Under the Federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (OJJDP Act), the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) awards Federal juvenile justice grant funds to States. The Federal OJJDP Act was designed to improve the Nation’s juvenile justice system and reduce unsafe incarceration of youth. Alaska received over $2.8 million in Federal grant funds in fiscal year 2002. However, for funds to be allocated, States must comply with the act’s four core mandates: (1) deinstitutionalization of status offenders; (2) sight and sound separation of youth and adult offenders; (3) removal of youth from adult jails and lock-ups; and (4) disproportionate minority contact. Based on this report by the Alaska Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee (AJJAC), the State of Alaska is currently in violation of the act’s first three core mandates of youth detention, thereby jeopardizing Alaska’s Federal juvenile justice grant funds and causing risk of governmental liability. The AJJAC presents six recommendations to improve compliance with the OJJDP Act.