Act4JJ

In order to bolster the infrastructure for and ensure the necessary focus on the JJDPA reauthorization, the National Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Coalition officially launched the Act 4 Juvenile Justice Campaign on March 9, 2007. Since its formation, the Act 4 Juvenile Justice Campaign has written a Statement of Principles detailing the priorities for reauthorization. Currently, over 200 national, state and local organizations have signed on to the Statement of Principles, which are organized under four categories:

1. Keeping children and youth out of the justice system.
2. Ensuring equity and competence.
3. Ensuring responses appropriate to a young person’s age and stage of development.
4. Strengthening the federal partnership with state and local governments.

Using the Statement as a guide, the Act 4 JJ Campaign has thoroughly analyzed the JJDPA, consulting with experts nationwide and state and local organizations that are affected by the provisions of the legislation on a daily basis. From these consultations, the Campaign has created a list of specific recommendations, outlined in its report, JDDPA Recommendations and Background. These include:

• Requiring public reporting and transparency.
• Strengthening the Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) and Deinstitutionalization of Status Offenders (DSO) core mandates.
• Focusing the JJDPA on juvenile justice and keeping children safe.
• Expanding the JJDPA to cover all youth under the age of 18.

• A report outlining public attitudes and policy preferences for juvenile justice reform.
• A report examining public preferences for rehabilitation or incarceration of juvenile offenders.

Additionally, the Act 4 JJ Campaign has published many issue-based fact sheets that address a key topics relevant to the JJDPA reauthorization, including:

• Adolescent Brain Development & Juvenile Justice.
• Child Welfare.
• Cultural and Linguistic Competency.
• Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC).
• Gang Crisis in Context.
• Girls in the Juvenile Justice System.
• Indigent Defense/Waiver of Counsel.
• Juvenile Crime and Detention.
• Juvenile Detention Reform.
• Juvenile Status Offenses.
• LGBTQ Youth.
• NCCD - Youth Under 18 in the Adult Criminal Justice System.
• Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).
• Prevention.
• Rising Crime in Perspective.
• Trying Youth as Adults.
• Youth Housing Models for Community Re-Entry.
• Youth in Adult Jails.