II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4398 

To allow Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Program assistance 

be used to reduce racial and ethnic disparities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 14, 2022 

Mr. WHITEHOUSE (for himself, Ms. WARREN, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. BROWN, Mr. 

SANDERS, and Ms. KLOBUCHAR) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To allow Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Program assistance be used to reduce racial and ethnic 

disparities, 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 ‘‘Reducing Racial and 

5 Ethnic Disparities in the Juvenile Justice System Act of 

6 2022’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Black, Indigenous, Hispanic, and other 

2 youth of color are overrepresented in the juvenile 

3 justice system and receive harsher consequences 

4 than White youth. 

5 (2) Reducing reliance on incarceration and pro6 viding evidence-based, trauma-informed, and linguis7 tically and culturally responsive support and services 

8 to youth who come in contact with the juvenile jus9 tice system is a key goal of the Juvenile Justice and 

10 Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (34 U.S.C. 

11 11101 et seq.). 

12 (3) Addressing racial and ethnic disparities in 

13 the juvenile justice system requires accurate data re14 garding youth of color who come into contact with 

15 the juvenile justice system, including data that can 

16 be disaggregated by race, and ethnicity. 

17 (4) Youth of color and their families with lived 

18 experience interacting with the juvenile justice sys19 tem can provide important insight, analysis, and so20 lutions regarding how to recognize and address ra21 cial disparities in the juvenile justice system. 

22 SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF RACIAL AND ETHNIC DISPARITY. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 103 of the Juvenile Jus24 tice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (34 U.S.C. 


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1 11103) is amended by striking paragraph (41) and insert2 ing the following: 

3 ‘‘(41) the term ‘racial and ethnic disparity’ 

4 means— 

5 ‘‘(A) that Black, Indigenous, Hispanic, and 

6 other youth of color are involved at a decision 

7 point in the juvenile justice system at dis8 proportionately higher rates than White youth 

9 at that decision point; 

10 ‘‘(B) that the percentage of Black, Indige11 nous, Hispanic, and other youth of color at any 

12 decision point is higher than the percentage of 

13 youth of color in the general population; 

14 ‘‘(C) that Black, Indigenous, Hispanic, and 

15 other youth of color experience more severe out16 comes at any decision point than similarly situ17 ated White youth; or 

18 ‘‘(D) that Black, Indigenous, Hispanic, 

19 and other youth of color are detained and re20 moved from their homes when less restrictive 

21 alternatives would be more effective;’’. 

22 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

23 Section 251(a)(1)(B)(viii) of the Juvenile Justice and De24 linquency Prevention Act of 1974 (34 U.S.C. 

25 11161(a)(1)(B)(viii)) is amended by striking ‘‘members of 


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1 minority groups’’ and inserting ‘‘Black, Indigenous, His2 panic, and other youth of color’’. 

3 SEC. 4. JUVENILE JUSTICE AND DELINQUENCY PREVEN4 TION PROGRAM STATE PLANS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 223(a) of the Juvenile 

6 Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (34 

7 U.S.C. 11133(a)) is amended— 

8 (1) in paragraph (3)(A)(v), by striking ‘‘of 

9 someone’’ and inserting ‘‘of a youth representative 

10 of the population in detention and secure confine11 ment’’; 

12 (2) in paragraph (7)(B)— 

13 (A) in clause (viii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

14 the end; 

15 (B) by redesignating clause (ix) as clause 

16 (x); and 

17 (C) by inserting after clause (viii) the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(ix) a plan to implement systems for iden20 tifying and recording youth data disaggregated 

21 by race and ethnicity; and’’; 

22 (3) in paragraph (9)— 

23 (A) in subparagraph (V), by striking 

24 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 


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1 (B) in subparagraph (W), by adding ‘‘and’’ 

2 at the end; and 

3 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (W) 

4 the following: 

5 ‘‘(X) programs seeking to reduce racial 

6 and ethnic disparities at any decision point, 

7 such as at the point of arrest, referral to court, 

8 diversion, secure detention, judicial waiver to 

9 adult criminal court, case petitioning, delin10 quency finding or adjudication, probation, or 

11 residential placement, including secure confine12 ment, including prevention, diversion, and com13 munity supervision, and other programs that 

14 provide linguistically and culturally responsive 

15 support and services to youth;’’; 

16 (4) in paragraph (15)— 

17 (A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 

18 ‘‘and youth representative of the population in 

19 detention and secure confinement who have 

20 been or are currently under the jurisdiction of 

21 the juvenile justice system or, if not feasible 

22 and in appropriate circumstances, parents or 

23 guardians of a Black, Indigenous, Hispanic, or 

24 other youth of color who has been or is curVerDate Sep 11 2014 15:58 Jun 15, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4398.IS S4398

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1 rently under the jurisdiction of the juvenile jus2 tice system’’ after ‘‘educational system’’; 

3 (B) in subparagraph (B) by striking ‘‘and’’ 

4 at the end; 

5 (C) in subparagraph (C), by adding ‘‘and’’ 

6 at the end; and 

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

8 ‘‘(D) reporting on measurable progress on 

9 the work plan described in subparagraph (C) 

10 for the prior year;’’; and 

11 (5) in paragraph (22)— 

12 (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

13 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

14 (B) in subparagraph (C), adding ‘‘and’’ at 

15 the end; and 

16 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(D) promote opportunity for community18 based providers serving youth in communities 

19 with higher than average racial and ethnic dis20 parities at any decision point in the juvenile 

21 justice system in the State, compared with 

22 other communities in the same State;’’. 

23 (b) GUIDANCE FOR COLLECTION OF DATA.—Section 

24 223 of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention 


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1 Act of 1974 (34 U.S.C. 11133) is amended by adding at 

2 the end the following: 

3 ‘‘(h) GUIDANCE FOR COLLECTION OF DATA.—Not 

4 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Reduc5 ing Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Juvenile Justice 

6 System Act of 2022, the Administrator shall, in consulta7 tion with the United States Commission on Civil Rights 

8 and the Director of the Census Bureau, develop guidance 

9 for States with respect to a uniform standard for the col10 lection and reporting of disaggregated and cross-ref11 erenced data on race and ethnicity under this section to 

12 assist States in implementing subsection (a)(15).’’. 

Æ 


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