8.14.7.9

ELIGIBILITY FOR SUPERVISED RELEASE

1. A. A juvenile is eligible for supervised release any time after commitment to the department. A juvenile’s supervised release date and placement is tentatively determined at their initial MDT meeting, based on the juvenile’s client family baseline assessment and other information presented at the meeting. The MDT shall provide the juvenile with a notice of tentative release date at the conclusion of the Initial MDT. Once a tentative release date is determined, the juvenile shall be scheduled for the agenda of the release consideration meeting that coincides with that date, and agendas shall be provided to the juvenile public safety advisory board on a monthly basis. If so warranted by the juvenile’s behavior or for other good cause, the release date may be moved up and the panel may consider a juvenile at an earlier release consideration meeting.
2. B. If after a release date is determined the MDT recommends that the juvenile’s supervised release needs to be deferred, the MDT shall make written findings detailing the reasons for the deferral and provide those to the juvenile and the panel. The juvenile shall then be rescheduled as soon as practically possible for a release consideration meeting.

3. C. The panel shall base a decision to grant or deny supervised release on the following, as determined by the application of the specific criteria in Subsection D and the MDT’s recommendation for release, as determined at the MDT at least two months prior to the scheduled release date:

   (1) the public safety of the community;

   (2) the likelihood of successful reentry and reorientation to the community, based on the extent of the client’s rehabilitation and the proposed supervised release plan;

   (3) the best interests of the client; and

   (4) the likelihood of further progress with the programs and services offered in the facility.

4. D. Specific criteria to be considered by the panel and the MDT include:

   (1) the juvenile offender’s preparedness and willingness to assume the obligations and responsibilities of the release agreement;

   (2) the degree to which the proposed living arrangements and community are conducive to successful completion of release and reintegration into the community;

   (3) the juvenile offender’s progress, rehabilitation and conduct while in the facility, including as reflected through SDM information;

   (4) the extent and nature of the juvenile offender’s drug or other substance abuse, and his response to treatment;

   (5) the juvenile offender’s history of delinquency or previous commitment;

   (6) the availability of community resources to assist the juvenile offender, especially those that are only available in the juvenile’s community and not available in the facility;

   (7) any behavioral health or medical needs that the juvenile may have that can be more appropriately addressed in the community;

   (8) information supplied by victims; and

   (9) the nature of the offense for which the juvenile offender is presently committed.

5. E. Any time the department modifies the release criteria, it must first confer with the juvenile public safety advisory board and consider the board’s input. If criteria are changed, the board must be allowed to participate in the decision and if there are disagreements, the department and the board shall in good faith attempt to reconcile the disagreements. If the board and the department cannot reconcile, the reasons for disagreement shall be recorded and submitted to the director of facilities to make a final decision.

[8.14.7.9 NMAC - N, 7/16/2009]