The Act 4 JJ Campaign
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:- Keeping children and youth out of the justice system.
- Ensuring equity and competence.
- Ensuring responses appropriate to a young person’s age and stage of development.
- 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.
The Act 4 JJ Campaign has also developed a number of key resources related to the JJDPA reauthorization. These include:
- 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.