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Juvenile Justice Policy: Current Trends and 21st-Century Issues (From Juvenile Justice Sourcebook: Past, Present, and Future, P 41-68, 2004, Albert R. Roberts, ed. -- See NCJ-206597)

NCJ Number
206599
Author(s)
C. Aaron McNeece; Sherry Jackson
Date Published
2004
Length
28 pages
Annotation
After reviewing three major shifts in Federal juvenile justice policy since the 1960's, this chapter discusses diversion and deinstitutionalization programs for juveniles, jail removal programs, "new age" juvenile justice, delinquency prevention programs, "just desserts" in juvenile justice, due process, funding for juvenile justice, recent trends in juvenile justice, adjudication decisions, disturbing trends in juvenile offenses and case processing, and females in juvenile justice.
Abstract
In the early 1960's, Federal policymakers promoted community organization models designed to foster local responsibility for juvenile misbehavior; these programs were generally ineffective. The second shift in policy stemmed from a number of presidential commissions that studied the problems of crime and violence. Among the recommendations of these commissions was the decriminalization of status offenses, the diversion of juvenile offenders from official court processing, and the deinstitutionalization of juvenile offenders. The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 was the culmination of this policy shift. The third major change in juvenile justice policy began in the mid-1970's with a Federal shift toward a "law and order" philosophy. Throughout the late 1970's, an "iron-fisted" punitive approach to nonstatus offenders emerged, and an increasing fear of crime among the public propelled the juvenile justice system toward more repressive action. Dozens of new approaches to the problems of juvenile delinquency have been introduced to the juvenile justice system within the past few years. "New age" juvenile justice policies and practices include the use of mediation, restorative justice practices, acupuncture, boot camps, drug treatment, and privatization of juvenile corrections. Regarding funding for juveniles justice, apparently Federal funding is on the decline. The base budget for the Federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in fiscal year 2002 was $297,379,000, but the president's budget request for fiscal year 2003 asked for only $249,320,000, a decrease of 16 percent. A large part of this decrease involves the elimination of the Juvenile Incentive Block Grant Program. States and localities will continue to bear the bulk of the financial burden for institutional programs and other postadjudication dispositions; cities and counties will finance most law enforcement programs; and courts and probation staff will be supported by both State and local revenues. This chapter presents statistics on national estimates of referrals to juvenile court for each year from 1990 through 2000, as well as national estimates of juvenile offenses for these same years. Data and narratives address trends in juvenile detention, the formal and informal handling of juvenile cases, and adjudication decisions. A disturbing trend noted in case processing is the increasing punitiveness toward African-American juveniles, with a disproportionate number being waived by prosecutors to adult courts, where they are likely to receive sentences that place them in adult prisons. For these juveniles, it is as if the juvenile court movement of a century ago never occurred. Following a discussion of females in juvenile justice, this chapter recommends that more research be conducted on female delinquency and the treatment of female delinquents. It also recommends that action be taken immediately to address the differential processing of minority and nonminority juvenile offenders. 8 tables, discussion questions, and 77 references