Bill Text: CA AB1646 | 2025-2026 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Juvenile facilities: visitation.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5)
Status: (Passed) 2026-09-27 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 537, Statutes of 2026. [AB1646 Detail]
Download: California-2025-AB1646-Chaptered.html
Assembly Bill
No. 1646
CHAPTER 537
An act to add Section 224.75 to the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to juveniles.
[
Approved by
Governor
September 27, 2026.
Filed with
Secretary of State
September 27, 2026.
]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1646, Bryan.
Juvenile facilities: visitation.
Existing law establishes the Youth Bill of Rights for all youth confined in a juvenile facility, which includes the right to maintain frequent and continuing contact with parents, guardians, siblings, children, and extended family members, through in-person visits, among others. Existing law regulates the provision of these rights.
This bill, the Hug Act, would require that all youth confined in a juvenile facility have the right to engage in certain types of consensual physical contact with visitors during in-person
visits, as specified. The bill would require that limitations to this physical contact only be implemented when a significant safety and security concern is present, as described, and would require that all significant safety and security concerns and subsequent contact limitations be documented, as described. The bill would require all juvenile facilities to establish regulations and procedures consistent with these provisions. The bill would make related findings and declarations.
To the extent that this bill would impose a higher level of service on local facilities, it would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This
bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YESBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Hug Act.SEC. 2.
The Legislature finds and declares both of the following:(a) Research demonstrates that physical touch is essential to the health, development, and well-being of young people. Affective touch produces measurable physiological benefits, and promotes attachment security and stress resilience. Conversely, touch deprivation in adolescents is associated with higher rates of anxiety, depression, and aggression.
(b) Youth confined in juvenile facilities are separated from their families and communities at a critical stage of development. Maintaining meaningful physical connection with family
members and loved ones during visits supports the trauma-responsive, rehabilitative goals of the juvenile justice system and promotes successful reentry and reintegration.
SEC. 3.
Section 224.75 is added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:224.75.
(a) Consistent with subdivision (g) of Section 224.71, all youth confined in a juvenile facility, before, during, or after adjudication of wardship, shall have the right to engage in consensual physical contact with visitors during in-person visits that a reasonable person would find appropriate under the circumstances, including, but not limited to, hugging at the beginning and end of the visit and holding hands.(b) (1) The physical contact described in subdivision (a) shall not
be restricted as a disciplinary measure. Limitations to the physical contact described in subdivision (a) shall only be implemented when a significant safety and security concern is present, including pursuant to any court-ordered restrictions on visitations or visitors for a youth confined in a juvenile facility or a temporary and specific health concern. When the limitations are implemented, physical contact shall only be temporarily restricted for a specific youth or visitor as necessary to address the significant safety and security concern.
(2) All significant safety and security concerns and subsequent contact limitations shall be documented in detail, including the duration of the contact limitation and any additional accommodations or security measures implemented to facilitate a return to physical contact visits. The
documentation required by this paragraph shall be made available to the Division of the Ombudsperson of the Office of Youth and Community Restoration upon request.
(c) All juvenile facilities shall establish regulations and procedures for in-person visitation consistent with the requirements of this section.
