Committee Hears from Judge, Advocates on Need to Update Juvenile Justice Law
WASHINGTON – Today, the full Committee on Education and the Workforce held a legislative hearing on “Reviewing the Juvenile Justice System and How It Serves At-Risk Youth.” Committee Members came together in a bipartisan way to address the need to reauthorize the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) of 1974, which has not been reauthorized by Congress in over a decade.
“In the 13 years since we last reauthorized the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, there has been a wealth of knowledge and research created that needs to be integrated into our federal juvenile justice policies,” said Ranking Member Rep. Bobby Scott (VA-03). “I am committed to working with Chairman Kline here in the House to produce a JJDPA bill that builds on what we’ve learned in the last 13 years, and it’s my sincere hope we can get a bill to the President’s desk before the end of this Congress.”
JJDPA was last reauthorized in 2002 and expired in 2007. The law traditionally is the guiding policy for state juvenile justice systems, and a reauthorization will reestablish that guidance by codifying lessons learned from the research and work done in the states over the last 13 years. This includes addressing the unique needs of girls in the juvenile justice system and stemming the “School to Prison” pipeline by aligning school discipline policies and juvenile justice systems to disincentive school pushout and the escalation of non-serious offenses.
The Honorable Steven C. Teske, Chief Judge in Clayton County, Georgia, has seen first-hand how promoting a systemic change in alternatives to youth detention has led to decreased delinquency, improved youth well-being, and a reduction in our nation’s out-of-control spending on incarceration.
“Each year, police still make more than 600,000 juvenile arrests; juvenile courts handle roughly 1.2 million cases; and more than 250,000 youth are prosecuted in the adult criminal justice system. On any given night, nearly 60,000 children are placed in secure confinement in state juvenile justice systems, most for non-violent offenses and the vast majority is youth of color,” said Judge Teske. “Given the momentum in the Senate, I believe the House Education and the Workforce Committee must begin its work to reauthorize the outdated JJDPA. There is a universally recognized need to further reduce delinquency and improve juvenile justice systems in this country, and federal leadership is necessary to advance the pace of change.”
In 2011, youth of color under the age of 21 represented 45 percent of the youth in the United States, but accounted for 71 percent of youth held in detention nationwide, and 66 percent of youth committed to juvenile facilities upon a determination of delinquency. Today, girls are the fastest-growing segment of the juvenile justice population today, and status offenses still remain the primary reason that girls enter the juvenile justice system.
Juvenile justice is primarily the purview of states and localities. Juvenile courts were established by States in the first half of the 20th century, on the emerging legal theory that children should not be held fully responsible for their actions, based on scientific research into impulse control and brain development. The capacity to rehabilitate children became the focus of the system, rather than the punishment of offenders. As a result, there continues to be significant procedural and substantive differences between juvenile and adult courts. These differences explain, in part, the House Education and Workforce Committee’s jurisdiction over juvenile justice.
Today’s hearing highlighted the need for renewing education, safety, and prevention standards for our nation’s youth.
Testimony of the Honorable Steven C. Teske, Chief Judge Clayton County (GA), can be found here.
Additional background and statistics on juvenile justice and delinquency prevention can be found here.
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