[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 229 (Tuesday, December 1, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62821-62827]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-28743]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

[OJP (OJJDP) Docket No. 1507]


Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Proposed 
Plan for Fiscal Year 2010

AGENCY: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office 
of Justice Programs, Department of Justice.

ACTION: Notice of Proposed Plan for Fiscal Year 2010.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is 
publishing this notice of its Proposed Plan for fiscal year (FY) 2010.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before January 15, 2010.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments electronically or view an electronic 
version of this proposed plan at http:[sol][sol]www.regulations.gov. 
You may also mail comments to Jeff Slowikowski, Acting Administrator, 
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 810 Seventh 
Street, NW., Washington, DC 20531. To ensure proper handling, in the 
lower left hand corner of the envelope and in your correspondence 
clearly reference ``Proposed OJJDP Program Plan Comments'' or ``OJP 
Docket No. 1507.''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The Office of Juvenile Justice and 
Delinquency Prevention at 202-307-5911. [This is not a toll-free 
number.]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Posting of Public Comments

    Please note that all comments received are considered part of the 
public record and made available for public inspection online at http://www.regulations.gov. Such information includes personal identifying 
information (such as name and address) voluntarily submitted by the 
commenter.
    If you wish to submit personal identifying information (such as 
your name, address, etc.) as part of your comment, but do not wish for 
it to be posted online, you must include the phrase ``PERSONAL 
IDENTIFYING INFORMATION'' in the first paragraph of your comment. You 
also must locate all the personal identifying information you do not 
wish to be posted online in the first paragraph of your comment and 
identify what information you would like redacted.
    If you wish to submit confidential business information as part of 
your comment but do not wish for it to be

[[Page 62822]]

posted online, you must include the phrase ``CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS 
INFORMATION'' in the first paragraph of your comment. You also must 
prominently identify confidential business information to be redacted 
within the comment. If a comment has so much confidential business 
information that it cannot be effectively redacted, all or part of that 
comment may not be posted on http://www.regulations.gov.
    Personal identifying information and confidential business 
information identified and located as set forth above will be placed in 
the agency's public docket file, but not posted online. If you wish to 
inspect the agency's public docket file in person by appointment, 
please see the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT paragraph.

