State of Colorado Juvenile Accountability Block Grant (JABG) Program

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. Literature shows that one of the most effective ways to reduce recidivism is to intervene at the earliest stages of the juvenile justice system by providing adequate and appropriate sanctions to youth dependant on their offense.

To meet the identified needs/problems Colorado's Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention (JJDP) Council prioritized purpose area number 11, in order to fund accountability-based programs for youth at the early intervention stage. Beginning in 2009, Colorado's JJDP Council also supported a multi-year funding cycle for Juvenile Accountability Block Grant (JABG) funds. Beginning with the FY2009 sub-grant solicitation, JABG competitive (non-direct awards) sub-grantees became eligible for up to three years of funding contingent upon the availability of funds and the sub-grantee's performance. In January 2010, an Announcement of Funds (second year of a three-year cycle) was issued. The funds in the solicitation are limited to supporting accountability-based programming. Funded programs fit in Colorado's graduated sanction approach to serving juvenile offenders in accordance with their offenses and history. In an effort to assure timely, adequate, accurate and appropriate collection of performance measure data from sub-grantees, data collection forms have been developed to collect performance measure information on a quarterly basis.

The State of Colorado is not requesting a waiver of the pass through dollars.

(NCA/NCF)