OJJDP’s Title II Formula Grants program provides funding directly to states and territories to carry out prevention and intervention services for youth and improve their juvenile justice systems. The program requires states to uphold core requirements for system-involved youth and reduce racial and ethnic disparities, helping the Office achieve its vision of ensuring that youth contact with the justice system is rare, fair, and beneficial. Funding is based on a jurisdiction’s share of the national youth population.

OJJDP awarded more than $44 million in fiscal year 2021 Formula Grants to 52 jurisdictions, including 46 states, Washington, D.C., and 5 U.S. territories. 

The 2021 awards were delayed by a year as OJJDP reviewed states’ compliance monitoring processes and developed new procedures to guide the administration of the Title II program. That review resulted from the enactment of the Juvenile Justice Reform Act in December 2018, which substantially amended the legislation which established the Formula Grants program, the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974.

“Delivering the FY 2021 Title II Formula Grants to the states was my among my highest priorities when I joined OJJDP in May. I am delighted that states can now access this much-needed funding and support their efforts to improve outcomes for young people,” said OJJDP Administrator Liz Ryan. 

OJJDP plans to make all fiscal year 2022 Title II awards before the end of the calendar year. 

The Title II program is one of OJJDP’s primary tools for carrying out many of its priorities:

• Providing community-based alternatives to incarceration;
• Diverting children from adult courts and facilities;
• Investing in effective community-based programs that provide delinquency prevention services, early intervention, and treatment for at-risk and system-involved youth; 
• Expanding funding for programs that create safe, nurturing spaces for children to spend time when not in school; and
• Ending the use of detention as punishment for status offenses.

Funds distributed to states under the Formula Grants program can be used for a wide array of efforts, including positive youth development, mental health and substance use treatment, reentry and aftercare services, and job readiness. To receive Title II funding, states must designate a state agency to prepare and implement the state’s comprehensive 3-year juvenile justice and delinquency prevention plan; establish a state advisory group to provide policy direction; and comply with the four core requirements of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act—deinstitutionalization of status offenders, separation of youth from adults in secure facilities, removal of youth from adult jails and lockups, and reducing racial and ethnic disparities among youth who come into contact with the juvenile justice system.

OJJDP is gathering input from stakeholders as part of a review of the Title II program intended to better meet the needs of states and territories. The Office is striving to provide consistent guidance, tools, and training and technical assistance to assist jurisdictions in both understanding the requirements of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act and ensuring that they are fully complying with them. 

Resources:

For more information about the Title II Formula Grants program, read the In Focus fact sheet.