Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Committee (JJDPC)
The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Committee is the official juvenile justice planning, coordinating, and policy-setting body for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The committee develops a comprehensive, long-range plan and related policies for the Commonwealth's juvenile justice system. Additionally, the group sets priorities for juvenile justice projects supported by PCCD’s various funding streams
Mission
"Juvenile Justice: Community Protection; Victim Restoration; Youth Redemption."
Disproportionate Minority Contact Subcommittee (DMC)
The
Chairman of the Disproportionate
Minority Contact (DMC) Subcommittee is Daniel Elby, Founder and Executive
Director of Alternative Rehabilitation Communities (ARC), Inc., based in
Dauphin County. The DMC Subcommittee represent the Department of Human Services, the delinquency intervention arena, juvenile court services, public
defenders, education and community-based organizations.
The
Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) Subcommittee of the PCCD Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention Committee works to develop and implement
strategies to reduce the disproportionately high contact of minority youth with
the state’s juvenile justice system. This includes working closely with the
National Center for Juvenile Justice (NCJJ), which develops the DMC indices for
each county in Pennsylvania. These indices are then submitted to the federal
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). Each state that
participates in the federal Formula Grants Program is required to report on DMC
progress as part of the monitoring process in its comprehensive Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention three-year plan and subsequent plan updates
in order to demonstrate compliance with Section 223(a)(22) of the Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act. Plan updates are required and reviewed
annually by the federal OJJDP. States failing to address the overrepresentation
of minority youth contact in their juvenile justice systems risk losing 20
percent of their federal Formula Grants allocation for that year. Pennsylvania
is one of three states currently in full compliance with the federal reporting
requirements.
Questions
about the work of this Subcommittee should be directed to Roi Ligon at roligon@pa.gov or (717) 265-8459.
DMC Subcommittee Members
Diversion Subcommittee
PCCD’s Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Committee
(JJDPC) has established a Diversion
Subcommittee to promote both the creation of pre-adjudication diversion
programs, as well as formal, county-wide policies designed to hold non-violent
youthful offenders accountable without proceeding to an adjudication of
delinquency or conviction for a summary offense.
Originally created as part of the MacArthur Foundation’s Models for Change
Initiative, the Diversion Subcommittee is working to help provide juvenile
justice professionals with alternative ways to address the criminogenic needs
of young, non-violent offenders, while ensuring that community safety is not
compromised. Use of diversion policies
and practices in appropriate cases can reduce the burden on the formal juvenile
justice system while still ensuring that juveniles are held responsible for
their actions and their victims are restored to the greatest extent
possible. Diversion programs are of
special interest for those youth with mental health needs who are better served
by identifying and treating the underlying conditions, rather than their
becoming involved with the formal juvenile court process.
The co-chairs of the Diversion Subcommittee are George Mosee and Angel Stewart, Juvenile Probation Officer, Cumberland County Juvenile Probation. Members of the subcommittee are drawn from across the spectrum of the juvenile justice system including probation, prosecutors, public defenders, state agencies such as the Department of Human Services, the Department of Education, the Juvenile Court Judges' Commission, law enforcement, victims' services, and mental health providers.
Questions about the work of this Subcommittee should be
directed to Maddy Roman-Scott at mromanscot@pa.gov or (717)
265-8455.
Diversion Subcommittee Members
Guide to Developing Pre-Adjudication Diversion Policy and Practice in Pennsylvania (PDF)
The Pennsylvania Juvenile Collateral Consequences Checklist (PDF)
Family Involvement in Pennsylvania's Juvenile Justice System (PDF)
System Enhancement Subcommittee
In
2005 the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Committee established the System Enhancement Subcommittee. This
committee is chaired by Keith Snyder, Executive Director of the Juvenile Court
Judges Commission. The original purpose
of this Subcommittee was to provide oversight and coordination for three
intersecting projects designed to impact and improve the juvenile justice
system.
The
projects are: "Juvenile
Justice System Enhancement/BARJ Training Project" based at the Center for
Juvenile Justice Training and Research (CJJT&R) at Shippensburg University;
and "Research,
Analysis and Communications" and "Measuring Intermediate Outcomes of
Balanced and Restorative Justice" Projects based at the National Center
for Juvenile Justice.
The
committee is currently tasked with assessing, monitoring and addressing system
wide issues that may affect the juvenile justice system. The committee will
prioritize these issues and advise the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention Committee on strategies that could be employed to effect system wide
change.
Questions
about the work of this Subcommittee should be directed to
Greg Young at gyoung@pa.gov or (717)
265-8495.
System Enhancement Subcommittee Members