Download Now
(0 Bytes)
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 here. The CFYJ letter in support of the bill
is available 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 here. An opposition letter from over
50 national groups is available 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
http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200807/073108c.html
and 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!
