Title
Title
Juvenile Law | 2024-25 Allocations for Dependency Counsel Collections Program and Expected Unspent Program Funding (Action Required)
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Summary
Summary
The Trial Court Budget Advisory Committee recommends two redistributions of funding for court-appointed juvenile dependency counsel for fiscal year (FY) 2024-25. Under the Juvenile Dependency Counsel Collections Program, courts collect reimbursements from parents and other responsible persons liable for the cost of dependency-related legal services to the extent that those persons are able to pay. The committee recommends that the Judicial Council allocate the FY 2023-24 statutorily restricted funds to the trial courts, calculated according to the methodology adopted by the council in 2013. The committee also recommends that the council reallocate unspent dependency counsel funding from courts that have identified funds they do not intend on spending to courts that are not fully funded to their need.
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Recommendation
Recommendation
The Trial Court Budget Advisory Committee recommends that the Judicial Council, effective April 25, 2025:
1. Allocate Juvenile Dependency Counsel Collections Program funds of $363,458 remitted in FY 2023-24; and
2. Allocate FY 2024-25 estimated unspent dependency counsel funding of $843,000 from courts that have identified funds they do not intend on spending to courts that are not fully funded to their need.
These recommendations were presented to the Judicial Branch Budget Committee at its meeting on February 20, 2025, and approved for consideration by the Judicial Council.
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