State Compliance With JJDP Act Core Requirements

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's (OJJDP's) Formula Grants Program supports state and local efforts in planning, operating, and evaluating projects that seek to prevent at-risk youth from entering the juvenile justice systems or intervene with first-time and nonserious offenders to provide services that maximize their chances of leading productive, successful lives. The program also provides funds to enhance the effectiveness of the juvenile justice systems.

To receive funding, states must commit to achieve and maintain compliance with the four core requirements of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (JJDP) Act: deinstitutionalization of status offenders, separation of youth from adults in secure facilities, removal of youths from adult jails and lockups, and addressing disproportionate minority contact within the juvenile justice systems.

If a state fails to demonstrate compliance with any of the core requirements in a given year, OJJDP will reduce its formula grant for the subsequent fiscal year by 20 percent for each requirement with which the state is noncompliant.

OJJDP's annual Compliance Determination Standards set a maximum violation rate per 100,000 youth population for the deinstitutionalization of status offenders (DSO), separation, and jail removal requirements of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, as amended. A state that exceeds these standards for any core requirement in a given year is deemed to be non-compliant with that requirement.