CO SB043

Modifies the Youthful Offender System to emphasize rehabilitative treatment, individualized therapy, substance use disorder treatment, and trauma-informed programming, with housing based on expressed gender identity and accommodations for offenders with disabilities

Requires courts to dismiss cases against juveniles found incompetent to proceed when the highest charge is a class 2 misdemeanor, petty offense, drug misdemeanor, or traffic offense; reduces the timeline for finding juveniles unrestorable to competency from one year to six months for level 4 drug felonies

Mandates credit for any period of pre-sentencing confinement for persons sentenced for delinquent acts committed as juveniles

Creates the Deflection and Community Investment Grant Program, appropriating $3,333,333 annually for fiscal years 2025-26 through 2027-28 to fund trauma-informed deflection services for youth, including Native American youth, through nonprofit and tribal organizations

Grant recipients must provide services such as educational support, career development, restorative justice, mentoring, mental health services, or housing assistance in high-need areas, with priority given to programs that deflect youth at the earliest point of justice system involvement