Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) is up for reauthorization and this month marks the 35th anniversary of JJDPA. JJDPA provides the major source of federal funding to improve states’ juvenile justice systems and sets federal standards for the protection and rehabilitation of youth involved in the juvenile justice system. On March 24, 2009, Congress introduced JJDPA (S. 678), but with Congress’ focus on other legislative matters, such as health care reform, JJDPA has been sitting in the wings of U.S. Senate Committee on Judiciary.
Let’s increase the momentum for JJDPA’s reauthorization and ask Congress to:
Reauthorize JJDPA this year.
- Eliminate the Valid Court Order (VCO) exception to the Deinstitutionalization of Status Offenders (DSO) core requirement of JJDPA to ensure that youth who are truant are kept out of secure juvenile corrections facilities.
Update JJPDA to decrease over-reliance on secure detention and to promote effective family-focused, school-based interventions for youth who are truant.
- Require the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to report annually the number of children charged with status offenses and held in secure detention, indentifying the associated state and the average length of stay in secure detention by state.
- Ensure Jail Removal and Sight and Sound Separation core protections are extended to all children under 18 years of age who are held pre-trial, regardless of whether they are charged in juvenile or adult court. Removal and sight and sound separation protects children from the dangers of adult jails and improve safety for youth in custody.
- Change the definition of “adult inmate” so that states can place children convicted in adult court into juvenile facilities instead of adult prisons, without risking federal funding.
The National PTA has an online form to help you contact your congressman.
CLICK HERE