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SENATE JUDICIARY LEADERS INTRODUCE JJDPA REAUTHORIZATION BILL
On March 24, 2009, U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Ranking Member Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Senators Herb Kohl (D-WI) and Richard Durbin (D-IL) introduced Senate Bill 678, bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA). The bill, titled the “Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Reauthorization Act of 2009,” can be viewed in its entirety at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:S.678:.
Last summer Senators Leahy, Specter and Kohl introduced S. 3155, the JJDPA reauthorization bill for the 110th Congress and moved the bill through markup with strong bipartisan support. This year, these senior Senators are joined by Senator Richard Durbin, Chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs, and an equally strong supporter of children and youth issues.
Similar to S. 3155, S. 678 is responsive to many of the suggestions and positions held by CJJ, as represented in the CJJ Platform on Reauthorization of the JJDPA, and capitalizes on more than 30 years of wisdom about how the JJDPA works and may be improved to reduce delinquency and improve youth and community outcomes. S. 678 incorporates all of the amendments added to S. 3155 and approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee last summer, including:
- an amendment to establish appropriate authorization levels for the Title II and Title V programs;
- an amendment to extend jail removal and sight and sound protections to all pre-trial juveniles, including those tried in criminal court, over a three-year phase-in period;
- amendments to eliminate the VCO exception to the DSO core requirement over a three-year phase-out period and provide greater protections to status-offenders in the interim;
- amendments to improve state efforts and results in reducing DMC;
- amendments to move state juvenile facilities towards eliminating the use of dangerous practices and toward use of effective behavior management strategies;
- amendments to restore and reaffirm the statutory advisory and training roles of an independent representative organization of State Advisory Group members; and
- amendments to improve oversight and accountability at OJJDP.
In addition, S. 678 proposes new strengthening amendments, including:
- a heightened focus on increased coordination, screening and diversion to better meet the mental health and substance abuse needs of youth; and
- increased emphasis on OJJDP developing and/or supporting relevant research, evaluation and data collection efforts to ensure that policies and practices are cost-effective and evidenced-based.
To learn more about CJJ’s efforts, click here.
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