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. RAN-
GEL, Mr. RICHMOND, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, and Mr. VARGAS) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Edu-
cation 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 pur-
poses. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Prohibiting Detention 
of Youth Status Offenders Act of 2015’’. 
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SEC. 2. DEINSTITUTIONALIZATION OF STATUS OFFENDERS. 
Section 223 of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency 
Prevention Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5633) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)(11)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘shall’’ the first place it 
appears; 
(B) in subparagraph (A)— 
(i) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(ii) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(iii) by striking clause (iii); and 
(iv) in the matter following clause (iii) 
by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 
(C) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 
‘‘and’’ at the end; and 
(D) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(C) if a court determines the juvenile 
should be placed in a secure detention facility 
or correctional facility for violating an order de-
scribed in subparagraph (A)(ii)— 
‘‘(i) the court shall issue a written 
order that— 
‘‘(I) identifies the valid court 
order that has been violated; 
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‘‘(II) specifies the factual basis 
for determining that there is reason-
able cause to believe that the juvenile 
has violated such order; 
‘‘(III) includes findings of fact to 
support a determination that there is 
no appropriate less restrictive alter-
native available to placing the juvenile 
in such a facility, with due consider-
ation to the best interest of the juve-
nile; 
‘‘(IV) specifies the length of time, 
not to exceed 3 days, that the juvenile 
may remain in a secure detention fa-
cility or correctional facility, and in-
cludes a plan for the juvenile’s release 
from such facility; and 
‘‘(V) may not be renewed or ex-
tended; and 
‘‘(ii) the court may not issue a second 
or subsequent order described in clause (i) 
relating to a juvenile, unless the juvenile 
violates a valid court order after the date 
on which the court issues an order de-
scribed in clause (i); 
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‘‘(D) there are procedures in place to en-
sure that any juvenile held in a secure detention 
facility or correctional facility pursuant to a 
court order described in this paragraph does 
not remain in custody longer than 3 days (with 
the exception of weekends and holidays) or the 
length of time authorized by the court, or au-
thorized under applicable State law, whichever 
is shorter; 
‘‘(E) juvenile status offenders detained or 
confined in a secure detention facility or correc-
tional facility pursuant to a court order as de-
scribed in this paragraph may only be detained 
in secure custody one time in any six-month pe-
riod, provided that all conditions set forth in 
subparagraph (D) are satisfied; and 
‘‘(F) not later than one year after the date 
of enactment of this subparagraph, with a sin-
gle one-year extension if the State can dem-
onstrate hardship as determined by the Admin-
istrator, the State will eliminate the use of valid 
court orders as described in subparagraph 
(A)(ii) to provide secure lockup of status of-
fenders;’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘(g) APPLICATIONS FOR EXTENSION FOR COMPLI-
ANCE.—States may apply for a single one-year extension 
to comply with subsection (a)(11). To apply, a State must 
submit an application to the Administrator describing— 
‘‘(1) the State’s measurable progress and good 
faith effort to reduce the number of status offenders 
who are placed in a secure detention facility or cor-
rectional facility pursuant to a court order as de-
scribed in this paragraph; and 
‘‘(2) the State’s plan to come into compliance 
not later than 1 year after the date of extension.’’. 
Æ 
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