Stevens questions Wendy Calderón-Payne on DA approval for ATI

Thank you.

I just wanted to let you know something that you said around the capacity of programs, and I was telling my committee counsel

that that's something we should definitely be looking at as we are thinking about this legislation to make sure that we're not just having a list that's not updated, but we should have the capacity and ongoing so that people know that if it's full or if it's almost at capacity.

So that's definitely something we're going to add to the bill because that's something that you mentioned.

And Reverend Wendy, yes, you know how to find me.

I have actually lots of questions.

But the one question I'm going to ask you, because I know you just said the DA has to approve for the young people to come there.

What does that mean?

So, like, the DA has to offer it, or is this?

Can you tell me?

So we can have a legal aid attorney come to us and say, I have a young person.

But in the end, it has to be the DA has to tell the judge they're accepting of the program.

And in terms of the young people who are in Horizons, the DA has to say, yes, I will move this to like a...

I'll move the charge and allow them to have non-secured detention.

So if it's a juvenile offender charge, they had to have been under 18 when the first arrest happened, and it had to have been only one felony.

But I really think you should look at how many felonies are people facing.

Because if it's two or three, they can't get that non-secured attention.

I think that's even why the DA Clark was saying that she doesn't even know the young people that's in there to be able to say that.

And so I will offer them to review to see if there's young people in there that have that and that can be moved into your program.

And do you have capacity currently?

Of course, every ATI, I can say this across the city, has capacity.

But again, so, and we take high felonies, let the record state, we take high felonies, we take gun charges.

But the 200 people we have interacted with in the last two years, only three cases have been, it was one rape and two murder charges.

And I think one of the murder charges might have been like a self-defense against an abusive boyfriend of a mother, something like that.

But we don't get those charges.

The city does not fund an intensive program where a judge or a DA will give those charges to a community alternative.

Well, thank you so much.

I mean, thank you to this panel.

I'll be in touch to continue to have.

You have my number.

I know.

I know where to find you.

You're down the block from my office.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, guys.

Thank you for this next panel.

We will be calling Daniel Alva-Willatron, David Freudenthal, and Raymond Lyles.

And in addition, if your name has not been called yet, but you intend to speak, please raise your hand and fill out an appearance card with Sergeant at Arms.