Sen. Danny Carroll's bill seeks to address problems in Kentucky's juvenile detention system. (Photo by Getty Images)

FRANKFORT — Kentucky would spend $22 million to build a special mental health juvenile detention facility as well as create a process to test and treat such children under a sweeping bill being discussed in the legislature.?

Sen. Danny Carroll, a West Kentucky Republican, filed Senate Bill 242 as a shell bill on the last day possible, Feb. 28. He’s since substituted the shell for a 52-page proposal on addressing mental health needs among youth offenders that comes with a price tag of around $165 million.?

“We’re a little bit late getting it out,” Carroll said during the Senate Families and Children Committee Tuesday. “But it’s because we wanted to get it as complete as we possibly could.”?

The committee, which he chairs, only discussed the bill. They may vote on it next week.?

Among other provisions, SB242 would delay a requirement for mandatory detention, which came out of 2023 legislation. A 48-hour hold for some juveniles charged with violent crimes is set to go into effect this July, but Carroll’s bill would delay it until Feb. 1, 2026.?

What’s in Carroll’s DJJ bill??

Carrol’s bill includes these points:?

• The Department of Juvenile Justice must operate at least two female detention centers — one in Central Kentucky and one in the western part of the state by Feb. 1, 2026. If there are too many juveniles for two facilities, a third may be added in either Eastern or Northern Kentucky. The facilities must “safely segregate violent offenders.”?
• Defines “high acuity youth” as minors who behavioral health experts determine need “specialized treatment capable of addressing manifest aggression, violence toward persons or property destruction.” These “are the highest level kids that we deal with,” Carroll said.?
• DJJ will build a 16-bed acute mental health facility meant to house juveniles who fit the “high acuity” definition. DJJ would own and staff the facility, but the Cabinet for Health and Family Services would partner to provide appropriate mental health treatment.?
• Dictates that a juvenile who is charged with a public offense or is being ordered by a court to undergo inpatient psychiatric treatment must undergo a behavioral assessment by a clinical professional before the minor goes to the hospital to determine if they fit the definition of “high acuity youth.”?
• If a juvenile fits the definition, the clinical professional must work with DJJ to come up with a treatment plan for that child, including reaching out to appropriate hospitals. The clinician must also prepare an affidavit showing the clinical evidence used to determine the minor qualified as “high acuity.”?
• Inpatient psychiatric hospitals or pediatric teaching hospitals that accept transfer orders for “high acuity youth” will be reimbursed 200% of the current rate by the Department of Medicaid Services. Outpatient facilities would be reimbursed at least 150% of the current rate.?
• Any juvenile who “commits an act of violence against any of the hospital’s staff” will be criminally charged, discharged, and “returned to the youth’s last place of custody.”?
• Delay a controversial 48-hour mandatory detention by more than a year, setting it to go into effect in 2026 rather than 2024.?
• Requires the Finance and Administration Cabinet to report to the Legislative Research Commission by Aug. 1, for referral to the Interim Joint Committee on Judiciary and the Interim Joint Committee on Families and Children the status of the transfer of property deed of the Jefferson County Youth Detention Center.?

“I think this is something that’s really going to make a difference in dealing with high acuity youth,” Carroll said in committee.??

The mental health facility, which would take at least 18 months to build and would hypothetically be on the Central State Hospital grounds, is “breaking new ground from what I understand,” Carroll said.?

It’s “really difficult to find any model in this country that’s currently doing this,” he said. “So we will have to make adjustments as we go.”?

But: “when we talk about DJJ detention, ultimately, that’s the type of facility – or the facility — that we’re talking about,” Carroll said.?

Would locking up an extra 400 kids make Kentucky safer?

“We’re not going to have these kids — once we get this facility built — locked up in a cell, naked, sleeping in feces, no … mental treatment,” he said in committee. “That’s just not going to happen anymore with this.”??

Carroll’s bill continues work from the 2023 legislative session, which heavily featured juvenile justice and detention issues.?

Reports of violence in Kentucky’s juvenile justice system regularly made headlines in 2023, including a riot in Adair County during which a girl in state custody was allegedly sexually assaulted and employees were attacked at a youth detention center in Warren County. The department has also faced persistent staffing issues.

A January 2024 audit found “??disorganization across facilities” and a “lack of leadership from the Beshear administration,” Republican Auditor Allison Ball said at the time.?

Carroll said the audit “confirms the fears and concerns my colleagues and I expressed during last year’s DJJ workgroup efforts.”?

“Our focus is unchanged,” he said, “and our desire to help children in need and protect the public, staff and youth continues to be our top priority.”?

What will Carroll’s DJJ proposal cost??

Carroll has submitted a budget proposal to accompany his bill asking the state to spend around $165 million on these DJJ initiatives.?

That money includes:?

• $45 million for each female DJJ facility (totaling $90 million)
• $22 million for the DJJ mental health facility.?
• Retrofits and maintenance bills.?

“This comes with a price tag,” Carroll said. “As the budget moves forward, we have some decisions to make on this.”?

Is there time left in the session to pass Carroll’s bill??

There is time, but it is tight.?

Tuesday marked the 49th day of the 60-day legislative session and is part of the final full week of proceedings. In order to maintain the ability to override any vetoes by Gov. Andy Beshear, the legislature must pass bills by March 28.?If Carroll’s bill goes up for a vote in committee next Tuesday, that would give it five scheduled session days to go through the entire process of a Senate floor vote, House committee consideration and House vote before the session breaks for the veto period on March 29.