Juvenile Accountability Block Grant

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.

The JABG Program for the State of Oregon is administered by the Oregon Commission on Children and Families (OCCF). OCCF intends to sub-grant 90% of the total JABG award to eligible units of local government and anticipates that they will sustain many of the on-going initiatives and continue to invest their grant funds in purpose areas 1, 8, 10, 11, and 15. However, OCCF is open to considering all reasonable grant requests that fall within the 17 JABG purpose areas. In addition, 5% of the FY 2010 JABG funds will be dedicated to system improvement projects, which will incorporate information sharing, data collection improvement, training and evaluation, under purpose area 10. OCCF will collect and report all necessary performance measures to OJJDP.

(NCA/NCF)