Obama’s New Juvenile Justice Rules: What To Know
The Justice Department last week published proposed new rules related to the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) that will require most states to make significant improvements or face the loss of federal funds at a time when the appropriation has dropped significantly.
The changes to the central mechanism for federal juvenile justice funding come amidst uncertainty about reauthorization of the bill, and after a decline in federal funding for the act.
Every state but Wyoming participates in the JJPDA, which funds states based in part on their adherence to four core juvenile justice standards:
- Not detaining status offenders (DSO).
- Keeping most youth out of adult jails.
- Sight/sound separating them from adults in rare instances where they are in jail.
- Addressing disproportionate minority contact in the state.
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