II. Preamble

    OVERVIEW: The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention 
(OJJDP) is a component of the Office of Justice Programs in the U.S. 
Department of Justice. Provisions within Section 204 (b)(5)(A) of the 
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, as amended, 42 
U.S.C. Sec. 5601 et seq. (JJDP Act) direct the OJJDP Administrator to 
publish for public comment a Proposed Plan describing the program 
activities that OJJDP proposes to carry out during FY 2010 under Parts 
D and E of Title II of the JJDP Act, codified at 42 U.S.C. Sec. 5651-
5665a, 5667, 5667a. Because the Office's discretionary activities 
extend beyond Parts D and E, OJJDP is seeking comments on a more 
comprehensive listing of the Office's proposed programs. Taking into 
consideration comments received on this Proposed Plan, the 
Administrator will develop and publish in the Federal Register OJJDP's 
Final Plan describing the particular program activities that OJJDP 
intends to fund during FY 2010.
    OJJDP acknowledges that at this time its FY 2010 appropriation is 
not yet final. Depending on the final appropriation, OJJDP may alter 
how its programs are structured and modify this Proposed Plan when it 
is published in final form following the public comment period.
    OJJDP will post on its Web site solicitations of grant or 
cooperative agreement applications for competitive programs to be 
funded under the Final Plan. OJJDP will notify the public that these 
solicitations have been posted through issuance of JUVJUSTs (listserv) 
announcements and other methods of electronic notification. No 
proposals, concept papers, or other forms of application should be 
submitted at this time.
    Department Priorities: OJJDP has structured this plan to reflect 
the high priority that the Administration and the Department have 
placed on addressing youth violence and victimization and improving 
protections for youth involved with the juvenile justice system. The 
proposals presented here represent OJJDP's current thinking on how to 
advance the Department's priorities during this fiscal year. These 
proposals also incorporate feedback from OJJDP's ongoing outreach to 
the field seeking ideas on program areas and the most promising 
approaches for those types of areas. The first section of programs in 
this proposed plan contains programs that address priority areas as 
identified by the Attorney General.
    OJJDP's Purpose: Congress established OJJDP through the JJDP Act of 
1974 to help states and communities prevent and control delinquency and 
strengthen their juvenile justice systems and to coordinate and 
administer national policy in this area.
    Although states, American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) 
communities,\1\ and other localities retain primary responsibility for 
administering juvenile justice and preventing juvenile delinquency, 
OJJDP supports and supplements the efforts of public and private 
organizations at all levels through program funding via formula, block, 
and discretionary grants; administration of Congressional earmark 
programs; research; training and technical assistance; funding of 
demonstration projects; and dissemination of information. OJJDP also 
helps administer federal policy related to juvenile justice and 
delinquency prevention through its leadership role in the Coordinating 
Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
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    \1\ In this plan, the terms ``tribes'' and ``tribal 
jurisdictions'' refer to both American Indian and Alaska Native 
communities.
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    OJJDP's Vision: OJJDP strives to be the recognized authority and 
national leader dedicated to the future, safety, and well-being of 
children and youth in, or at risk of entering, the juvenile justice 
system.
    OJJDP's Mission: OJJDP provides national leadership, coordination, 
and resources to prevent and respond to juvenile delinquency and 
victimization by supporting states, tribal jurisdictions, and 
communities in their efforts to develop and implement effective 
coordinated prevention and intervention programs and improve the 
juvenile justice system so that it protects public safety, holds 
offenders accountable, and provides treatment and rehabilitation 
services tailored to the needs of juveniles and their families.
    Guiding Principles For OJJDP's National Leadership: OJJDP provides 
targeted funding, sponsors research and demonstration programs, offers 
training and technical assistance, disseminates information, and uses 
technology to enhance programs and collaboration in exercising its 
national leadership. In all of these efforts, the following four 
principles guide OJJDP:
    (1) Empower communities and engage youth and families.
    (2) Promote evidence-based practices.
    (3) Require accountability.
    (4) Enhance collaboration.
    1. Empower communities and engage youth and families. Families and 
communities play an essential role in any effort to prevent delinquency 
and protect children from victimization. Communities must reach beyond 
the formal systems of justice, social services, and law enforcement to 
tap into the wisdom and energies of many others--including business 
leaders, the media, neighborhood associations, block leaders, elected 
officials, tribal leaders, clergy, faith-based organizations, and 
especially families and young people themselves--who have a stake in 
helping local youth become productive, law-abiding citizens. In 
particular, OJJDP must engage families and youth in developing 
solutions to delinquency and victimization. Their strengths, 
experiences, and aspirations provide an important perspective in 
developing those solutions.
    To be effective, collaboration among community stakeholders must be 
grounded in up-to-date information. With federal assistance that OJJDP 
provides, community members can partner to gather data, assess local 
conditions, and make decisions to ensure resources are targeted for 
maximum impact.
    2. Promote evidence-based practices. To make the best use of public 
resources, OJJDP must identify ``what works'' in delinquency prevention 
and juvenile justice. OJJDP is the only federal agency with a specific 
mission to develop and disseminate knowledge about what works in this 
field. Drawing on this knowledge, OJJDP helps communities replicate 
proven programs and improve their existing programs. OJJDP helps 
communities match program models to their specific needs and supports 
interventions that respond to the developmental, cultural, and gender 
needs of the youth and families they will serve.
    3. Require accountability. OJJDP requires the national, state, 
tribal, and

