NCJ Number
203268
Journal
Pennsylvania Progress Volume: 10 Issue: 1 Dated: October 2003 Pages: 1-10
Date Published
October 2003
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This report outlines the process of funding for juvenile justice services in the State of Pennsylvania focusing on the reimbursement system and funding innovations made possible under Legislative Act 148.
Abstract
Pennsylvania legislative Act No. 148 decisively restructured the way services for Pennsylvania juveniles were funded, as well as giving local communities both incentives and resources to intervene with delinquent youth closer to home. In this report, an attempt is made to follow the funds by outlining the ways local delinquency services are funded in the State with a focus on the system of reimbursement established by Act 148 and exploring the innovative uses one county made of a system to improve its responses to delinquency. After Federal funding sources are exhausted, counties turn to Act 148 funds from the State. Pennsylvania’s Public Welfare Code was amended by Act 148 in 1976 to set up a large-scale reimbursement scheme for county-purchased child welfare and juvenile justice services. The effect of Act 148 was a massive infusion of juvenile justice resources to local communities. The report outlines the approach to juvenile justice under Act 148 and the fundamental changes that Act 148 and the infusion of Federal funding made possible for juvenile justice services. In particular, Bucks County established an intensive in-home services program for juvenile offenders, Community Commitment, Inc. Act 148 reimbursement made the financial logic of this program compelling. Act 148 has represented a kind of experiment to see what local communities could do if given incentives and resources to respond to delinquency in their own backyards.