I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6361 

To amend the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 

to establish a demonstration grant program for nonprofit organizations 

to partner with juvenile justice agencies to monitor juvenile facilities 

and provide youth in the facilities and their families with increased 

positive engagement in the system. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 29, 2010 

Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To amend the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention 

Act of 1974 to establish a demonstration grant program 

for nonprofit organizations to partner with juvenile justice agencies to monitor juvenile facilities and provide 

youth in the facilities and their families with increased 

positive engagement in the system. 

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 ‘‘Family Justice Act 

5 of 2010’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 The Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) According to the National Center for Men4 tal Health and Juvenile Justice, the successful reha5 bilitation of youth in the juvenile justice system, and 

6 their sustained reintegration into the community rely 

7 upon the mutual support of juvenile justice systems 

8 and families in the accomplishment of their goals. 

9 (2) Involving families benefits the youth, the 

10 family, the juvenile justice system, and the commu11 nity. 

12 (3) Valid information and consistent commu13 nication between families and juvenile justice facili14 ties reduces confusion, frustration, and disappoint15 ment. 

16 (4) Training of juvenile justice personnel on the 

17 importance of involving families can help the former 

18 better understand the family perspective and the po19 tential opportunities for families to be educated 

20 about the system, its processes and protocols. 

21 (5) Families working together with juvenile jus22 tice systems can improve outcomes for justice-in23 volved youth with mental health issues. 

24 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS. 

25 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF DEMONSTRATION GRANT

26 PROGRAM.—Title II of the Juvenile Justice and DelinVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:25 Oct 14, 2010 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6361.IH H6361

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1 quency Prevention Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5611 et seq.) 

2 is amended— 

3 (1) by redesignating part (F) as part (G), and 

4 (2) by inserting after part (E) the following: 

5 ‘‘PART F—ESTABLISHING INCREASED FAMILY EN6 GAGEMENT AND INDEPENDENT MONI7 TORING PROGRAMS 

8 ‘‘SEC. 271. GRANT PROGRAM. 

9 ‘‘(a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are 

10 the following: 

11 ‘‘(1) To strengthen the relationships between— 

12 ‘‘(A) individuals who are employed by juve13 nile justice or adult criminal justice agencies, 

14 including individuals employed at juvenile de15 tention or corrections facilities or adult jails or 

16 prisons; and 

17 ‘‘(B) individuals who are not employed in 

18 the agencies or facilities, but are involved with 

19 the juvenile justice or adult criminal justice sys20 tem, particularly youth held in juvenile deten21 tion or corrections facilities or adult jails or 

22 prisons and their families. 

23 ‘‘(2) To create a process through which admin24 istrators and staff at such facilities engage in a dia25 logue with individuals the facilities incarcerate, inVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:40 Oct 14, 2010 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6361.IH H6361

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1 cluding youth in juvenile detention or corrections fa2 cilities or adult jails or prisons and families of these 

3 youth, as well as other community-based stake4 holders, to collect feedback and input about the fa5 cilities’ policies, procedures, and practices. 

6 ‘‘(3) To ensure that the feedback and input 

7 from youth in these facilities, their families, and 

8 community-based stakeholders are integrated into 

9 the facilities’ policies, procedures, and practices. 

10 ‘‘(4) To allow families of youth incarcerated in 

11 a facility and community-based stakeholders access 

12 to the facility and the youth in order to conduct an 

13 initial assessment of the facility, to assess which 

14 policies and practices help families support youth’s 

15 rehabilitation prior to, during, and after their stay 

16 in a facility, and as well as to monitor the facility’s 

17 progress towards recommendations made by a panel 

18 described in subsection (b)(1). 

19 ‘‘(b) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 

20 ‘‘(1) FAMILY ENGAGEMENT DEMONSTRATION

21 GRANTS.—The Administrator may make grants in 

22 each fiscal year to local or statewide nonprofit orga23 nizations proven to be family oriented and based in 

24 best practices to establish panels to monitor juvenile 

25 detention and corrections facilities in which youth 


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1 are held and provide youth in those facilities and 

2 their family members with the ability to assist in the 

3 development of policies, procedures, and practices in 

4 these facilities to improve outcomes for youth and 

5 better prepare families to support youth’s rehabilita6 tion and transition back into the community. 

7 ‘‘(2) GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.—Grants 

8 shall be made with preference given to those organi9 zations that have a demonstrable track record of 

10 working with families of incarcerated youth and in11 corporating family input into their decisionmaking 

12 processes. In making grants under this section, the 

13 Administrator shall, to the extent practicable, ensure 

14 that a grant is made to one nonprofit organization 

15 in each State. 