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local entities whose programs are supported by OJJDP to explain how 
they use program resources, determine and report on how effective the 
programs are in alleviating the problems they are intended to address, 
and propose plans for remediation of performance that does not meet 
standards. OJJDP has established mandatory performance measures for all 
its programs and reports on those measures to the Office of Management 
and Budget. OJJDP requires its grantees and applicants to report on 
these performance measures, set up systems to gather the data necessary 
to monitor those performance measures, and use this information to 
continuously assess progress and fine-tune the programs.
    4. Enhance collaboration. Juvenile justice agencies and programs 
are just one part of a larger set of systems that encompasses the many 
agencies and programs that work with at-risk youth and their families. 
For delinquency prevention and child protection efforts to be 
effective, they must be coordinated at the local, tribal, state, and 
federal levels with law enforcement, social services, child welfare, 
public health, mental health, school, and other systems that address 
family strengthening and youth development. One way to achieve this 
coordination is to establish broad-based coalitions to create consensus 
on service priorities and to build support for a coordinated approach. 
With this consensus as a foundation, participating agencies and 
departments can then build mechanisms to link service providers at the 
program level--including procedures for sharing information across 
systems.
    OJJDP took its guidance in the development of this proposed plan 
from the priorities that the Attorney General has set forth for the 
Department. At the same time, OJJDP drew upon its Strategic Plan for 
2009-2011. The four primary goals at the heart of OJJDP's Strategic 
Plan echo the Attorney General's priorities. Those goals are: prevent 
and respond to delinquency, strengthen the juvenile justice system, 
prevent and reduce the victimization of children, and create safer 
neighborhoods by preventing and reducing youth violence.

III. OJJDP Proposed Program Plan for Fiscal Year 2010

    Each year OJJDP receives formula and block grant funding as well as 
discretionary funds for certain program areas. Based on the 2009 
appropriation and the 2010 presidential budget, OJJDP offers the 
following 2010 Proposed Plan for consideration and comment. Programs 
are organized according to the Department priorities and traditional 
OJJDP focus areas.

Department and OJJDP Priorities

Programs To Address and Treat Children Exposed to Violence
    OJJDP intends to issue competitive solicitations and provide 
continuation funding for Safe Start projects to enhance the 
accessibility, delivery, and quality of services provided young 
children who have been exposed to violence or who are at high risk. 
These programs will focus on practice innovation, research and 
evaluation, training and technical assistance, and resource development 
and public awareness.
    Additionally, OJJDP intends to support a competitive solicitation 
in Indian Country to implement a tribal component to the Safe Start 
initiative. The tribal component will engage tribal leaders, law 
enforcement, courts, and service providers to increase capacity to 
protect and respond to the needs of children exposed to violence and 
their families.
    Connected with this children's exposure to violence initiative, 
OJJDP plans to fund a 12-month, full-time fellow position located at 
OJJDP to focus on children's exposure to violence programming. OJJDP 
will develop a solicitation to invite individuals interested in working 
with the Office for a year to apply for consideration. The position is 
funded via a grant to the fellow's home institution in the amount of 
their salary and benefit costs for the duration of the fellowship.
Second Chance Reentry Program
    OJJDP proposes to fund additional demonstration projects under the 
Second Chance Act Youth Offender Reentry Initiative, which supports a 
comprehensive response to the increasing number of people who are 
released from prison, jail, and juvenile facilities each year and are 
returning to their communities. The goal of this initiative is to 
increase public safety and reduce the rate of recidivism for offenders 
released from a juvenile residential facility. Demonstration projects 
would provide necessary services to youth while in confinement and 
following their release into the community. The initiative would 
provide a particular focus to address the unique needs of girls 
reentering their communities.
Improving Indigent Juvenile Defense Program
    OJJDP proposes funding the development and implementation of a 
model national technical assistance and training program for juvenile 
defense attorneys. Forty years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court, in the 
landmark In Re Gault decision, found that children in the juvenile 
justice system have the right to an attorney. Today, many young people 
in the court system, particularly low-income and minority children, 
lack representation by well-trained and well-resourced lawyers and many 
juvenile defendants receive no counsel at all. The goal of this 
proposed initiative is to develop competent juvenile defense attorneys 
who can work in the best interests of youth facing charges in juvenile 
court and to improve the judicial system's response.
Community-Based Violence Prevention Programs
    OJJDP proposes funding for programs to reduce the risk that youth 
will be affected by community violence. This program will be closely 
coordinated with a broader administration initiative. The Reducing 
Community Violence program will be modeled after the successful 
Operation CEASEFIRE intervention that is widely credited with 
significantly reducing homicides in targeted Chicago communities. 
Operation CEASEFIRE focused on both deterrence strategies, as well as 
an increase on focused law enforcement activities. This demonstration 
program will include separate solicitations focusing on research, 
technical assistance, and evaluation. These programs would be 
coordinated with the Bureau of Justice Assistance.
Disproportionate Minority Contact
    Section 223(a)(22) of the JJDP Act of 2002 requires states to 
address juvenile delinquency prevention efforts and system improvement 
efforts to reduce, without establishing or requiring numerical 
standards or quotas, the disproportionate number of juvenile members of 
minority groups, who come into contact with the juvenile justice 
system. States primarily fund delinquency prevention and systems 
improvements activities through their Title II Formula and Title V 
Delinquency Prevention Grant funds. OJJDP provides training and 
technical assistance to the states to support their development of 
direct services (diversion, alternatives to secure confinement, 
advocacy, cultural competency training, etc.); legislative reforms; 
administrative, policy, and procedural changes; structured 
decisionmaking (detention screening, risk assessment, needs assessment 
instruments, etc.), and other activities.

