State of Alabama's FY2010 Juvenile Accountability Block Grant (JABG) Program Grant Application

The Juvenile Accountability Block Grant Program (JABG) Program is authorized under the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 376ee). The goal of the JABG program is to reduce juvenile offending through accountability-based programs focused on both the juvenile offender and the juvenile justice system. The objective is to ensure that States and Territories are addressing the specified program purpose areas and receiving information on best practices from OJJDP. JABG funds are allocated to States and Territories based on each State's relative population of youth under the age of 18. The underlying premise of juvenile accountability programming is that young people who violate the law should be held accountable for their actions through the swift, consistent application of graduated sanctions that are proportionate to the offenses, both as a matter of basic justice and as a way to combat juvenile delinquency and improve the quality of life in the nation's communities.

Alabama's JABG funds will be subgranted to State agencies and local governments to implement Purpose Areas 10, 9, 15, 1, and 11. Alabama has requested an 82% waiver allowing those funds to be expended on State-level programs, with 18% expended on local-level programs. Activities focused on achieving JABG goals and objectives include continuing the State court system's improvement of the technology system and refinement of the recordkeeping and data collection processes used by juvenile courts, providing accountability-based treatment programs for youth held in secure confinement, and providing graduated sanctions for court-involved youth at the local level. The goals and objectives focus on addressing the need for (i) improving technology to assist agencies with collecting/housing real-time data on court-involved youth, and training agency personnel on the use of new technology, and (ii) adjudicating youth involved in criminal activity ' including juvenile sex offenders ' at the local level, providing sentencing and treatment alternatives within local communities and in secure facilities, and monitoring their treatment for compliance with court-ordered sanctions. Program progress will be measured according to the JABG performance measures 'outputs' and 'outcomes' as defined for Purpose Areas 10, 9, 15, 1, and 11.
(NCA/NCF)