The 1974 juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) aimed at developing programs and services to prevent juvenile delinquency, to divert juveniles from the juvenile justice system, and to provide community-based alternatives to juvenile detention and correctional facilities. The report is intended for people who desire detailed information on (1) historical developments in both the United States that are relevant to the new Washington code and (2) the legislative development and passage of the new code. In the first section, a summary of the JJDPA is presented. Other sections provide commentaries on a paper which reviews and criticizes the Washington juvenile justice and corrections systems, the 1976 Providences Heights conference on status offenders, and a background and passage of the new code and a paper which charges that the new legislation is premature. Footnotes and an appendix containing information on the State's agencies of court support are included. For related reports, see NCJ 72319, and 72321-3.