16 ‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) SUBMISSIONS.—Each local or statewide 

18 nonprofit organization that desires a grant under 

19 this section shall submit an application, in partner20 ship with State or local juvenile justice and criminal 

21 justice agencies, courts, or juvenile detention or cor22 rections facilities or adult jails or prisons, to the Ad23 ministrator in such manner, and accompanied by 

24 such information, as the Administrator may require. 


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1 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted 

2 under paragraph (1) shall, at a minimum, include 

3 the following: 

4 ‘‘(A) A description of the organization’s ex5 perience working with youth involved in the ju6 venile justice or adult criminal justice system 

7 and their families. 

8 ‘‘(B) A description of the organization’s 

9 approach to family engagement in the juvenile 

10 justice or adult criminal justice system, includ11 ing the organization’s use of parent advocates. 

12 ‘‘(C) A list of the juvenile detention or cor13 rectional facilities or adult jails and prisons 

14 holding youth that the panel will monitor. 

15 ‘‘(D) A description of the State or local 

16 partner with which the monitoring panel will 

17 work and which has the authority to make the 

18 changes in the facilities listed under subpara19 graph (C). 

20 ‘‘(E) Assurances that the organization will 

21 create a monitoring panel that shall include— 

22 ‘‘(i) two representatives from each 

23 of— 

24 ‘‘(I) family members of youth 

25 currently incarcerated or incarcerated 


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1 within the last 2 years in the par2 ticular monitored facility; 

3 ‘‘(II) youth currently incarcer4 ated or incarcerated within the last 2 

5 years in the particular monitored fa6 cility or a youth advocate who is in 

7 regular contact with the facility; and 

8 ‘‘(III) nonprofit organizations 

9 that provide assistance to youth in10 volved in the juvenile justice or adult 

11 criminal justice systems or their fami12 lies; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) one representative from each 

14 of— 

15 ‘‘(I) a public defender’s office or 

16 court-appointed private attorney rep17 resenting youth in one of the jurisdic18 tions served by a facility that the 

19 panel will monitor; 

20 ‘‘(II) the State Attorney Gen21 eral’s office or a prosecutor’s office in 

22 one of the jurisdictions served by a fa23 cility that the panel will monitor; 


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1 ‘‘(III) a representative from the 

2 State Advisory Group (SAG) or a 

3 JJDPA State staff representative; 

4 ‘‘(IV) the family liaison for men5 tal health services or a State or local 

6 children’s mental health provider; 

7 ‘‘(V) the Governor’s office; 

8 ‘‘(VI) a State or local child wel9 fare agency; and 

10 ‘‘(VII) the family liaison for spe11 cial education or a State or local edu12 cation agency representative. 

13 ‘‘(F) Assurances that administrators of the 

14 State or local juvenile justice and criminal jus15 tice agencies, courts, juvenile detention or cor16 rections facilities, or adult jails or prisons with 

17 which the nonprofit is partnering will create a 

18 facility implementation team that will include 

19 two individuals employed by each facility being 

20 monitored who have the authority to make 

21 changes recommended by the panel. 

22 ‘‘(G) Assurances that the applicant, as 

23 part of its application, has consulted, or will 

24 within 30 days of being notified of an award 

25 will consult, with the State Advisory Group 


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1 (SAG) or the JJDPA State staff to discuss how 

2 the activities of the monitoring panel can sup3 port and strengthen the State’s JJDPA compli4 ance monitoring activities. 

5 ‘‘(d) USES OF FUNDS.—Grants received under this 

6 section shall be used to ensure meaningful input from 

7 youth in juvenile detention and corrections facilities and 

8 adult jails and prisons, their families, and community9 based stakeholders by providing funds— 

10 ‘‘(1) to allow the monitoring panel to conduct 

11 an initial assessment and continued monitoring of 

12 the facility to determine how the facility collects, 

13 analyzes, and integrates the input from youth in the 

14 facility, their families, and other community-based 

15 stakeholders into the facility’s policies, practices, 

16 and procedures, including by— 

17 ‘‘(A) conducting confidential interviews 

18 with youth and staff in the facility for the pur19 pose of evaluating the facility for the purposes 

20 above; and 

21 ‘‘(B) making unannounced visits to the fa22 cility to observe and assess conditions of con23 finement; 

24 ‘‘(2) to allow the monitoring panel to make rec25 ommendations to the facility implementation team 


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1 on how to integrate input from youth, their families, 

2 and community-based stakeholders into the facility’s 

3 policies, procedures, and practices, including— 

4 ‘‘(A) creating more access to the facility 

5 for outside groups, including— 

6 ‘‘(i) allowing additional community7 based organizations that work with youth 

8 or individuals to conduct visits to the facil9 ity; 

