CTJJA | Resource Details: 7/31/08 - Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) Reauthorized

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Through Senate Judiciary Committee

On Thursday, July 31st, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed S. 3155, the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Reauthorization of 2008, which would reauthorize the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) - one of the major federal laws focusing on juvenile justice issues. S. 3155 was adopted by the Committee by voice vote, meaning that the Senators did not cast individual, recorded votes.

S. 3155 was introduced June 18, 2008 and currently has 7 bipartisan co-sponsors. A 2-page summary of the bill as introduced can be found [1] here. The CFYJ letter in support of the bill is available [2] here.

During consideration of S. 3155 yesterday, the Committee adopted several critical amendments that significantly strengthened the bill. The Committee voted 11-7 to approve an amendment offered by Senator Cardin (D-MD) that would completely phase out the Valid Court Order (VCO) exception to the Deinstitutionalization of Status Offenders (DSO) core requirement in three years. The amendment also allows States to apply for extensions if they can demonstrate hardship with meeting this requirement.

The Committee also voted 18-1 to approve an amendment offered by Senators Feinstein (D-CA), Kennedy (D-MA), and Whitehouse (D-RI) to provide greatly increased substance abuse and mental health services to youth involved in the juvenile justice system. This amendment creates comprehensive incentive grants in the area of substance abuse and mental health services for which States may apply.

Finally, the Committee approved two amendments by Senator Grassley (R-IA) that will provide more oversight over grants given out by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDDP). These amendments require that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to examine grants disbursed in violation of policies and procedures of OJJDP and, for those grants found to be wrongly disbursed, what remedial action has been taken to recover this grant money.

An amendment authored by Senator Kyl (R-AZ) that would have negatively increased the federal transfer law was not offered. However, this amendment may be offered on the Senate floor when the entire Senate considers the bill. To view the Campaign's letter opposing the Kyle amendment, click [3] here. An opposition letter from over 50 national groups is available [4] here.

After the Committee's consideration of the bill, press statements were released by the Committee and the Act 4 Juvenile Justice campaign. These are available at [5] http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200807/073108c.html and [6] http://www.campaign4youthjustice.com/documents/JJDPAQuotesRelease.pdf, respectively.

Yesterday's vote in the Senate was a key victory for JJDPA and for youth across the country. THANK YOU to everyone who helped by contacting their Senator!