Interstate Compact on Juveniles

• NCJ Number: 184298
• Author(s): Christopher Holloway
• Date Published: September 2000
• Length: 2 pages
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Description

Annotation

This report describes the characteristics and implementation of the Interstate Compact on Juveniles (ICJ), a multi-State agreement that provides the procedural means to regulate the movement across State lines of juveniles who are under court supervision.

Abstract

Specifically, ICJ is a legal contract between all 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, and Guam that provides for the monitoring and/or return of any juvenile who has run away from home without the consent of a parent or legal guardian; is placed on probation or parole and wants to reside in another State; has absconded from probation or parole or escaped from an institution and is located in another State; requires institutional care and specialized services in another State; or has a pending court proceeding as an accused delinquent, neglected, or dependent juvenile, and runs away to another State. The Association of Juvenile Compact Administrators (AJCA) compiles statistical data on ICJ activities. Although AJCA is unable to provide exact figures on how many transfer and supervision cases occur annually, it estimates that ICJ is used in 20,000 to 30,000 transfer and supervision cases annually, with the majority of those cases involving juveniles on probation or parole who are supervised in a State other than the State where the offense and adjudication occurred. This is particularly common when a juvenile lives near a large city that borders another State. Frequently, the ICJ deals with cases in which a juvenile's parents have moved to another State or have separated and one parent has moved out of State, thus creating a situation in which the juvenile is subject to dual-custody issues.