Challenge Activity F

• NCJ Number: 165935
• Author(s): G Melton
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 4 pages
• Contract Number(s): OJP-94-C-004
• Sponsoring Agency: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/NCJRS; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: From Challenge Activities Program Areas.

Annotation

This paper describes the work of the ombudsman for children and youth in out-of-home care.

Abstract

The 1992 reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 added Part E, State Challenge Activities, to the programs funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. The purpose of Part E is to provide initiatives for States participating in the Formula Grants Program to develop, adopt, and improve policies and programs in one or more of 10 specified Challenge areas. This paper describes Challenge Activity F, which involves funding to establish a State ombudsman office for children, youth, and families for the purpose of investigating and resolving complaints relating to action, inaction, or decisions of providers of out-of-home care to children and youth that may adversely affect the health, safety, welfare, or rights of resident children and youth. The out-of-home care subject to the ombudsman's intervention includes secure detention and correctional facilities, residential care facilities, public agencies, and social service agencies. After describing the ombudsman programs for children in out-of-home care in London, England, and in Norway, the paper profiles existing ombudsman programs in the United States, as well as child advocacy programs. The author identifies three key elements of the Norwegian model of ombudsmen for children that should be present in U.S. ombudsman programs. First, an ombudsman should be chosen for his/her ability to provide objective leadership on children's issues. Second, the ombudsman's autonomy and discretion must be protected; and third, the ombudsman must be accessible to the children and have access to them. Finally, the paper reviews issues that must be considered, including jurisdiction, whether the ombudsman office should be a public or private agency, whether it should be under the legislative or executive branch of government, and the statutory parameters for the ombudsman. A 6- item bibliography and 8 notes