Revision: Feb. 17, 2022, 2:59 p.m.
SB 458-FN - AS INTRODUCED
2022 SESSION
22-3127
07/10
SENATE BILL 458-FN
AN ACT relative to the Sununu youth services center and operation of a replacement secure facility.
SPONSORS: Sen. Daniels, Dist 11; Rep. Rice, Hills. 37
COMMITTEE: Health and Human Services
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ANALYSIS
This bill closes and dispenses of the control of the facility known as the Sununu youth services center, as well as sets out parameters for the contract for a replacement facility.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
22-3127
07/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Two
AN ACT relative to the Sununu youth services center and operation of a replacement secure facility.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Paragraph; Definition of the Sununu Youth Services Center. Amend RSA 621:3 by inserting after paragraph VIII the following new paragraph:
IX. "Sununu youth services center" or "SYSC" means the entire property on South River Road in Manchester, New Hampshire that houses the youth development center and the youth services center as established in RSA 621-A.
2 New Paragraph; Sununu Youth Services Center Defined. Amend RSA 621-A:1 by inserting after paragraph III the following new paragraph:
IV. "Sununu youth services center" or "SYSC" means the property as defined in RSA 621:3, IX.
3 New Paragraphs; Sununu Youth Services Center Closure. Amend RSA 621:10 by inserting after paragraph IV the following new paragraphs:
V. Children committed, detained, or comprising any other status at SYSC shall be transferred to the successor facility described in this section, or the least restrictive, most clinically appropriate alternative treatment, or discharged, if clinically indicated, not later than March 1, 2023.
VI. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the SYSC shall be closed for the incarceration, detention or admission of any child as of March 1, 2023.
VII. As of March 1, 2023, and notwithstanding any other provision of law:
(a) No agency nor member of the executive branch of government shall expend or commit the expenditures of any funds from any source to directly or indirectly fund the SYSC operations.
(b) The fiscal committee of the general court shall have no authority to accept funds from any source to, or approve the transfer of funds to or from, any account for which budgetary appropriations for or related, directly or indirectly, to the SYSC operations are made.
(c) Funds may only be appropriated or expended related to the preservation of the SYSC physical plant to retain the property's value.
4 Youth Development Center; Duties Relative to Property; Possession and Control Given to Department of Administrative Services. Amend RSA 621:4 to read as follows:
621:4 Duties Relative to Property.
I. With the approval of the fiscal committee, the department shall be authorized to take, hold, and manage, in trust for the state, lands, money, or other property granted, devised, or bequeathed for the use of the center, and to sell and convey the lands, money, or other property and to invest the proceeds therefrom in such investments as are legal for New Hampshire savings banks or in the physical plant of the center.
II. As of March 1, 2023, the department of administrative services shall take possession of the entire property currently housing the SYSC on South River Road in Manchester, New Hampshire. The department shall dispose of the property and any revenues received shall be deposited in the general fund. The department shall consult with the city of Manchester prior to any sale of the property. The department shall dispose of the property in a manner consistent with expressed city interests and the interests of the state.
5 Sununu Youth Services Center Replacement Facility; Requirements Established.
I. The following definitions apply to this section:
(a) "Architecturally secure facilities" shall mean facilities which include a variety of physical security measures, such as locked doors and windows, delayed egress doors, courtyards, which prevent occupants from departing the facility at will. The external facility facade should resemble area residential structures.
(b) "Evidence-based practices" mean approaches that are validated by documented scientific evidence. This includes findings established through controlled clinical studies, but other methods of establishing evidence are valid as well.
(c) "Evidence-based treatments" mean treatments that use a defined curriculum or set of services that, when implemented with fidelity as a whole, have been validated by some form of scientific evidence. Evidence-based treatments and programs may be described as "supported" or "well-supported", depending on the strength of the research design.
(d) "Hardened facilities" include facilities with locked exterior doors and locked interior doors to control movement of occupants. It includes surveillance cameras in all or most areas, central control of locking and unlocking doors, exterior fencing, which may include razor wire, to contain occupants.
(e) "Minimum reimbursement" means the minimum number of children for which the contract compensates. Reimbursement shall not drop below this number of children, regardless of the actual number of children in the facility.
(f) "Secure facility" shall mean:
(1) A facility which shall be sufficiently sized for 6 children on a consistent basis and able to accept an additional 6 children for short periods of time. The facility shall be architecturally and staff secure but shall not be a hardened facility.
(2) This facility may accept adjudicated as well as non-adjudicated children for admission.
(3) A facility which shall provide for occupants' basic medical, educational, nutritional, and psycho-social needs. Initial treatment plans shall be completed upon admission based upon known stressors and physical and emotional difficulties experienced by the child. This treatment plan shall be updated on a regular basis and shall include goals for discharge and anticipated discharge plans. The treatment plan shall reflect the child and families' treatment and discharge goals.
(4) A facility whose operation shall be guided by evidenced-based practices and treatments.
(g) "Staff secure facilities" mean facilities which have sufficient staff to monitor and engage with occupants to diminish their ability to leave the facility without staff intervention.
