OJJDP

Last week, Youth Services Insider looked at the fresh round of numbers from the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s juvenile detention surveys, which found that during the coronavirus pandemic, admissions to those facilities continue to be low while releases from them have slowed considerably. 

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) recently issued a $10.4 million funding competition that on first blush shocked Youth Services Insider. It was a request for proposals (RFP) from nonprofits or local governments in states that are not participating in the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA), through which state juvenile justice agencies receive grants in exchange for complying with four standards in their treatment of youths.

In late July, Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden’s campaign circulated a proposed criminal justice plan. It specifically referenced juvenile justice, which might be the only time that subject has come up thus far in the 2020 election.

The number of youth arrested in America has been cut in half in the past 10 years, though an alarming racial disproportionality still exists when it comes to arrests for violent crimes, according to a report released by the U.S.

For the first time since 2002, the law governing national juvenile justice standards has been reauthorized by Congress. The bill will now head to President Trump’s desk, possibly ending a long string of disappointments for juvenile justice advocates who tried in vain to update the law during the administration of Barack Obama.

A bill that would finally update the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA), after more than 15 years, appears headed for passage as early as Tuesday. UPDATE: The bill has passed the Senate, and now heads to the House of Representatives for approval.

A final push to reauthorize the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) before the midterm elections has passed through the House of Representatives and has now moved to the Senate for an attempt at unanimous consent this week.

The Justice Department has told Youth Services Insider that the Office of Justice Programs will reduce the Office of Justice Programs’ workforce by nearly 200 positions by October of 2019, a move that could sap staff from the already-small division focused on federal juvenile justice policy.

The Trump Administration plans to cut thousands of Department of Justice positions, which may mean a 25 percent (or more) culling of the already tiny 60-person federal agency focused on juvenile justice, according to several sources at the department or with connections to the department.