This annual report discusses important issues at key decision points across the juvenile justice system with recommendations from the Federal Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice (FACJJ).
The Federal Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice (FACJJ) presents its 2010 Annual report to the Nation's leaders promoting thoughtful and effective leadership regarding juvenile justice. The report to the President and U.S. Congress provides discussion, suggested direction, and recommendations to continue the fight for the most fair and equitable juvenile justice system in the world. It spotlights the inequities that impact the juvenile justice system and provides the beginnings of a holistic roadmap to a system that holds juvenile offenders accountable, provides rehabilitation opportunities, and enhances public safety. Highlights of the 18 recommendations set forth by the FACJJ include: (1) provision of funding to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) to conduct comprehensive research on youth involved in the system who have a history of abuse and/or neglect and identify successful intervention programs to prevent children who have experienced abuse, neglect, or other trauma from entering the system; (2) amend the No Child Left Behind Act to encourage schools to seek alternatives when dealing with disruptive students other than referring them to the juvenile justice system; (3) mandate that States limit their zero-tolerance policies to the original intent of the 1994 Gun-Free Act; (4) strengthen disproportionate minority contact efforts, initiatives, and programs to reduce and eliminate racial and ethnic disparities that adversely impact youth of color; (5) encourage States that have not set the age of adulthood to 18 at the time of the commission of a crime to do so and provide financial incentives to do so; and (6) States to develop effective community-based reentry services that use a system-of-care model and provide funding and training specific to mental health and substance abuse services for youth and families. References