II. The replacement facility contract shall be within the following guidelines:
(a) The department of health and human services' division of children, youth and families shall contract with a child residential services provider to operate a secure facility physically located in the state of New Hampshire as a successor to the Sununu Youth Services Center (SYSC). This shall be considered a certified facility pursuant to RSA 169-B:19, VI. The secure facility shall be in operation no later than March 1, 2023.
(b) The division shall begin negotiations immediately upon the effective date of this act. The initial contract shall be agreed to by October 1, 2022.
(c) The contract shall require the provider to accept and treat children up to the age of criminal majority, who are committed pursuant to RSA 169-B:19 or detained pursuant to RSA 169-B:14.
(d) Children convicted pursuant to RSA 169-B:24 may be committed to the replacement facility pursuant to RSA 651:17-a.
(e) Children tried pursuant to RSA 169-B:24 may be detained at the replacement facility pursuant to RSA 169-B:24.
(f) Required contracting funding shall be transferred from existing SYSC appropriations from fiscal year 2022-2023. In addition, not more than $1,000,000 may also be transferred from existing SYSC funding to pay for construction related to the contractor's facility.
(g) Priority in the contracting process shall be given to providers based on their ability to provide required services and to commence operations on or before March 1, 2023.
(h) In order to meet statutory closure requirements of SYSC, the initial contract shall be negotiated with interested providers and not offered by the request for proposal process. Subsequent contracts of the facility may be offered through the request for proposal process.
(i) The replacement facility shall include one or more facilities that can accommodate up to 18 occupants in total.
(j) If the replacement facility is not available to accept children by the closure date of the SYSC, the division shall contract with a neighboring state to accept children for the period until the replacement facility is available. Any such contracting efforts shall be reported, in writing, within 5 days of the commencement of contract discussions to the governor, the president of the senate, and the speaker of the house of representatives. Written status notices shall also be provided every 14 days to the governor, the president of the senate, and the speaker of the house of representatives until the affected children are returned to New Hampshire.
6 Contingencies for Staff Displaced by the Closure of the Sununu Youth Services Center. All employees displaced as a result of the Sununu Youth Services (SYSC) closure shall be made a priority for alternate state employment appropriate to their skills and experience. Up to $500,000 previously apportioned to the department of health and human services may be used exclusively for job training and relocation incentives for SYSC employees to fill jobs which exist within state agencies.
7 Repeal. RSA 621-A:6, relative to admission to the youth services center, is repealed.
8 Effective Date. This act shall take effect upon its passage.
22-3127
Revised 2/16/22
SB 458-FN- FISCAL NOTE
AS INTRODUCED
AN ACT relative to the Sununu youth services center and operation of a replacement secure facility.
FISCAL IMPACT: [ X ] State [ ] County [ ] Local [ ] None
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| Estimated Increase / (Decrease) | |||
STATE: | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 |
Appropriation | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Revenue | $0 | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | Indeterminable |
Expenditures | $0 | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | Indeterminable |
Funding Source: | [ X ] General [ ] Education [ ] Highway [ ] Other | |||
METHODOLOGY:
This bill clarifies procedures relative to closure of the Sununu Youth Services Center (SYSC) on or before March 1, 2023. The closure date itself was established in Chapter 91:329, Laws of 2021, the FY 22/23 budget trailer bill. That bill likewise required a replacement facility to be opened upon closure of the existing facility. The current bill elaborates on these provisions by stipulating the following:
The Department of Health and Human Services states that the $1 million ceiling in (4) will likely be insufficient to fund a replacement facility. While it is unable to provide an exact number, the Department assumes replacement costs may exceed $10 million. Similarly, the Department estimates that based on daily costs of $1,600 to $2,000 at comparable facilities, operation of a private facility as contemplated by the bill will cost between $7 million and $8.8 million per year. Finally, the Department anticipates that it will need to pay expenses after March 1, 2023 for costs incurred prior to and during the closure process, which may conflict with the cutoff in (1) above.
The Department of Administrative Services states that, following closure of the existing SYSC facility, annual carrying costs will be approximately $447,000. Such costs could potentially increase due to rising energy prices. The Department further anticipates that, given the highly specialized nature of the facility, it could take at least two years to find a market value buyer for the property. This timeline could also be prolonged by the existence of historical buildings on site and the possible need for an environmental impact assessment. The Department estimates pre-disposal costs (appraisal, land survey, documentation of historical buildings, etc) at a minimum of $60,000. Finally, the Department notes that it would retain a broker to market the property, and that the broker's commission would be paid out of proceeds, reducing the amount deposited into the state general fund.
It should be noted that the fiscal impacts identified above are not necessarily attributable to the current bill, but rather to the SYSC closure policy established in Chapter 91, Laws of 2021. To the extent that the current bill results in costs or benefits, it is due to the existence of specific requirements (e.g., that a replacement facility be operated by a contracted entity) that did not exist in the FY 22/23 budget trailer bill.
AGENCIES CONTACTED:
Departments of Health and Human Services and Administrative Services