On Friday, December 2, the Department of Education released guidance and resources on assisting young people juvenile justice placement in their transition back to traditional school settings. The assistance includes: a guide is written for incarcerated youth; a newly updated transition toolkit and resource guide for practitioners in juvenile justice facilities; a document detailing education programs
Congress returns for what is likely to be the last sprint for the 114th Congress. As part of that they are likely to move an updated version of the Families First Act (Conference Report 114-628)as part of a larger package of legislation. Congress may agree to a “21st Century Cures” bill that seeks to add
The President has issued a proclamation recognizing the month of October as National Youth Justice Awareness Month. In the proclamation the President focuses much of his words on the juvenile justice system and the need for reforms. He also calls on Congress to reauthorize the Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) and highlights his support
While a Senate bipartisan bill to reauthorize the Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) has been held up in the Senate by Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR), the House of Representatives approved a bipartisan bill last Thursday on H.R. 5963, the Supporting Youth Opportunity and Preventing Delinquency Act of 2016. The bill was voted out of
The House has scheduled a vote for Tuesday on H.R. 5963, the Supporting Youth Opportunity and Preventing Delinquency Act of 2016, a bill that would reauthorize the Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA). The bill was voted out of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce last Wednesday, September 14. If the JJDPA is
On Monday, September 12, groups including First Focus, the Children’s Advocacy Institute, the National Association of Counsel for Children, and the American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law conducted a briefing on the need for greater and required legal protection for children across a number of legal systems. The focus of the briefing
At the end of last week, a bipartisan bill was introduced in the House of Representatives to reauthorize the Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention ACT (JJDPA). The members supporting the long-awaited reauthorization include Congressman Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) and Education and Workforce Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA), Committee Chairman John Kline (R-MN) Congressman Buddy Carter (R-GA) and
On Wednesday, July 13 a bipartisan bill was introduced by Senator Gary Peters (D-MI) and Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) to encourage coordination between state child welfare and juvenile justice systems in addressing the needs of vulnerable youth caught between the two systems. The Childhood Outcomes Need New Efficient Community Teams (Connect Act) would authorize grants
Holding Pattern in Senate Last week efforts to adopt the House version of the Family First Prevention Services Act, (HR 5456) (Conference Report 114-628) continued but success has stalled—at least temporarily. By week’s end the only thing that was clear is that they had not yet reached unanimous support for the bill and passing it.
On Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee, as part of National Foster Care Month held a hearing, Supporting Youth in the Foster Care and Juvenile Justice Systems. In opening the hearing Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) said that he hoped the hearing would result in some new information and strategies to better coordinate services between the child