Section 202 – Division rulemaking authority — Reports on sexual assault.

• (1) In accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act, the division shall make rules to:
  • (a) establish standards for the admission of a minor to detention;
  • (b) describe good behavior for which credit may be earned under Subsection 80-6-704(4);
  • (c) establish a formula, in consultation with the Office of the Legislative Fiscal Analyst, to calculate savings from General Fund appropriations under 2017 Laws of Utah, Chapter 330, resulting from the reduction in out-of-home placements for juvenile offenders with the division;
  • (d) establish policies and procedures regarding sexual assaults that occur in detention and secure care facilities; and
  • (e) establish the qualifications and conditions for services provided by the division under Section 80-6-809.

• (2) In accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act, the division may make rules:
  • (a) that govern the operation of prevention and early intervention programs, youth service programs, juvenile receiving centers, and other programs described in Section 80-5-401; and
  • (b) that govern the operation of detention and secure care facilities.

• (3) A rule made by the division under Subsection (1)(a):
  • (a) may not permit secure detention based solely on the existence of multiple status offenses, misdemeanors, or infractions arising out of a single criminal episode; and
  • (b) shall prioritize use of home detention for a minor who might otherwise be held in secure detention.

• (4) The rules described in Subsection (1)(d) shall:
  • (a) require education and training, including:
    • (i) providing to minors detained in secure care and detention facilities, at intake and periodically, easy-to-understand information, which is developed and approved by the division, on sexual assault prevention, treatment, reporting, and counseling in consultation with community groups with expertise in sexual assault prevention, treatment, reporting, and counseling; and
    • (ii) providing training specific to sexual assault to division mental health professionals and all division employees who have direct contact with minors regarding treatment and methods of prevention and investigation;
  • (b) require reporting of any incident of sexual assault, including:
    • (i) ensuring the confidentiality of sexual assault reports from minors and the protection of minors who report sexual assault; and
    • (ii) prohibiting retaliation and disincentives for reporting sexual assault;
  • (c) require safety and care for minors who report sexual assault, including:
    • (i) providing, in situations in which there is reason to believe that a sexual assault has occurred, reasonable and appropriate measures to ensure the minor’s safety by separating the minor from the minor’s assailant, if known;
    • (ii) providing acute trauma care for minors who report sexual assault, including treatment of injuries, HIV prophylaxis measures, and testing for sexually transmitted infections;
    • (iii) providing confidential mental health counseling for minors who report sexual assault, including:
      • (A) access to outside community groups or victim advocates that have expertise in sexual assault counseling; and
      • (B) enabling confidential communication between minors and community groups and victim advocates; and
    • (iv) monitoring minors who report sexual assault for suicidal impulses, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and other mental health consequences resulting from the sexual assault;
  • (d) require staff reporting of sexual assault and staff discipline for failure to report or for violating sexual assault policies, including:
    • (i) requiring all division employees to report any knowledge, suspicion, or information regarding an incident of sexual assault to the director or the director’s designee;
    • (ii) requiring disciplinary action for a division employee who fails to report as required; and
    • (iii) requiring division employees to be subject to disciplinary sanctions up to and including termination for violating agency sexual assault policies, with termination the presumptive disciplinary sanction for division employees who have engaged in sexual assault, consistent with constitutional due process protections and state personnel laws and rules;
  • (e) require that any report of an incident of sexual assault be referred to the Division of Child and Family Services or a law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the detention or secure facility in which the alleged sexual assault occurred; and
  • (f) require data collection and reporting of all incidents of sexual assault from each detention and secure care facility.

• (5) The division shall annually report the data described in Section (4)(f) to the Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Interim Committee.

Amended by Chapter 132, 2022 General Session
Amended by Chapter 203, 2022 General Session