California's FY 2012 Title II Three-Year Plan

The Formula Grants Program is authorized under the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (JJDP) Act of 1974, as amended. The purpose of this program is to support state and local delinquency prevention and intervention efforts and juvenile justice system improvements. Program areas may include: planning and administration; state advisory group allocation; compliance monitoring; disproportionate minority contact; juvenile justice issues for Native American Indian tribes; prevention of substance abuse by juveniles; prevention of serious and violent crimes by juveniles; prevention of juvenile gang involvement and illegal youth gang activities; prevention of delinquent acts and identification of youth at risk of delinquency; and improvement of juvenile justice system operations, policies, and procedures including establishing a system of graduated sanctions, treatment programs, and aftercare.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Corrections Standards Authority (CSA) is the state agency responsible for administering OJJDP's Title II Formula Grant program. The CSA is focused on supporting counties in serving at-risk and system involved youth, blending State and Federal funding streams to provide both direct services and systems improvement/reform. The State Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (SACJJDP) was reconstituted effective February 2007, pursuant to the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (JJDP) Act, and functions as California's State Advisory Group (SAG). In carrying out its responsibilities, California's SACJJDP serves as an Executive Steering Committee (ESC) of the CSA. The SACJJDP is tasked with review of juvenile crime statistics, identification of trends within the continuum, and development of best practices and relevant policy in making regular recommendations to the CSA. The SACJJDP (representative of the local juvenile justice community) as a partner with CSA has been prominent in its efforts to transform juvenile justice toward:

Reduced reliance on juvenile confinement;
Increased use of evidence-based practices and interventions; and
Addressing disparities in the decision-making processes within the juvenile justice system that impact youth of color and the corresponding disproportionality of youth of color coming into contact with the juvenile justice system (Disproportionate Minority Contact/DMC).

Moreover, in the fall of 2011, SACJJDP meetings focused on progress made over the last three years. After fruitful discussion and data/program review, the SACJJDP's consensus was to continue to include Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) and Evidence-Based Practices (EBP) within the 2012-2014 Three-Year Plan while adding a strategy to support efforts to develop and strengthen services, programs, and policies that promote positive outcomes for youth, their families, and communities. The SACJJDP also agreed the previous focus areas of Alternatives to Detention, Restorative Justice Principles and Holistic Approach to Offender Counsel will be subsumed under each of the broader three focus areas.

NCA/NCF