HR 6934 IHCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

To amend and improve the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, and for other purposes.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

September 17, 2008CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Ms. SOLIS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and LaborCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

To amend and improve the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, and for other purposes.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 2008’.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

Section 103 of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5603) is amended--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) by amending paragraph (25) to read as follows:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(25) the term ‘contact’ means any sight or sound interaction between a juvenile in a secure custody status with an adult inmate;’,CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) in paragraph (28) by striking ‘and’ at the end,CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(3) in paragraph (29) by adding ‘and’ at the end, andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(4) by adding at the end the following:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(30) the term ‘juvenile justice stakeholders’ means individuals and representatives of agencies, institutions, and organizations with interest in the activities and outcomes of the juvenile justice system, including--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(A) youth and family members of youth who have had contact with the juvenile justice system;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(B) youth and families of color;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(C) defense attorneys for youth, prosecutors for the juvenile court, and juvenile court judges; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(D) representatives of school systems, law enforcement agencies, juvenile detention and corrections, juvenile probation departments, and community-based providers of gender-specific services and services to youth of color and juvenile justice-involved youth.’.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 3. ANNUAL REPORT.

Section 207(1) of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5617(1)) is amended--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) in subparagraph (B) by inserting ‘, ethnicity,’ after ‘race’,CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) in subparagraph (E) by striking ‘and’ at the end,CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(3) in subparagraph (F) by striking the period at the end and inserting ‘; and’, andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(4) by adding at the end the following:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(G) how State plans are meeting the requirement under section 223(a)(7)(B)(i).’.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 4. STATE PLANS.

Section 223(a) of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5633(a)) is amended--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) in paragraph (3)(A)(ii)--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(A) in subclause (VII) by striking ‘and’ at the end,CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(B) in subclause (VIII) by adding ‘and’ at the end, andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(C) by adding at the end the following:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(IX) individuals with special experience or competence in addressing the needs of girls or implementing gender responsive services;’,CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) in paragraph (7)(B)--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(A) in clause (iii) by striking ‘and’ at the end,CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(B) in clause (iv) by adding ‘and’ at the end, andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(C) by adding at the end the following:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(v) a plan for providing easily accessible, community-based and operated, culturally and linguistically appropriate services to youth at-risk or in contact with the juvenile justice system;’,CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(3) in paragraph (11)--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(A) by striking ‘shall,’,CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(B) in subparagraph (A)--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(i) in clause (i) by striking the semicolon at the end,CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(ii) by striking ‘excluding--’ and all that follows through ‘(i)’ and inserting ‘excluding’,CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(iii) by striking clauses (ii) and (iii), andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(iv) by striking ‘and’ at the end, andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(C) by adding at the end the following:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(C) not later than 3 years after the effective date of this subparagraph, or sooner if possible, no exceptions to this paragraph shall be permissible in relation to--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(i) juveniles who are charged with or who have committed a violation of a valid court order; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(ii) juveniles who are held in accordance with the Interstate Compact on Juveniles as enacted by the State; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(D) efforts shall be made to care safely for juveniles described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) by utilizing staff-secure and other community-based alternatives to secure detention, including the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act programs administered by the Family and Youth Services Bureau of the Administration for Children and Families of the Department of Health and Human Services;’,CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(4) in paragraph (12)--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(A) in subparagraph (A) by striking ‘and’ at the end,CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(B) in subparagraph (B) by adding ‘and’ at the end, andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(C) by adding at the end the following:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(C) not later than 3 years after the effective date of this provision, or sooner if possible, juveniles awaiting trial or any other legal process and who are treated as adults for purposes of prosecution in criminal court shall not have contact with adult inmates when held in the custody of the criminal court;’,CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(5) in paragraph (13)--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(A) by inserting after ‘adults’ the 1st place it appears the following:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘, and provide that not later than 3 years after the effective date of this bill, or sooner if possible, juveniles treated as adults for purposes of prosecution in criminal court and juveniles prosecuted as adults in criminal court may not be held in any jail or lockup for adults while awaiting trial on a criminal charge,’, andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(B) in subparagraph (A) by adding ‘and’ at the end,CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(6) in paragraph (15) by inserting ‘ethnicity,’ after ‘race,’,CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(7) by striking paragraphs (22) and (23),CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(8) by redesignating paragraphs (14) through (28) as paragraphs (15) through (27), respectively, andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(9) by after paragraph (13) the following:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(14) implement policy, practice, and system improvement strategies at the State, territorial, local, and tribal levels to identify and reduce racial and ethnic disparities among youth who come into contact with the juvenile justice system by--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(A) establishing coordinating bodies to oversee and monitor State, territorial, local, or tribal efforts to reduce racial and ethnic disparities, composed of juvenile justice stakeholders at the State, territorial, local, or tribal levels, including community leaders and service providers from communities in which youth of color are disproportionately represented in the juvenile justice system;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(B) identifying and analyzing key decision points, and the criteria used to make those decisions, in State, territorial, local, or tribal juvenile justice systems, to determine which points create racial and ethnic disparities among juveniles who come into contact with the juvenile justice system and the causes of those disparities;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(C) developing and implementing State, territorial, local, or tribal data collection and analysis systems to identify where racial and ethnic disparities exist in the juvenile justice system and to track and analyze such disparities using descriptors disaggregated, as appropriate, by factors including race, ethnicity, sex, geography, offense, delinquency history, and age;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(D) developing and implementing a work plan that includes measurable objectives for policy changes, practice changes or other system changes, based on the needs identified in the data collection and analysis under subparagraph (B) and designed to reduce any forms of bias, differential treatment of youth of color or disparities found to be associated with race and ethnicity, including provision of culturally and linguistically competent services; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(E) tracking and publicly reporting, on an annual basis, the efforts and progress made in accordance with subparagraphs (B), (C), and (D).’.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 5. RESEARCH AND EVALUATION.

Section 251 of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5661) is amended--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) in subsection (a)(1)(B) by--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(A) in clause (x) by striking ‘and’ at the end,CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(B) in clause (xi) by striking the period at the end and inserting ‘; and’, andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(C) by adding at the end the following:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(xii) juveniles treated as adults for purposes of prosecution in criminal court.’, andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) by adding at the end the following:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(f) Assessment of Treating Juveniles as Adults- The Administrator shall--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(1) not later than 3 years after the effective date this subsection, assess the effectiveness of the practice of treating juveniles as adults for purposes of prosecution in criminal court; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(2) not later than 6 months after making the assessment required by paragraph (1)--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(A) submit to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Speaker pro tempore of the Senate, and the President a report containing the findings, conclusions, and any recommended changes in law identified as a result of such assessment; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(B) make such report available to the public.’.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 6. INCENTIVE GRANTS FOR LOCAL DELINQUENCY PREVENTIONS PROGRAMS.

Section 504(a) of the Incentive Grants for Local Delinquency Prevention Programs Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 5784(a)) is amended--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) in paragraph (7) by striking ‘and’ at the end,CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) by redesignating paragraph (8) as paragraph (9), andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(3) by inserting the following after paragraph (7) the following:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(8) gender specific services that address the above purpose areas; and’.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE.

This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the 1st day of the 1st fiscal year that begins after the date of the enactment of this Act.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink