Short title

This Act may be cited as the

Prohibiting Detention of Youth Status Offenders Act of 2024

Findings

Congress finds the following:(1)Under the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (34 U.S.C. 11101 et seq.), Congress recognized the need to set clear standards and protect juveniles across the United States by, among other things, providing that States should not place youth in secure detention for status offenses, which are offenses that would not be criminal offenses if committed by an adult.(2)In 1980, Congress amended the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (34 U.S.C. 11101 et seq.) to create an exception that permits judges to place a youth in secure detention if the youth violates a valid court order (referred to in this section as the VCO exception). The VCO exception has led to thousands of youth being placed in secure detention for noncriminal status offenses.(3)Placing a child charged with a noncriminal status offense in secure confinement with children who have been accused of serious criminal offenses can expose the child to negative influences and behaviors that could contribute to that child returning into the status offense system or the delinquency system.(4)The 5 most common juvenile status offense include skipping school, drinking while underage, running away from home, violating curfew, and acting out.(5)In 2019—(A)11 percent of formally processed juvenile court cases were for a status offense; and(B)although most petitioned status offense cases involved white youth (61 percent), Black youth and American Indian and Alaska Native youth were overrepresented among petitioned status offenses cases relative to their population size.(6)Girls are more often sent to the justice system for less serious offenses, such as status offenses, than boys. In 2019, the female share of formally processed status offense cases (44 percent) was greater than the share of female delinquency cases (28 percent).(7)Girls often engage in status offense behaviors in response to abuse or trauma and may, for example, run away to escape abuse at home or in a foster care placement.(8)Anyone under the age of majority, which, in most States, is the age of 18, is subject to status offense charges, but teenagers between the ages of 14 and 17 comprise most status offense cases.(9)Most youth who engage in status and other minor offenses never progress to more serious behavior and will age out of the behavior without court intervention.(10)Since 1980, more than half of States have recognized the dangers of placing youth in secure detention for noncriminal status offenses and have stopped using the VCO exception.(11)While the number of status offenses petitioned in courts decreased by 53 percent between 2005 and 2019, during 2021, there were still approximately 1,400 instances of a youth being detained in response to a status offense.(12)Congress recognized the need to reform the VCO exception under the Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 2018 (115–385; 132 Stat. 5123), which, among other things, limited the time that a juvenile could be detained under a VCO exception to not more than 7 days.(13)Congress must now act to eliminate the VCO exception and fully return to the original intent of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (34 U.S.C. 11101 et seq.), which originally provided that no youth should be held in secure detention for a noncriminal status offense.

Deinstitutionalization of status offenders

Section 223 of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (34 U.S.C. 11133) is amended—(1)in subsection (a)—(A)in paragraph (11)(A)(i)(III), by inserting a runaway before held; and(B)in paragraph (23)—(i)in subparagraph (C)(iii)—(I)in subclause (I)(dd), by striking 7 and inserting 3; and(II)in subclause (II), by striking and at the end;(ii)in subparagraph (D)—(I)by striking 7 and inserting 3; and(II)by adding and at the end; and(iii)by inserting after subparagraph (D) the following:

(E) the juvenile may only be held in a secure detention facility or secure correctional facility if the detention—(i)is pursuant to a court order described in subparagraph (C)(iii) and the other conditions set forth in subparagraph (C) are satisfied; and(ii)occurs only 1 time in any 6-month period;

; and

(2)by adding at the end the following:

(h)

Additional requirement

(1)

In general

Except as provided in paragraph (2), not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this subsection, no State receiving a formula grant under this part may use a valid court order described in subsection (a)(23)(C)(iii) to place a juvenile status offender in a secure detention facility or secure correctional facility. (2)

Extension

A State that can demonstrate hardship, as determined by the Administrator, may submit to the Administrator an application for a single 1-year extension of the 1-year period described in paragraph (1) to comply with paragraph (1), which shall describe—(A)the measurable progress and good effort in the State to reduce the number of juvenile status offenders who are placed in a secure detention facility or correctional facility pursuant to a court order described in subsection (a)(23)(C)(iii); and(B)a plan to comply with the requirement described in paragraph (1) not later than 1 year after the date the extension is granted.