Compliance Monitoring

Four Core Requirements from the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA)

Every state and territory that receives Formula Grant funds from the federal government must be in compliance with the four core requirements or mandates of the JJDPA.  These mandates are:

1. Deinstitutionalization of Status Offenders (DSO)

This mandate requires that any youth charged with a status offense—offenses that if committed by an adult would not be a crime—shall not be locked in a juvenile facility.

2. Separation of Youth from Adults

This mandate requires that any youth who is alleged to be delinquent shall not be confined to any institution that houses adult inmates.

3. Jail Removal

This mandate requires that no juvenile be detained or confined in any jail or lockup for adults, except for those juveniles who are accused of non-status offenses and who are detained in said jail or lockup for a period of no longer than 6 hours.

4. Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC)

This mandate requires that all juvenile justice delinquency prevention efforts must address the issue of reducing the disproportionate number of juvenile members of minority groups who come into contact with the juvenile justice system. 

 

New York State Commission of Corrections (SCOC)

The New York State Commission of Corrections (SCOC) is under contract to monitor New York State’s compliance with the first three of the four core requirements. To that end, SCOC monitors all New York State jails, lock ups, OCFS operated facilities and juvenile detention facilities to ensure compliance with the deinstitutionalization of status offenders, separation of youth from adults, and jail removal mandates. Compliance is monitored through regular reporting and an inspection cycle that meets the federal requirement for on-site inspections at least once every three years.