This report presents the provisions of the 1974 Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDP) written in black ink, along with amendments from the 2018 Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 2018 written in red ink, so that the provisions of the 1974 act can be distinguished from and compared with the provisions of the reform act.
The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 is a federal law that provides funds to states that follow a series of federal protections, known as the "core protections," on the care and treatment of youth in the justice system. This "Redline Version" shows the particular amendments of 2018 that are designed to strengthen core requirements of the 1974 act by strengthening the deinstitutionalization of status offenders, the reduction of racial and ethnic disparities, and improving the jail removal and sight and sound core protections. Other areas addressed in the reforms are delinquency prevention and juvenile justice system improvements, oversight and accountability, and funding levels. Definitions of terms are also addressed in the reforms.