Washington Report (From the National Conference on Juvenile Justice - 8th, 1981 - See NCJ-76585)

• NCJ Number: 76586
• Author(s): J J Wison; J M Howell
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 0 pages
• Sale Source: National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. This is a selection on side one. The running time is 31 minutes.

Annotation

Provisions of the Juvenile Justice Amendments of 1980, future trends in juvenile justice, and possible breakthroughs in program technology are discussed at the 1981 National Conference on Juvenile Justice.

Abstract

An LEAA acting deputy general counsel explains that the amendments to the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act established the Office of Juvenile Justice as an independent agency. In addition, the amendments aim to give more emphasis to the handling of delinquent youth and to maintaining and strengthening the family unit. Special emphasis programs are to receive a greater share of available funding, and a valid court order amendment allows for the incarceration of status offenders (with certain exceptions) who violate valid court orders. Other provisions call for the removal of all juveniles from adult jails and lockups, except under certain conditions; for restrictions on the use of Federal funds for lobbying efforts; and for greater LEAA discretion in the continuation of funding programs that fulfill performance criteria. A staff director from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention explains that the Federal role in juvenile justice reform will decline in the future as revenue-sharing mechanisms are established. On the Federal level, emphasis will shift toward program monitoring and auditing of the funding process. Priority attention will be given to violent juvenile crime, sentencing, and rehabilitation. At the same time, State and local involvement in the reform process is expected to increase. Although the level of juvenile crime will not decrease, police arrests should become fewer as diversion programs develop. Also, increased emphasis can be expected in the education and training of juvenile justice personnel. Breakthroughs in program technology may be expected in the areas of delinquency prevention, treatment of violent juvenile offenders, restitution, and the quality of youth service. A table of contents is included.