[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1829 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1829

To evaluate the effectiveness of the juvenile justice system and report 
                        on certain information.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 13, 1995

  Mr. Wyden introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To evaluate the effectiveness of the juvenile justice system and report 
                        on certain information.
    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Comprehensive Survey of Young 
Offenders Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Juvenile violent crime over the past decade has 
        increased at a rate double that for adults, reaching the 
        highest level in this country's history.
            (2) Anecdotal evidence suggests that young offenders may 
        pass through the juvenile justice and social service systems 
        repeatedly before being held accountable for their actions.
            (3) There is little reliable data on the effectiveness of 
        this country's juvenile justice systems in ensuring 
        accountability and community safety, and reducing recidivism.
    (b) Purposes.--The purpose of this Act is to generate a 
comprehensive report on this country's juvenile justice systems 
including the flow of offenders through the system, recidivism rates, 
and dispositions imposed for offenses.

SEC. 3. REPORT.

    Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Bureau of Justice Statistics shall submit to Congress a report on 
juvenile justice systems across the country. Such report shall include 
the following:
            (1) A survey of data now available in representative States 
        and localities as determined by the Attorney General (including 
        urban, suburban, and rural localities) regarding juvenile 
        offenders arrested for an offense. The survey will include the 
        age of offenders and offense as well as a comprehensive 
        evaluation of intake procedures, formal and informal 
        proceedings, and outcomes such as dispositions, results of 
        nonpetitioned juvenile proceedings, and recidivism rates.
            (2) Design and estimate costs for a program that will 
        improve data collection for selected States by--
                    (A) identifying young offenders by name as they 
                flow through the system, from arrest through intake 
                interview, court proceedings, and disposition;
                    (B) compiling young offender records that permit 
                analysts to study the penalty, if any, given for each 
                offense and for each offender; and
                    (C) encouraging States, which can identify juvenile 
                records through fingerprints and are prepared to allow 
                juvenile records to be made available for analytical 
                purposes, to cooperate in a pilot program to test the 
                feasibility and value of a new reporting system.
                                 <all>