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242.56 Work and learn facilities for youth.

Subdivision 1. Requests for proposals. The commissioner of corrections shall select two nonprofit organizations to select and develop sites for work and learn facilities for youth. The selection of organizations must be made in consultation with the advisory group created under subdivision 3. By July 1, 1994, the commissioner shall issue a request for proposals from nonprofit organizations to locate and develop the facilities described in subdivisions 4 and 5. Both programs will provide rigorous programming for youthful offenders.

Subd. 2. Eligibility. (a) Both programs are limited to individuals who:

(1) are at least 14 years of age but no older than 19 at the time of admission;

(2) have not received a high school diploma; and

(3) were adjudicated delinquent or referred by a county social services agency.

(b) The following are not eligible:

(1) juveniles adjudicated delinquent for murder, manslaughter, criminal sexual conduct in the first or second degree, assault, kidnapping, robbery, arson, or any other offense involving death or intentional personal injury; and

(2) juveniles who were adjudicated delinquent within the preceding ten years of an offense described in clause (1) and were committed to the custody of the commissioner.

(c) The programs may include nonoffenders selected by the commissioner based on recommendations from social service agencies of individuals who are at risk of incarceration.

Subd. 3. Advisory group. The commissioner shall appoint an advisory group to assist in selecting sites under this section. The commissioner shall include among the members of the group representatives of the following: the Council on Black Minnesotans, the Council on Affairs of Chicano/Latino People, the Council on Asian-Pacific Minnesotans, the Indian Affairs Council, the commissioner of education, community corrections officials, county corrections officials, the Association of Counties, and the Association of County Probation Officers.

Subd. 4. Metropolitan work and learn site. One facility shall be in the metropolitan area in an academy campus setting and be administered to address the problems of high unemployment rate among people of color, the high drop-out rate of young people in the public school system, and overcrowded correctional facilities. The academy shall provide the following programs:

(1) physical training;

(2) general studies;

(3) motivational and personal development;

(4) business opportunities;

(5) skills improvement; and

(6) structured residential treatment programs of individual and group counseling.

Subd. 5. Wilderness work and learn site. One facility shall be in a wilderness setting, no more than 50 miles from the outer boundary of the seven-county metropolitan area, located on a site of at least 60 acres. The wilderness site shall offer a combination of the following:

(1) group activities that develop cooperation, teamwork, and trust in others;

(2) wilderness camping experiences that ensure that the youth begin to build self-esteem about themselves;

(3) structured residential treatment programs of individual and group counseling;

(4) a teaching and social reinforcement system;

(5) a point and level incentive system;

(6) vocational and academic education; and

(7) life skills training.

Subd. 6. Family services. Both programs shall provide family services during and after the youth's involvement, including six months of intensive follow-up supervision of the youth after return to the community.

Subd. 7. Evaluation and report. The commissioner shall file a report with the chairs of the senate Crime Prevention Committee and the house of representatives Judiciary Committee by December 1, 1994, describing the sites selected and the progress made in developing them. The commissioner shall also develop a system for gathering and analyzing information concerning the value and effectiveness of the work and learn facilities. The commissioner shall report to the chairs of the committees in the house of representatives and senate with jurisdiction over criminal justice policy by January 1, 1999, on the operation of the program, with a recommendation as to whether it should be continued.

HIST: 1994 c 636 art 9 s 1; 1Sp1995 c 3 art 16 s 13; 1997 c 7 art 3 s 5; 2003 c 130 s 12

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Revisor of Statutes