Title: Coordinating Council Promotes Federal Collaboration Series: Fact Sheet Author: Amy Callaghan Published: December 2000 Subject: Juvenile justice-general 5 pages 8,000 bytes ---------------------- Figures, charts, forms, and tables are not included in this ASCII plain-text file. To view this document in its entirety, download the Adobe Acrobat graphic file available from this Web site or order a print copy from NCJRS at 800-638-8736. --------------------- Coordinating Council Promotes Federal Collaboration by Amy Callaghan Established by Section 206 of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (JJDP) Act of 1974, as amended, the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (the Council) encourages Federal agencies to collaborate on programs that improve juvenile justice systems, prevent juvenile delinquency, and focus on missing and exploited children. The Council facilitates interagency collaboration through program coordination, program planning, and policy development. The Council meets quarterly at the call of its Chair, the Attorney General of the United States. The Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) is the Vice Chair. The Council comprises nine ex officio members and nine non-Federal members. The ex officio members are the Attorney General; the Secretaries of the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, and Labor; the Administrator of OJJDP; the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy; the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for National Service; and the Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The President, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives each appoint three practitioners to serve as non-Federal members. Council meetings serve as forums for exchanging information, ideas, and research findings about juvenile delinquency and missing and exploited children. National Juvenile Justice Action Plan The Council plays an important role in developing comprehensive, systematic Federal responses to issues and problems associated with juvenile justice and delinquency prevention. As required by the JJDP Act, the Council makes annual recommendations to Congress on policies, priorities, and long-term planning regarding programs related to delinquency and missing and exploited children. To this purpose, the Council developed and published Combating Violence and Delinquency: The National Juvenile Justice Action Plan (Action Plan) in 1996. The Action Plan encourages communities to develop partnerships with State and Federal agencies to address and reduce the impact of juvenile violence and delinquency. It presents a framework for dealing with delinquent offenders and describes programs to help youth achieve positive futures. The Action Plan lays out eight objectives that individuals, communities, States, and the Federal Government can support to bring about positive change. The Council is updating the Action Plan through a series of eight Bulletins (one for each Action Plan objective). Each Bulletin will describe the progress the Federal Government has made in responding to the recommendations set forth under a given objective. Interagency Working Groups As part of its efforts to foster collaboration among agencies, the Council often establishes interagency working groups. Two recent examples are the Interagency Working Group on the Link Between Child Maltreatment and Juvenile Delinquency and the Interagency Working Group on Gender Issues. The first of these working groups, created in recognition of the correlation between child maltreatment and future involvement in serious or violent delinquency, seeks to foster interdisciplinary collaboration at the State and local levels. Members of the working group and staff from OJJDP and the Child Welfare League of America participated in State forums in Alaska, California, Indiana, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Washington, DC. The forums brought together State legislators and representatives from child welfare, law enforcement, juvenile justice, and public health and mental health agencies. To help State policymakers address the relationship between maltreatment and delinquency, the working group also developed "Presentation Talking Points on the Link Between Child Maltreatment and Delinquency." The talking points discuss a variety of topics and can be customized by speakers to address the concerns of various audiences. They are available on OJJDP's Web site (www.ojjdp.ncjrs.org/council/child.html). The Interagency Working Group on Gender Issues provides a forum for Federal agencies to share information about gender-specific research, programs, and training and technical assistance. This working group encourages the creation of partnerships among Federal, State, and local agencies. The working group is providing guidance for three OJJDP gender initiatives: the National Institute for Girls, the National Girls Study Group, and a National Girls Symposium (planned for fiscal year 2001). The working group also will prepare a report for the Council that includes an overview of Federal activities and recommendations for additional research, programming, and training and technical assistance focusing on gender issues. Web Sites To take advantage of increasing public access to the Internet, the Council supported the creation of two new Web sites to provide coordinated information on topics of public interest. One of these Web sites (www.childrenwithdisabilities.ncjrs.org), which the Council helped OJJDP develop, offers information and resources for disabled children, their families, and service providers. It includes a calendar of events; research and statistical reports; information about Federal, State, and local funding opportunities; and other resources. The Council also facilitated a Web site focused on the needs of parents. Created in response to a suggestion made by Attorney General Janet Reno, Parenting Resources for the 21st Century (www.parentingresources.ncjrs.org) is an online guide that links parents to information that can help them meet the challenges of raising a child. Council representatives from Federal agencies collaborated with the practitioner members of the Council to launch the Web site as part of a national agenda to foster positive youth development and reduce violence and delinquency. The site provides links to hundreds of parenting resources and includes information about a variety of topics, including children's developmental stages, teen employment, volunteering, and mentoring. ----------------------- For Further Information For additional information about the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, contact: Kimberly J. Budnick, Director Concentration of Federal Efforts Program Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention 810 Seventh Street NW. Washington, DC 20531 202-307-5911 To obtain a copy of the Action Plan or other publications from OJJDP, contact: Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse 800-638-8736 301-519-5600 (fax) puborder@ncjrs.org (e-mail) www.puborder.ncjrs.org (Internet) ---------------------- Amy Callaghan is a Juvenile Justice Program Specialist with OJJDP. ---------------------- The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, and the Office for Victims of Crime. ----------------------- FS-200021