HD43 - Youthful Offender Act


Executive Summary:
During the course of the study the subcommittee met on four occasions, and heard testimony from corrections officials and members of the Virginia Parole Board.

The information received by the subcommittee suggested the need for amendments to the Youthful Offender Act to resolve ambiguities in the Code and to create an efficient process of moving youths into and out of the program.

The subcommittee found that a redundant testing period required by the present Code, subsequent to sentencing, unnecessarily consumes additional resources, conflicts with Supreme Court rules on jurisdiction of the court, and inhibits authority of the sentencing court.

Conflicting Code sections appear to restrict the ability of the Department of Corrections to place youthful offenders in appropriate facilities other than the singular facility at Southampton.

The subcommittee also found that no statistics were available to measure the effectiveness of the program in terms of reducing recidivism.

Finally, the subcommittee concluded that the Code does not clearly address how to handle those youth sentenced under the Act who are subsequently removed for intractable behavior, or who subsequently receive a second conviction with a determinate sentence. Thus, the subcommittee recommended the following:

1. That, upon loss of eligibility to remain in the youthful offender program, an offender be denied access to actual program components but continue to receive continuous parole evaluation.

2. That an offender receiving a subsequent conviction be paroled, at the Parole Board's discretion, to serve his second sentence consecutively.

3. That "intractable behavior" (the exhibition of which results in loss of eligibility to remain in the youthful offender program) be defined in the Code.

4. That an offender be housed in any suitable facility, not solely the Southampton facility.

5. That all testing for suitability for program be done before sentencing. (No resentencing; no violation of Rule 1:1.)

6. That recidivism rates be tracked for this and other programs.