, I(f) (Supp. 1981) is directory only, however, we need not address the State's argument that the YDC trustees have broader powers than the district court to place delinquent children out of State. [2, 3] We reject the State's assertion, though, that the YDC board of trustees' authority to place delinquent children outside New Hampshire is defined exclusively by RSA chapter 621. The legislature has enacted statutory procedural requirements for the out-of-State placement of children. RSA chapter 170-A, entitled Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children, provides: A child adjudicated delinquent may be placed in an institution in another party jurisdiction pursuant to this compact but no such placement shall be made unless the child is given a court hearing on notice to the parent or guardian with opportunity to be heard, prior to his being sent to such other party jurisdiction for institutional care . . . . RSA 170-A:1, VI (emphasis added). The reference to RSA chapter 170-A contained in RSA 169-B:19, II (Supp. 1981) does not compel the conclusion that the interstate compact controls only the district court's out-of-State placement of delinquent juveniles. The out-of-state placement of a delinquent child can significantly deprive that child of the opportunity to retain contact with his parents and family. The placement of David C. at the Danvers Institute without a court hearing, as mandated by RSA 170-A:1, VI, was improper. [4, 5] Nevertheless, the City of Keene is still legally liable for David C.'s expenses while he was at the Danvers Institute. RSA 621:22 (Supp. 1981) directs that liability for expenses incurred incident to the placement of a child by the YDC trustees shall be determined under RSA 169-B:40. RSA 169-B:40, I (Supp. 1982) provides that the town in which a minor resides when a juvenile petition is filed is liable for any expenses incurred [ w ] henever an order creating liability for expenses is issued by the court under this chapter . . . . (Emphasis added.) A town's challenge to a liability order is not intended to be a vehicle for a full-scale review of the court's dispositional order or the appropriateness of same. Harkaway, Bianco, Leidinger, and Barry, New Hampshire Juvenile Justice Code of 1979: An Overview, 21 N.H.B.J. 45, 62 (1980). The limited scope of the liability hearing under RSA 169-B:40, II (Supp. 1982) is evidenced by the fact that an appeal from a dispositional order of delinquency, pursuant to RSA 169-B:29 (Supp. 1981), may be taken only by the minor involved.