Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention Act

Enacted in 1974, the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) set forth motion to change the way juveniles are handled in the justice system and provided Formula Grant funding to support these reform efforts. As years progress, the JJDPA helps state and local governments prevent and control juvenile delinquency. The JJDPA requires participating States to monitor and maintain the outlined four core protections in order to continue receiving federal funding.

If a state fails to demonstrate full compliance, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) reduces the grant funding by 20% for each core requirement failure. The JJDPA was last reauthorized in 2018.

The Four Core Protections are as follows:

1. Deinstitutionalization of Status Offenders: Status and non-offenders may not be in secure custody in adult detention centers. Status offenders may not be held in juvenile secure confinement for extended periods of time.

2. Adult Jail and Lock up Removal: Delinquent juvenile offenders may not be in secure custody in adult detention centers, unless under allowed exceptions.

3. Sight and Sound Separation: All juveniles (status, non-offenders, delinquents) must be sight and sound separated from adult inmates.

4. Racial and Ethnic  Disparities (RED): States must access and address the disproportionate contact of youth of color as key points in the juvenile justice system.

By maintaining compliance with the JJDPA, Georgia will continue to receive federal juvenile justice funds. The funds support Georgia’s efforts to develop and implement effective prevention and intervention programs while improving the juvenile justice system.

Juvenile Detention Compliance Monitor
Per state code and Federal law, the Juvenile Detention Compliance Monitor is responsible for the monitoring of all adult detention centers, lock ups, and juvenile detention centers to ensure Georgia’s compliance with first three of the Four Core Protections, as outlined by the JJDPA.

With the assistance of the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), the Compliance Monitor tracks admissions to 143 adult jails and 31 adult lock ups on a monthly basis electronically. The Compliance Monitor conducts onsite inspections of all adult detention facilities every three years, but cannot visit less than 10% in any given year. Additionally, the Compliance Monitor provides regional Jail Monitor training to all DJJ Jail Monitors. If you are interested in available trainings, please click here.

Adult Detention Centers & Police Lockups - To ensure proper classification of facilities for the purpose of compliance monitoring under the JJDPA of 2018, as amended, the CJCC recently created the following form for facilities to verify if they are secure or non-secure. The form can be found here  and should be submitted here. 

A FAQ sheet and training information about the tool is provided below.

For more information, please contact the Juvenile Detention Compliance Monitor Joseph Lynn at [email protected]

Racial and Ethnic Disparities Coordinator

The RED Coordinator is responsible for the monitoring of disproportionate contact of minority youth involved with our juvenile justice system and develops plans to address the issue to ensure Georgia’s compliance with the fourth Core Protection, as outlined by the JJDPA. For further information on Georgia’s RED efforts, please visit the RED home page.

For more information, please contact RED Coordinator Haley Dunn-McKinney at [email protected].