NCJ Number
161613
Journal
Juvenile Justice Volume: 2 Issue: 2 Dated: (Fall-Winter 1995) Pages: 19-21
Date Published
1995
Length
3 pages
Annotation
The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (JJDP) Act of 1974 represented the establishment of a fully coordinated Federal effort to prevent and control juvenile delinquency.
Abstract
It also represented an urgently needed effort to develop a coherent national planning process, establish priorities, and focus Federal leadership efforts. At the time the law was enacted, the Federal government had 116 separate Federal juvenile justice and delinquency prevention programs conducted by six cabinet-level departments responsible for administering some 120,000 different grants. Although the congressional subcommittee proposed creating an Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary located the new program in the Justice Department's Law Enforcement Assistance Administration. LEAA had already established a network of 50 State planning agencies; the committee also noted its exemplary efforts in prevention and diversion through financial support of the youth service bureaus in local law enforcement agencies. Senator Bayh, who first introduced the law, urged that the law be described in one word: prevention. Although the law received little attention due to the Watergate events, it received overwhelming bipartisan support and was passed by a Senate vote of 88 to 1. Final approval occurred in August 1974.