10 ‘‘(ii) providing office space in the fa11 cility for entities that act in the interest of 

12 youth in the facility, including community13 based advocacy groups, guardians ad litem, 

14 and public defender offices; or 

15 ‘‘(iii) assigning a court-appointed at16 torney to be available in the facilities on a 

17 regular basis for youth to speak with about 

18 their grievances with the facility; 

19 ‘‘(B) creating a support group for families 

20 of youth in the facility; 

21 ‘‘(C) improving communications between 

22 facility administrators and staff and families, 

23 and encouraging dialogue between these individ24 uals and staff in the facility (such as officers, 

25 medical professionals, and educators) by— 


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1 ‘‘(i) providing regular updates on indi2 vidual youth’s status and progress while in 

3 the facility; 

4 ‘‘(ii) integrating family input into the 

5 process of making decisions regarding 

6 youth, such as medical, mental health, or 

7 educational decisions; 

8 ‘‘(iii) creating a youth and family liai9 son position or point of contact for youth 

10 and their families to help advocate for the 

11 youth and their families; 

12 ‘‘(iv) providing an orientation for 

13 youth and families to the facility, the pro14 grams, and the formal grievance system of 

15 the facility that includes information on 

16 how youth and families can express prob17 lems, questions, or comments; and 

18 ‘‘(v) ensuring that youth and their 

19 families receive information on the re20 search on the consequences of juvenile jus21 tice system involvement, including the 

22 long-term effects of this involvement and 

23 how it can affect a child later in life; 

24 ‘‘(D) improving visitation and contact poli25 cies with youth in the facilities, including— 


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1 ‘‘(i) reducing restrictions on who can 

2 visit, including allowing visitation from in3 dividuals outside the youth’s immediate 

4 family that provide positive support to the 

5 youth, such as siblings, godparents, a par6 ent’s unmarried partner, aunts, uncles, 

7 cousins, nieces, nephews, mentors, teach8 ers, coaches, and pastors; 

9 ‘‘(ii) modifying or extending visitation 

10 time to include additional hours or days of 

11 the week to facilitate visitation with youth; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(iii) reducing transportation barriers 

14 for individuals to visit the facility, particu15 larly if the facility is not located near pub16 lic transit or near the communities from 

17 which the youth in the facility are referred; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(E) ensuring that quality and effective 

20 after care plans are established that reduce re21 cidivism and help youth successfully reintegrate 

22 into their communities; and 

23 ‘‘(3) to provide funds to the facility to imple24 ment the recommendations of the monitoring panel, 

25 only to be available to the facility after— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the monitoring panel has presented a 

2 publicly available written report with its rec3 ommendations to the facility; 

4 ‘‘(B) the monitoring panel and the facility 

5 implementation team meet to discuss the rec6 ommendations and the facility implementation 

7 team have a meaningful opportunity to provide 

8 input into the recommendations; and 

9 ‘‘(C) the monitoring panel and the facility 

10 implementation team agree by a vote on which 

11 recommendations to fund, in order for any 

12 funds to be spent by the facility to implement 

13 a recommendation, the use of those funds must 

14 be supported by the votes of two-thirds of indi15 viduals on the monitoring panel and the facility 

16 implementation team, and by the vote of at 

17 least one individual as follows: 

18 ‘‘(i) A representative from the facility 

19 implementation team. 

20 ‘‘(ii) A representative from the moni21 toring panel. 

22 ‘‘(iii) A representative from the moni23 toring panel who is a youth or family 

24 member. 


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1 ‘‘(e) FUNDS FOR EVALUATION.—The Administrator 

2 shall reserve 10 percent of the amount made available to 

3 carry out this section for the purpose of evaluating such 

4 demonstrations conducted under this section and issuing 

5 a report describing the approaches and aspects of the dem6 onstrations that the Administrator determines to be most 

7 effective and appropriate for fulfilling the purposes of ju8 venile justice detention and corrections facilities and adult 

9 jails and prisons, integrating input from youth in the fa10 cilities and their families in the facility’s polices, proce11 dures, and practices, taking into account the demo12 graphics of the various localities to be served.’’. 

13 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

14 299 of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention 

15 Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5671) is amended— 

16 (1) in subsection (a)— 

17 (A) in the heading by striking ‘‘PARTS

18 C AND E’’ and inserting ‘‘PARTS C, E, 

19 AND F’’, and 

20 (B) in paragraph (2) by striking 

21 ‘‘parts C and E’’ and inserting ‘‘parts C, 

22 E, and F’’, 

23 (2) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub24 section (e), and 


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1 (3) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR

4 PART F.—There are authorized to be appropriated to 

5 carry out part F such sums as may be necessary for fiscal 

6 years 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016.’’. 

Æ 


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