NCJ Number
137441
Date Published
1990
Length
52 pages
Annotation
More than 200 members of Juvenile Justice Advisory Groups assessed their activities at State and community levels in the context of three substantive areas specified by the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974: improvement of the juvenile justice system; development of community-based prevention and treatment programs; and enhancement of planning for and coordination of State and local resources to support reform and improvement of the juvenile justice system and delinquency prevention programming.
Abstract
State Juvenile Justice Advisory groups overwhelmingly reaffirmed the continuing need for juvenile justice system reform. They emphasized the importance of treating and rehabilitating juvenile offenders and community-based prevention and treatment programs. Further, they rejected the just deserts model which calls for the incarceration of more youth for longer periods of time. Overall, group findings indicate that the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act has achieved jail removal and separation for juvenile offenders, removed status offenders from inappropriate institutions to some degree, and attempted to meet the special needs of ethnic minorities in the juvenile justice system. Appropriate juvenile care and alternatives to institutionalization are discussed as well as the deinstitutionalization of status offenders, community-based treatment, corrections programming, community reintegration, drugs and minority youth confinement, and bias in the juvenile waiver process. Specific recommendations are offered that focus on the differential treatment and confinement of juveniles, status offender tracking, inappropriate confinement, juvenile right to counsel, juvenile justice standards and guidelines, native Americans, and drug treatment. 53 references