The bill amends the purposes of juvenile institutions to eliminate the references to preliminary hearings since these are no longer held for juveniles. The bill amends the definition of "juvenile detainee" to include a juvenile detained for a drug court sanction under Title 15, section 3312, subsection 3, paragraph D. This clarifies that juveniles sanctioned by a drug court are considered detainees under the provisions of Title 34- A. The bill clarifies that the Long Creek Youth Development Center and the Mountain View Youth Development Center are both detention and correctional facilities. The bill also replaces references to "aftercare" with "community reintegration" throughout Title 34-A to reflect current terminology.

This bill also allows a juvenile detainee to be hospitalized in a nonstate psychiatric hospital if ordered by the court by way of a procedure known as the "blue paper" process.