Cal. R. 5.806
If the court orders the youth committed to a secure youth treatment facility, the court must set a baseline term of months, years, or months and years falling within the range for the offense category, based on the most serious recent offense that is the basis for the youth's commitment to the secure youth treatment facility, as provided in the matrix contained in (d) of this rule.
The baseline term must be set by the court based on the individual facts and circumstances of the case. In its selection of the individual baseline term, the court must review and consider each of the criteria listed in paragraphs (1) through (4). When evaluating each of the criteria, the court may give weight to any relevant factor, including but not limited to the factors listed below each one. The court must select a baseline term that is no longer than necessary to meet the developmental needs of the youth and to prepare the youth for discharge to a period of probation supervision in the community. Enumerated factors listed below that are outside the youth's control must not result in a longer baseline term than otherwise needed to meet this objective. The court must state on the record its reasons for selecting a particular term, referencing each of the criteria and any factors the court deemed relevant.
As provided in Welfare and Institutions Code section 875(e)(1), the court must review the progress of a youth committed to a secure youth treatment facility at least every six months, and may modify the baseline term downward by up to six months at each hearing. To provide an incentive for each youth to engage productively with the individual rehabilitation plan approved by the court under section 875(b)(1), each probation department operating a secure youth treatment facility must implement a system to track the positive behavior of the youth in a regular and systematic way and report to the court at every progress hearing on the youth's positive behavior, including a recommendation to the court on any downward adjustment that should be made to the baseline term in recognition of the youth's positive behavior and development. In developing this recommendation, the probation department must consult with and report on the input of all other agencies or entities providing services to the youth.
The court must select a baseline term within the range set for the category that has been assigned to the Welfare and Institutions Code section 707(b) commitment offense as provided in this matrix:
Category | Offense (Listed with reference to paragraph within section 707(b)) | Term |
A | (1) Murder. (11) Kidnapping with bodily harm involving death or substantial injury. (23) Torture, as described in Penal Code sections 206 and 206.1. | 4 to 7 years |
B | (4) Rape with force, violence, or threat of great bodily harm. (5) Sodomy by force, violence, duress, menace, or threat of great bodily harm. (7) Oral copulation by force, violence, duress, menace, or threat of great bodily harm. (8) An offense specified in Penal Code section 289( a). (9) Kidnapping for ransom. (10) Kidnapping for purposes of robbery. (11) Kidnapping with bodily harm not involving death or substantial injury. (12) Attempted murder. (24) Aggravated mayhem, as described in Penal Code section 205. (26) Kidnapping for purposes of sexual assault, as punishable in Penal Code section 209( b). (27) Kidnapping, as punishable in Penal Code section 209.5. (29) The offense described in Penal Code section 18745. (30) Voluntary manslaughter, as described in Penal Code section 192( a). | 3 to 5 years |
C | (2) Arson, as provided in Penal Code section 451( a) or (b). (3) Robbery. (6) A lewd or lascivious act, as provided in Penal Code section 288( b). (13) Assault with a firearm or destructive device. (14) Assault by any means of force likely to produce great bodily injury. (15) Discharge of a firearm into an inhabited or occupied building. (16) An offense described in Penal Code section 1203.09. (17) An offense described in Penal Code section 12022.5 or 12022.53. (18) A felony offense in which the minor personally used a weapon described in any provision listed in Penal Code section 16590. | 2 to 4 years |
(21) A violent felony, as defined in Penal Code section 667.5, that also would constitute a felony violation of Penal Code section 186.22( b). (22) Escape, by the use of force or violence, from a county juvenile hall, home, ranch, camp, or forestry camp in violation of Penal Code section 871( b) if great bodily injury is intentionally inflicted on an employee of the juvenile facility during the commission of the escape. (25) Carjacking, as described in Penal Code section 215, while armed with a dangerous or deadly weapon. (28) The offense described in Penal Code section 26100( c). | ||
D | (19) A felony offense described in Penal Code section 136.1 or 137. (20) Manufacturing, compounding, or selling one-half ounce or more of a salt or solution of a controlled substance specified in Health and Safety Code section 11055( e). | 1 to 2 years |
Cal. R. Ct. 5.806
Advisory Committee Comment
In developing the matrix for baseline terms required by Welfare and Institutions Code section 875, the committee sought to accomplish three primary goals that should serve as objectives for the court when setting a baseline term: positive youth development, public and community safety, and the establishment of flexible and fair commitment terms.
A primary objective of a commitment to a secure youth treatment facility must be an evidencebased and trauma-responsive effort to promote healthy adolescent development. This objective will be achieved by providing positive incentives for prosocial behavior, focusing on the treatment needs of the youth to ensure healing and rehabilitation, and with a persistent focus on the end goal of successful reentry into the community. The flexibility inherent in the matrix is intended to result in a baseline term of commitment that is no longer than necessary to protect the public but is of sufficient length to assure the victim and the community that the harm committed can be redressed by the juvenile justice system in a developmentally appropriate manner and thus reduce the need for the youth to be transferred to criminal court.
A baseline term should be based on the needs of the individual being committed and not simply the seriousness of the offense for which the youth was adjudicated. This individualized approach must be balanced with the goal of fair and just application of the matrix across California jurisdictions and an awareness that racial and ethnic disproportionality has been a failing of our juvenile justice system that all stakeholders must seek to remedy at each decision point. To advance this goal the advisory committee encourages juvenile courts and probation departments to monitor implementation of this rule to ensure that it is fairly and consistently applied.