Three Year Plan FFY2012 - FFY2014

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 Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPSS) is applying for FFY2013 Juvenile Justice Formula Grant funds with this submission of the update to the Commonwealth's Three Year Plan. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has found that Massachusetts is in not in compliance with the Separation core requirement of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDP Act) of 2002. As a result, the FFY2013 Formula Grant award will be penalized as were the FFY2011 and FFY2012 awards. The reason for the finding of non-compliance is that there is inadequate sight and sound separation between juvenile and adult detainees in many of the Commonwealth's antiquated court holding facilities. The penalty requires that the Commonwealth spend approximately fifty percent of its award towards resolving the sight and sound separation problem. During the past 18 months stakeholders have been diligently working to assess the nature of the problems at each court and determine possible remedies.

Thus, the primary purpose of the Formula Grant award will be to assist Massachusetts with regaining compliance with the Separation core requirement of the JJDP Act. The population served will be detained court-involved youth. During the past two years a working group composed of key stakeholders has visited the problematic court holding facilities, assessed the nature and seriousness of the separation inadequacies and identified potential solutions and/or ways of mitigating the problems at each site. NCA/NCF