I

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 879

To require initial intake screenings and the use of youth development specialists in Federal juvenile proceedings, and to encourage States and local

governments to use similar procedures.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 27, 1997

Ms. LOFGREN (for herself, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr.

FROST, Ms. SANCHEZ, Mr. KIND, Ms. CHRISTIAN-GREEN, and Mr.

SCOTT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and

the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To require initial intake screenings and the use of youth

development specialists in Federal juvenile proceedings,

and to encourage States and local governments to use

similar procedures.

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 ‘‘Teaching Responsibil5 ity and Accountability to Children Act of 1997’’.
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1 TITLE I—FEDERAL JUVENILE

2 PROCEEDINGS

3 SEC. 101. FEDERAL JUVENILE PROCEEDINGS.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 403 of title 18, United

5 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 5032

6 the following:

7 ‘‘§ 5032A. Initial intake screening and referrals to

8 youth development specialists

9 ‘‘(a) INTAKE SCREENING.—Before any decision is

10 made to proceed against a juvenile as a juvenile, to pros11 ecute that juvenile as an adult, or to refer the juvenile

12 to State authorities, an appropriate Federal authority,

13 designated by the Attorney General, shall perform an ini14 tial intake screening of each juvenile taken into custody

15 who is alleged to have committed an offense against the

16 United States or an act of juvenile delinquency, to deter17 mine whether that juvenile is an at risk juvenile, as de18 scribed in subsection (b). If the juvenile is determined to

19 be an at risk juvenile at the initial intake screening and

20 the juvenile is proceeded against under this chapter as a

21 juvenile, that juvenile shall promptly be referred to a

22 youth development specialist under subsection (c). If the

23 juvenile is referred to State authorities for further pro24 ceedings or transferred for prosecution as an adult, the

25 results of the intake screening shall promptly be made
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1 available to those authorities or the entity to which the

2 juvenile is so transferred.

3 ‘‘(b) AT RISK DETERMINATION.—

4 ‘‘(1) GENERALLY.—The screening body shall

5 determine that a juvenile is at risk if it determines

6 that the juvenile is likely to exhibit recidivist or in7 creasingly violent crimes, based on the following fac8 tors in the juvenile’s development:

9 ‘‘(A) School behavior or performance, in10 cluding truancy, recent suspensions or expul11 sion, functioning significantly below grade level,

12 and failing to achieve passing grades.

13 ‘‘(B) Family problems, including traumatic

14 family situations such as death or incarceration

15 of one or both parents, financial difficulties,

16 family divorce or ongoing conflicts, child abuse

17 or neglect, and abuse of controlled substances

18 or other criminal activities in the home.

19 ‘‘(C) Substance abuse problems, including

20 a pattern of alcohol or controlled substance

21 abuse.

22 ‘‘(D) Runaway tendencies, previous delin23 quent activities, participation in a gang, or

24 other similar activities.
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1 ‘‘(E) Such other factors as the National

2 Institute of Justice approves, based on an on3 going evaluation aimed at isolating those fac4 tors that can predict patterns of juvenile recidi5 vism in 90 percent of cases.

6 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON USE.—The at risk deter7 mination shall only be used in the administration of

8 this section or a similar State operation, and shall

9 not be made part of a juvenile’s school, medical, or

10 other official record.

11 ‘‘(c) YOUTH DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST.—

12 ‘‘(1) A youth development specialist (herein13 after in this subsection referred to as a ‘specialist’)

14 is a person designated by a court to carry out the

15 duties described in paragraph (2). The specialist

16 shall—

17 ‘‘(A) be the employee or contractee of the

18 court or of the Government agency responsible

19 for the referral; and

20 ‘‘(B) have appropriate experience in the

21 assessment and counseling of juveniles and an

22 understanding of the juvenile criminal system.

23 ‘‘(2) A specialist to whom a juvenile is referred

24 shall—
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1 ‘‘(A) determine a course of action for the

2 juvenile that will avoid continued criminal activ3 ity and help the juvenile successfully reintegrate

4 into his community and school;

5 ‘‘(B) promptly convene to the extent fea6 sible and in any manner appropriate, a group

7 meeting of any or all of the juvenile’s commu8 nity group, to determine an appropriate course

9 of action for the juvenile pending and after

10 completion of any court action;

11 ‘‘(C) after completing the meeting of the

12 juvenile’s community group—

13 ‘‘(i) present a written report to be in14 cluded in any court proceedings against

15 the juvenile, which shall include rec16 ommendations for community actions that

17 would help prevent instances of recidivism

18 by the juvenile;

19 ‘‘(ii) meet with the juvenile’s parents

20 or guardian, and, at the specialist’s discre21 tion, any other interested parties from the

22 juvenile’s community group to discuss the

23 findings of the report; and

24 ‘‘(iii) provide assistance and guidance

25 to the juvenile’s parents and community
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1 group to implement the recommendations

2 outlined in the report.

3 ‘‘(iv) work with the juvenile, in con4 junction with the juvenile’s parents or

5 guardian and community group, to imple6 ment the actions recommended in the re7 port.

