Formula Grant Project

The Formula Grants Program is authorized under the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (JJDP) Act and funds are made available as a result of the FY 2016 Department of Justice appropriations. 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; prevention; and activities to address the core requirements and improvement of juvenile justice system operations and policies, as found in section 223(a)(9) of the JJDP Act.

Nevada will use Title II Formula funds to provide delinquency prevention programming. Additionally, these funds will be used to ensure compliance with the four core requirements of the JJDP Act. The Juvenile Justice Programs Office in conjunction with the Nevada Juvenile Justice Commission (JJC) will provide funding, oversight and technical assistance to local probation departments, not-for-profit agencies and state correctional facilities to support much needed programming to youth involved or at risk of involvement in the juvenile justice system. The JJC serves as the state advisory group as defined in Title II of the JJDP Act. The JJC supervises preparation, administration and implementation of a three-year comprehensive state plan. This is done in conjunction with the state planning agency, the Division of Child and Family Services, which is working to create a comprehensive reporting process for all projects funded with the Title II/Formula grant funds as well as standardized reporting for the four core requirements.

Of note, Nevada is challenged by the escalation of many juveniles to higher levels of juvenile justice care without regard to type or severity of offense. This tends to occur due to the lack of resources and programs to address mental health needs on the local level. This overloads the juvenile justice system with juveniles that would be best served in a mental health treatment setting rather than a correctional setting. Nevada plans to provide funding that enables local communities to access to mental health services for juvenile offenders independently from the state correctional system.

NCA/NCF