In 1974, Congress recognized the problem of children in adult jails by enacting the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act. Emphasizing the widespread abuse of juveniles in adult jails, the Act aimed at eventual removal of all juveniles from adult jails, but mandated "sight and sound" separation of juvenile and adult offenders in states participating in the funding program of the legislation. The Act also required that status offenders (non-criminal youth) be removed from juvenile detention and correctional facilities.
Wisconsin has participated in the Act since its inception. The current Governor’s Juvenile Justice Commission (GJJC) works to implement the Act - to examine how services are delivered and to develop a plan which establishes goals, objectives and priorities that will assure a more effective delivery of these services.
The responsibility for the administration of Wisconsin’s Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act funds has been assigned to the Wisconsin Office of Justice Assistance (OJA). OJA has a Juvenile Justice Unit that works with the GJJC to implement the Act in Wisconsin, receive requests for funding from counties, state agencies, local units of government, and tribal and non-profit agencies, and encourage knowledge about research on effective programs and practices.
OJA and the GJJC strive to make Wisconsin a place where children can grow up in safe communities and have the opportunity to be productive, contributing citizens. We also seek to work collaboratively with other state, county, municipal agencies, and tribes to promote practices that effectively address the issues of high risk youth and families and fundamental issues of fairness. The work is guided by the Act and by the goals of the GJJC. Overall, the work of OJA and the Commission is guided in turn by the state’s Three Year Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Plan.
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Resources
What Works! Practice Briefs:
1/08: Girls in the Juvenile Justice System
10/07: Evidence-based Programs: An Overview
5/07: Finding Effective Solutions to Truancy
4/07: Program Fidelity and Adaptation
3/07: Guidelines for Selecting an Evidence-Based Program
2/07: Strategies for Recruiting and Retaining Participants in Prevention Programs
1/07: Culturally Appropriate Programming
Fact Sheets:
Mentoring
Out of School Programs
Parenting Education
Juvenile Offender Interventions
Truancy
Wisconsin Juvenile Justice Information Sharing Study - 2005
Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
Coalition for Juvenile Justice (CJJ)
The Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF)
Office of Justice Programs - National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS)