[[Page 62824]]

Youth Violence and Gang Prevention

Gang Community and Family Support Program
    OJJDP expects to fund programs to support multistrategy, 
multidisciplinary approaches to reducing gang activity. These programs 
would enhance coordination of local resources in support of community 
partnerships that address risk factors to gang involvement, including a 
lack of social and economic opportunities; family disorganization, 
including broken homes and parental drug/alcohol abuse; and strong 
commitment to delinquent peers, but low commitment to positive peers. 
These programs would be coordinated with the Bureau of Justice 
Assistance.
School-Related Prevention Programs
    In FY 2010, OJJDP will seek opportunities to coordinate and 
collaborate with the U.S. Department of Education on school safety 
issues and school- and community-wide programs to reduce truancy and 
keep students in school. In the past, OJJDP has supported comprehensive 
community-wide initiatives to reduce and prevent school and community 
violence and foster safe schools. Proposed areas of collaboration may 
include programs to reduce truancy; prevent bullying, including 
cyberbullying, which is prevalent among girls; and promote conflict 
resolution. OJJDP also proposes to collaborate with the Departments of 
Education and Health and Human Services on the Safe Schools/Healthy 
Students (SS/HS) Initiative through competitive funding to SS/HS sites 
to support mentoring programs and strategies aimed at reducing truancy.
Youth Violence Prevention Programs
    OJJDP proposes funding a program to foster innovations and 
advancements in youth violence prevention practices at the community 
level. The goal of this program is to demonstrate the implications for 
policy and practice and to enhance juvenile justice, child protection, 
and delinquency prevention. OJJDP is interested in reducing risk 
factors and enhancing protective factors to prevent youth from becoming 
victims of violence. This program would focus on supporting communities 
in their efforts to develop and implement effective and coordinated 
violence prevention and intervention initiatives by building protective 
factors to combat juvenile delinquency, reducing child victimization, 
and improving the juvenile justice system.
Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Program
    OJJDP proposes funding a program to implement evidence-based 
strategies, public education and awareness campaigns, and research on 
teen dating violence. OJJDP may fund a number of competitively selected 
sites to implement evidence-based teen dating violence programs and 
coordinate those demonstration programs with the development of public 
service announcements and other media tools to inform youth and parents 
about the signs and consequences of such violence. This effort would be 
coordinated with the Office on Violence Against Women and private 
funders.

