Breaking: YLC-sponsored AB 2448 signed into law!

On Sunday evening, September 30, 2018, Governor Brown signed Youth Law Center-sponsored Assembly Bill 2448 authored by Assembly member Mike A. Gipson. This bill helps ensure that foster youth and probation-supervised youth in out-of-home placements have access to computer technology and the Internet, to facilitate the education and communication that are key to their health, well-being, and long-term success.

Access to computer technology and the Internet is vital in today’s society; many youth in foster care and in county juvenile facilities have not had consistent access to computers and the Internet. Without this access, these vulnerable youth will fall further behind in school and become further isolated from their family and community.

AB 2448 supports foster youth and probation-supervised youth in out-of-home placements safely and securely using computer technology and the Internet to complete school assignments, gain important career skills, stay connected to supportive family members, and experience age-appropriate activities. The bill allows caregivers in all placement settings to determine what constitutes safe and secure access.

AB 2448 was part of a cluster of juvenile justice system reform bills that Governor Brown signed into law at the final hour. These bills included YLC-supported SB 439 (Mitchell) and SB 1391 (Lara) which respectively limit the juvenile court’s jurisdiction over children under the age of 12 and prohibit youth ages 14 and 15 at the time the crime was committed from being transferred to adult criminal court unless apprehended after they turn 18.