8 ‘‘(D) monitor the juvenile’s progress

9 through the court system;

10 ‘‘(E) act as a liaison to the juvenile’s fam11 ily and community group and work with the ju12 venile’s attorney;

13 ‘‘(F) maintain contact with the juvenile

14 during custody, any court proceedings, any in15 carceration, and after release until—

16 ‘‘(i) the juvenile is no longer subject

17 to juvenile jurisdiction; or

18 ‘‘(ii) such time as the court, in con19 sultation with the juvenile, the specialist,

20 and the juvenile’s parents or guardian, de21 termines that further contact is no longer

22 necessary with the juvenile to prevent fu23 ture delinquency.

24 ‘‘(3) As part of the specialist’s duties under

25 subsection (a), the specialist, in consultation with
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1 the juvenile and the juvenile’s community group,

2 may pay for any expenses, of which the portion paid

3 from appropriated funds shall not exceed $10,000

4 annually, of implementing the recommendations of

5 the specialist, including—

6 ‘‘(A) tutors, counselors, test preparation,

7 additional education, and mentoring programs;

8 ‘‘(B) nutrition, or alcohol or controlled

9 substance abuse treatment programs;

10 ‘‘(C) incentive programs for academic

11 achievement, including but not limited to books

12 and other educational material;

13 ‘‘(D) arrangements for community-based

14 activities to occupy the juvenile in wholesome

15 uses of his time;

16 ‘‘(E) parenting instruction for the juve17 nile’s parents or guardian; and

18 ‘‘(F) such other expenditures designed to

19 stabilize the juvenile’s life and direct the juve20 nile toward a peaceful and productive future in21 stead of crime, as are approved by the juvenile

22 court.
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1 ‘‘(4) Of the amount paid under paragraph (3),

2 not more than 20 percent may be used for the sala3 ries and administration of the youth development

4 specialist operation.

5 ‘‘(5) For the purposes of this subsection a juve6 nile’s community group includes the juvenile’s par7 ents or guardian, extended family, teachers, clergy,

8 athletic and other coaches, family friends, personal

9 friends, and other interested parties.’’.

10 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

11 at the beginning of chapter 403 of title 18, United States

12 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new

13 item:

‘‘5032A. Initial intake screening and referrals to youth development specialists.’’.

14 (c) COLLECTION OF DATA.—The Attorney General

15 shall collect data on the effects of screening and youth

16 specialist activities under the amendments made by this

17 section and similar State and local activities, including

18 their costs compared to incarceration, and their effects on

19 recidivism rates and rehabilitation of at risk juveniles and

20 make that data available to the States, localities, and the

21 public.
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1 TITLE II—GRANT PROGRAM FOR

2 AT RISK JUVENILES

3 SEC. 201. GRANT AUTHORIZATION.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall award

5 grants to an entity that has implemented at risk juvenile

6 screening programs and youth development specialist re7 ferral services modeled after the program and services de8 scribed in subsections (b) and (c) of section 5032 of title

9 18, United States Code.

10 (b) GRANTS.—The Attorney General shall award an

11 entity that meets the requirements of this title not more

12 than $10,000 each year for each juvenile that receives

13 services pursuant to this title.

14 SEC. 202. ELIGIBILITY.

15 To be eligible to receive funds under this title, an en16 tity shall submit an application to the Attorney General

17 that includes an assurance that such entity will use funds

18 received under this title in accordance with section 203.

19 SEC. 203. USES OF FUNDS.

20 An entity may use funds received under this title—

21 (1) to pay not more than 20 percent of the total

22 amount received to pay for salaries and administra23 tion of youth development specialist operations; and
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1 (2) upon the recommendation of the youth de2 velopment specialist, in consultation with the juve3 nile and a representative of the juvenile justice sys4 tem, to pay for programs recommended by the spe5 cialist, including—

6 (A) tutors, counselors, test preparation

7 and other educational and mentoring programs;

8 (B) nutrition, alcohol, or controlled sub9 stance abuse programs;

10 (C) incentive programs for academic

11 achievement, including books and other edu12 cational material;

13 (D) arrangements for community-based ac14 tivities to occupy the juvenile in constructive

15 uses of time;

16 (E) parenting instruction for the juvenile’s

17 parents or guardian; and

18 (F) such other expenditures, if approved

19 by the court, that are designed to stabilize the

20 juvenile’s life and direct the juvenile towards a

21 peaceful and productive future.

22 SEC. 204. DEFINITION.

23 For purposes of this title, the term ‘‘entity’’ means

24 a State, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, any other

25 territory or possession of the United States, or a unit of
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1 local government that has jurisdiction over the juvenile

2 justice system for the county or city of such unit, as the

3 case may be.

4 SEC. 204. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

5 (a) GRANT PROGRAM.—There are authorized to be

6 appropriated for each fiscal year beginning with 1998,

7 such sums as may be necessary to carry out this title.

8 (b) SOURCE OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Funds author9 ized by this section to be appropriated may be appro10 priated from the Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund.

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