I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3782 

To amend the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 

to eliminate the use of valid court orders to secure lockup of status 

offenders, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 21, 2015 

Mr. CA ́RDENAS (for himself, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. 

GRIJALVA, Mr. GUTIE ́RREZ, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. MOORE, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. RICHMOND, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, and Mr. VARGAS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention 

Act of 1974 to eliminate the use of valid court orders 

to secure lockup of status offenders, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Prohibiting Detention 

5 of Youth Status Offenders Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEINSTITUTIONALIZATION OF STATUS OFFENDERS. 

2 Section 223 of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency 

3 Prevention Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5633) is amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (a)(11)— 

5 (A) by striking ‘‘shall’’ the first place it 

6 appears; 

7 (B) in subparagraph (A)— 

8 (i) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘and’’ at 

9 the end; 

10 (ii) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

11 the end; 

12 (iii) by striking clause (iii); and 

13 (iv) in the matter following clause (iii) 

14 by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

15 (C) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 

16 ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 

17 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(C) if a court determines the juvenile 

19 should be placed in a secure detention facility 

20 or correctional facility for violating an order de21 scribed in subparagraph (A)(ii)— 

22 ‘‘(i) the court shall issue a written 

23 order that— 

24 ‘‘(I) identifies the valid court 

25 order that has been violated; 


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1 ‘‘(II) specifies the factual basis 

2 for determining that there is reason3 able cause to believe that the juvenile 

4 has violated such order; 

5 ‘‘(III) includes findings of fact to 

6 support a determination that there is 

7 no appropriate less restrictive alter8 native available to placing the juvenile 

9 in such a facility, with due consider10 ation to the best interest of the juve11 nile; 

12 ‘‘(IV) specifies the length of time, 

13 not to exceed 3 days, that the juvenile 

14 may remain in a secure detention fa15 cility or correctional facility, and in16 cludes a plan for the juvenile’s release 

17 from such facility; and 

18 ‘‘(V) may not be renewed or ex19 tended; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) the court may not issue a second 

21 or subsequent order described in clause (i) 

22 relating to a juvenile, unless the juvenile 

23 violates a valid court order after the date 

24 on which the court issues an order de25 scribed in clause (i); 


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1 ‘‘(D) there are procedures in place to en2 sure that any juvenile held in a secure detention 

3 facility or correctional facility pursuant to a 

4 court order described in this paragraph does 

5 not remain in custody longer than 3 days (with 

6 the exception of weekends and holidays) or the 

7 length of time authorized by the court, or au8 thorized under applicable State law, whichever 

9 is shorter; 

10 ‘‘(E) juvenile status offenders detained or 

11 confined in a secure detention facility or correc12 tional facility pursuant to a court order as de13 scribed in this paragraph may only be detained 

14 in secure custody one time in any six-month pe15 riod, provided that all conditions set forth in 

16 subparagraph (D) are satisfied; and 

17 ‘‘(F) not later than one year after the date 

18 of enactment of this subparagraph, with a sin19 gle one-year extension if the State can dem20 onstrate hardship as determined by the Admin21 istrator, the State will eliminate the use of valid 

22 court orders as described in subparagraph 

23 (A)(ii) to provide secure lockup of status of24 fenders;’’; and 

25 (2) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(g) APPLICATIONS FOR EXTENSION FOR COMPLI2 ANCE.—States may apply for a single one-year extension 

3 to comply with subsection (a)(11). To apply, a State must 

4 submit an application to the Administrator describing— 

5 ‘‘(1) the State’s measurable progress and good 

6 faith effort to reduce the number of status offenders 

7 who are placed in a secure detention facility or cor8 rectional facility pursuant to a court order as de9 scribed in this paragraph; and 

10 ‘‘(2) the State’s plan to come into compliance 

11 not later than 1 year after the date of extension.’’. 

Æ 


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