Juvenile deliquency

Efforts to reduce detention and disproportionate minority contact are making a difference

November 16, 2009 -- DES MOINES – Iowa Governor Chet Culver today announced promising results from efforts to decrease Iowa’s rates of youth detention, especially for minority youth who are overrepresented in the state’s juvenile justice system.

Statewide, Iowa has decreased its overall detention of juveniles by about 15%, especially for low-level juvenile offenders, in each of the last two years, without any impact on public safety. In Black Hawk County, detention rates of minority youth declined by more than 20% for calendar year 2008. In Polk County, minority detention declined by 23.2%, and in Woodbury County minority detention was cut by 5.2%.    » read more »

Services to be available in a total of 10 Maryland jurisdictions

May 28, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) announced today she is fighting to put $1 million in federal checkbook to expand delinquency and intervention services for at-risk youth to a total of 10 Maryland jurisdictions, including Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Calvert, Charles, Dorchester, Montgomery, Prince George’s, and St. Mary’s counties, as well as Baltimore City.    » read more »

May 12, 2008 -- MONTGOMERY - Legislation designed to reform Alabama’s juvenile justice system has been signed into law by Alabama Governor Bob Riley. The new law is designed to reduce the number of children in state custody and redirect them toward community-based programs.

Alabama Governor Riley signs juvenile justice reform bill: Photo courtesy Alabama Governor's office    » read more »

March 31, 2008 -- Colorado Governor Bill Ritter today signed into law House Bill 08-1117, which is designed to help keep youthful offenders from turning into hardened adult criminals by allowing them to participate in restorative justice programs in certain circumstances.

The legislation was co-sponsored by Rep. Mike Merrifield and Sen. John Morse. It allows -- when appropriate -- for juvenile offenders to meet with their victim and court officials to agree to some type of service work that would repair, repay or restore the harm they have caused.    » read more »

Oct. 30, 2007 -- AUSTIN – Texas Governor Rick Perry today awarded approximately $4.5 million in grants to 79 programs aimed at preventing juvenile delinquency and improving the juvenile justice system. These grants are awarded through the federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act Fund (JJDP), and are distributed by the Governor’s Criminal Justice Division (CJD).    » read more »

09/12/2007 -- California Governor Schwarzenegger today requested the State Controller's Office to release nearly $23 million in Youthful Offender Block Grants in the 2007-2008 budget for counties to implement new juvenile correctional reforms. The recently approved block grants will allow counties to oversee those offenders with less serious crimes in their home communities.    » read more »

August 30, 2007 - A project designed to help juvenile offenders become productive members of society has received a major federal grant, Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius announced today.

The United States Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention has awarded $997,870 for the Juvenile Justice Authority (JJA) to implement Project S.T.A.R.: Success Through Achieving Reintegration.    » read more »

Biden: “Today’s youth hold the key to our future – we must ensure that it will be safe and secure.”

August 20, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) announced today that Delaware will receive ten grants to prevent juvenile delinquency and improve the juvenile justice system. The grants, which come from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), bring a total of $600,000 to Delaware for a variety of state and local initiatives.    » read more »