WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP:

Youth Violence and Crime
From: Children's Defense Fund

For the past 25 years, Congress has been protecting America's children from the dangers of adult jails. A generation ago, children - including those picked up for running away and shoplifting - were routinely housed in adult jails. Studies in the early 1970's found that children in adult jails often were subject to rape, sodomy, and assault by both inmates and prison staff. A number of children committed suicide. Some were outright murdered.

Congress responded by enacting the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) of 1974 to protect children from adult inmates and untrained staff. Under the Act (and subsequent renewals), states can receive funds under a formula grant as long as they meet the following four protections:

• Children must be removed from adult facilities, in most cases, with exceptions for rural areas.
• Children who are placed in adult facilities must be separated from adult inmates by both "sight and sound."
• Children who are arrested for running away, skipping school, or other noncriminal (status) offenses are to be placed in community facilities, not jails or prisons, and never adult jails or prisons.
• If disproportionate minority confinement is found, states must address it.

Nearly every state complies with the Act and receives funding. In December of 1996, the Justice Department revised its rules on implementing the Act to give states, especially rural areas, more flexibility, while still holding true to the core principles of keeping children and adults apart.

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