NCJ Number
103222
Date Published
1986
Length
32 pages
Annotation
This study recounts the dynamics, results, and problems of West Virginia's juvenile justice reform from 1977 through 1985, which emphasized the decriminalization of status offenses and the deinstitutionalization and diversion of juvenile offenders.
Abstract
In 1967, the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice recommended juvenile justice reforms that focused on due process, diversion, deinstitutionalization, and decriminalization. The U.S. Supreme Court mandated due process rights for juveniles, and the 1974 Federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act supports diversion, deinstitutionalization and decriminalization. Through court decisions (Harris v. Calendine) and legislation (SB 200 and HB 1484) West Virginia has mandated the decriminalization and deinstitutionalization of juvenile status offenders. Other juveniles have also been deinstitutionalized, as the number of juveniles in county jails by 1985 had been reduced to zero, and those in State institutions decreased by more than 80 percent. Evidence of increased juvenile diversion is the 40-percent reduction in the number of cases before juvenile courts from 1978 through 1982. Various agencies have been established to devise, implement, and monitor community alternatives to incarceration for juveniles. Some problems in the reforms are the absence of adequate programs and accessible facilities for juveniles who must still be housed in secure facilities and also the need to fill gaps and increase efficiency in delivering services to juveniles. Appended State-by-State reports on the achievement of juvenile justice reforms and 29-item bibliography.