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Issue Brief

Juvenile Delinquent Re-Entry - USA

Scope of the Problem  factual statements on the extent of the problem in the past, current, or future

•  Research has shown that despite a significant drop in juvenile crime rates and a subsequent drop in juvenile incarceration rates, 47 states have made it easier to try juveniles as adults, opening the door for greater incarceration of juveniles.^[1] This is despite The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974's call for a deinstitutionalization of juvenile offenders. 
•  Research suggests that there is an inverse relationship between recidivism rates and the age in which an offender is released. "In one study of 272,111 prisoners (both juveniles and adults), over 80% of youth under the age of 18 were rearrested, compared to 45.3% of those 45 or older." ^[2]
• In 2009, there were 1,906,600 arrests of juveniles under the age of 18 in the United States. This number is 17% lower than in the year 2000.^[3]
• About 28 percent of youth in these facilities are being detained pre-adjudication or pre- disposition, and 70 percent were sentenced to facilities post-disposition.9 In 2005, 22 percent of all adjudicated delinquency cases -- over 140,000 youth -- were ordered to a juvenile justice placement. ^[4]
• In 2009, juveniles were involved in about 1 in 10 arrests for murder and about 1 in 4 arrests for robbery, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and disorderly conduct.
• Index crimes in general have significantly decreased - about 13% - since 2000.
• Youth younger than age 15 accounted for more than one-fourth of all juvenile arrests for Violent Crime Index offenses and Property Crime Index offenses in 2009 (26% and 28%, respectively)
• Approximately $6 billion is spent annually on youth corrections and the average cost per bed on the state level exceeds $200,000.^[5]
• 70 to 80% of juveniles released from youth corrections facilities are rearrested within 2 to 3 years.^[6]

Past Policy  key legislation and milestones including significant policy and funding shifts, major studies, etc.

• The history of juvenile justice policy has been one of fluctuation between a highly punitive approach to a nurturing, developmental approach to handling juvenile offenders.  This statements needs a footnote.
• Kent v. United States (1966) set forth criteria to be considered by the juvenile court in deciding whether to transfer jurisdiction to the criminal court. 
• In re Gault (1967) the court held that in the context of adjudications of delinquency, children were persons within the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment, and that no state could deprive them of liberty without due process of law.
• During the 1990s, 47 states passed laws that put more juveniles in adult criminal court, instituted harsher sanctions, and allowed adults and youths to be imprisoned in the same facilities.
• States devised a variety of approaches to removing more juveniles from juvenile court jurisdiction, while placing them in criminal court; increasing the severity of juvenile court dispositions; and reducing the confidentiality of juvenile proceedings and records. 

Current Policy  summary of current policies in the form of legislation, programs, and funding

• "The traditional juvenile justice system does not routinely recognize the strenghts of youth, nor does it often seek to build on these strengths. Rather, it concentrates on deficits...[A] new approach- youth development-gives priorities to the development of competencies that improve a juvenile's ability to be productive and effective at task and activities that others value." Research has shown that most delinquents "outgrow" their delinquency, even without intervention by the stystem, that many at-risk youth are resilient and thrive with the presence of protective factors, and more assets available to youth lead to less delinquency and "positive outcomes such as school success and physical health." These findings offer strong backing for the youth development approach.^[7]

• Second Chance Act of 2007-  (H.R. 1593/S. 1934) "This bill would reauthorize and revise an existing reentry program within the Department of Justice (DOJ), provide money to states for reentry programs, create a federal interagency task force to study and coordinate policy, commission a number of research projects including a study of barriers in federal policy to successful reentry, and authorize grants from DOJ directly to nonprofit organizations to provide mentoring and transitional services to adult and juvenile offenders. The legislation is currently pending in Congress. "^[8]

• The United States has at least 51 different juvenile justice systems - each state and the District of Columbia has its own laws.
• The federal government has jurisdiction over a small number of juveniles and has its own laws for this system. 

Key Organizations/Individuals   contacts for public and private organizations and key individuals

• Job Corps- one of the most renowned national training and employment programs. "Job Corps is administered by the Department of Labor and delivered primarily through residential settings to economically disadvantaged young people...An evaluation by Mathematical Policy Research found that Job Corps substantially increased the education and training services that participants received, improved their educational attainment, and generated positive employment and earnings by 3 years after random assignment."^[9]

• National Youth Employment Coalition- NYEC is a membership networ that improves the effectiveness or organizations that seek to help youth become productive citizens. Toward this end, NYEC sets and promotes quality standards; tracks, crafts and influences policy; provides and supports professional development and builds the capacity of organizations and programs." Since its founding in 1979, NYEC has grown to 275 members in 41 states representing a broad range of organizations in the fields of workforce development, youth development, and education. ^[10]

• United States Department of Education
• United States Department of Justice
• Office of the Attorney General
• Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
• Office of Justice Programs
• Annie E. Casey Foundation
• Center for Children & Youth Justice
• Citizens for Juvenile Justice
• Coalition for Juvenile Justice
• Juvenile Justice Center
• Juvenile Law Center
• National Association of Youth Courts
• National Center for Juvenile Justice
• National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice
• National Juvenile Justice Network
• Urban Institute
• YMCA and YWCA
• Youth Advocate Programs, Inc.
• youthSpark (Juvenile Justice Fund) 

Bibliography   web sites, reports, articles, and other reference material 

Footnotes

1. Snyder, H., & Sickmund, M. (1999). Juvenile offenders and victims: 1999 National Report. Washington , DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Page 89. ▲
2. "OJJDP Model Programs Guide: Reentry." Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. http://www.dsgonline.com/mpg2.5/reentry.htm. Accessed 27 March 2009. ▲
3. “Juvenile Offenders and Victims: National Report Series - Juvenile Arrests 2009.” 2010. Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, Department of Justice, United States, http://www.ojjdp.gov/pubs/236477.pdf. ▲
4. “The Costs of Confinement: Why Good Juvenile Justice Policies Make Good Fiscal Sense,” Justice Policy Institute, http://www.justicepolicy.org/uploads/justicepolicy/documents/09_05_rep_costsofconfinement_jj_ps.pdf ▲
5. “The Missouri Model: Reinventing the Practice of Rehabilitating Youth Offenders.” 2010. The Annie E. Casey Foundation, http://www.aecf.org/~/media/Pubs/Initiatives/Juvenile%20Detention%20Alternatives%20Initiative/MOModel/MO_Fullreport_webfinal.pdf. ▲
6. “The Missouri Model.” 2010. ▲
7. "Leadership and Youth Development." Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Model Programs Guide. http://www.dsgonline.com/mpg2.5/leadership_development_prevention.htm ▲
8. U.S. Department of Justice: Office of Justice Programs. "Reentry." http://www.reentry.gov/whatsnew.html ▲
9. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Model Programs Guide. "Vocational/Job Training." http://www.dsgonline.com/mpg2.5/vocational_job_reentry.htm ▲
10. "PEPNet Guide to Quality Standards for Youth Programs: Linking Youth to Work and Education for a Succesful Transition to Adulthood." National Youth Employment Coalition. Washington, DC, 2005. ▲