Juvenile Justice Funding Trends

Kristin M. Finklea
Analyst in Domestic Security

Although juvenile justice has always been administered by the states, Congress has had significant influence in the area through funding for grant programs administered by the Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) of 1974, P.L. 93-415, was the first comprehensive juvenile justice legislation passed by Congress. Since 1974, the act has undergone several key amendments, including a significant reorganization enacted by P.L. 107-273 in 2002. The juvenile justice appropriation includes funding allocated within the purview of the JJDPA, as well as other grant programs that are administered by OJJDP but that are not within the JJDPA.

For FY2010, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010 (P.L. 111-117) provided $424 million for juvenile justice programs within DOJ. This was the largest amount appropriated to juvenile justice programs since FY2003. After the restructuring of juvenile justice grant programs in 2002, their funding, which had generally been above $500 million, began to decline.

For FY2011, the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011 (P.L. 112-10) provides $275 million for juvenile justice programs. Under this act, funds appropriated for DOJ’s Juvenile Justice Programs account cannot be used to fund the JJDPA Part E grants because these grants are funded through earmarks. The act also requires the reduction in funding for this account to be applied proportionately to each program funded under the account in FY2010. After removing earmarked funding from the FY2010-enacted amount, CRS calculates that each grant program funded under the FY2011 juvenile justice account is reduced by 17.0% relative to the FY2010-enacted amount. From that, the 0.2% across-the-board rescission, as outlined by P.L. 112-10, is applied.


Date of Report: June 14, 2011
Number of Pages: 10
Order Number: RS22655
Price: $29.95

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