Tribal Youth

Comprehensive Tribal Youth Reentry Initiative
    OJJDP proposes funding a program to address the lack of programming 
within many tribal juvenile detention facilities and to support the 
development of services to facilitate the successful reentry of youth 
into their tribal communities. Components of the Comprehensive Tribal 
Youth Reentry Initiative would include:
     Training of tribal and Bureau of Indian Affairs detention 
facility personnel in best practices for juvenile detention.
     An array of support services for youth (both while in 
custody and during the reentry period), including substance abuse and 
mental health treatment, educational/vocational training, family 
strengthening, and reunification programming.
     Transitional step-down housing to help tribal youth 
transition from incarceration back into the community by providing 
culturally appropriate wrap-around services.
Tribal Youth Reconnection Program
    OJJDP proposes an initiative that would fund federally recognized 
tribes and/or colleges and universities to engage at-risk tribal youth 
in activities centered on cultural preservation, land reclamation, or 
green/sustainable tribal traditions. This experiential learning program 
would focus on tribal youth who are chronically truant or who are at 
risk of dropping out of school. Youth would learn from tribal elders, 
anthropologists, historians, forestry experts, and others with the 
appropriate expertise. The focus of the activity would differ depending 
on the tribal community and youth population. Examples of activities 
may include identifying and documenting tribal artifacts, recording 
tribal histories and stories, taking part in reforestation efforts, and 
building and installing wind turbines.
Tribal Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws Program
    OJJDP proposes funding a Tribal EUDL Program to support 
participating federally recognized tribes' development of a long-term 
strategic plan to address underage drinking among tribal youth. 
Research indicates that many Native American youth begin drinking at a 
very early age. The program would support planning and training that 
balances an appropriate cultural approach, health education, and 
enforcement that holds adults and youth accountable for their behavior.
Tribal Field-Initiated Research and Evaluation Program
    OJJDP proposes funding field-initiated studies to further 
understanding regarding the experiences, strengths, and needs of tribal 
youth, their families, and communities and what works to reduce their 
risks for delinquency and victimization. This initiative is especially 
interested in evaluations that identify effective and promising 
delinquency prevention, intervention, and treatment programs for tribal 
youth, including those that assist tribal youth in enhancing their own 
cultural knowledge and awareness.
Tribal Youth Program
    OJJDP expects to fund the Tribal Youth Program, which supports and 
enhances tribal efforts to prevent and control delinquency and improve 
their juvenile justice systems. Grantees will develop and implement 
efficient and effective delinquency prevention programs, interventions 
for court-involved youth, improvements to the juvenile justice system, 
alcohol and substance abuse prevention programs, and emotional/
behavioral program services.
Preventing Violence Against Native American Girls
    OJJDP proposes using Tribal Youth Program funds to support 
communities in developing effective strategies to reduce the abuse and 
exploitation of Native American girls. This program would engage girls, 
tribal leaders, law enforcement, courts, and service providers to 
better protect and respond to the needs of Native American girls at 
risk of victimization by family members, adults who exploit children, 
and dating partners. This program would be coordinated with the work of 
the Office on Violence Against Women and agency

[[Page 62825]]

experts in tribal issues and child victimization.

Strengthening Initiative for Native Girls (SING)

    OJJDP proposes funding an initiative to strengthen the skills and 
resilience of American Indian girls to resist substance abuse, prevent 
teen pregnancy, foster positive relationships with peers and adults, 
learn self-advocacy, and build pro-social skills, with the goal of 
preventing victimization and delinquency. Examples of components would 
include:
     Culturally appropriate implementation of existing 
evidence-based girls programs, such as Girls Circle, Girls, Inc., etc.
     A Girls Leadership Institute, a year-long immersion 
program for girls that exposes them to different careers and ways to 
take an active role in their community.
     A mentoring program for college age tribal girls.
     Mental health and substance abuse services.
     Implementation of the Nurse-Family Partnership in tribal 
communities.
    This initiative would include an evaluation component to test 
whether programs that have been proven to work in other communities can 
be replicated successfully in Indian Country.

Girls' Delinquency

Evaluations of Girls' Delinquency Programs
    OJJDP proposes funding programs to document and measure the 
effectiveness of delinquency prevention, intervention, and/or treatment 
programs to prevent and reduce girls' risk behavior and offending. Over 
the past 2 decades, the number of girls entering the juvenile justice 
system has dramatically increased. This trend raised a number of 
questions for OJJDP, including whether this reflected an increase in 
girls' delinquency or changes in society's responses to girls' 
behavior. OJJDP's Girls Study Group recently completed a review of 
evaluations of girls' delinquency programs and found that most programs 
have not been evaluated, thereby limiting knowledge regarding the most 
appropriate and effective programs for girls.
National Girls Institute
    OJJDP proposes funding a National Girls Institute to evaluate 
promising and innovative prevention, intervention, treatment, 
education, detention, and aftercare services for delinquent and at-risk 
girls. The Institute would promote integrated and innovative programs 
that use a comprehensive service delivery system to meet the unique 
developmental and cultural needs of girls and their families. The 
Institute would provide training, technical assistance, research, 
information dissemination, collaboration, policy development, and other 
leadership functions.

Research, Evaluation, and Data Collection

The National Children's Study
    OJJDP proposes contributing funds to a new longitudinal study that 
will examine the effects of environmental influences on the health and 
development of 100,000 children across the United States, following 
them from before birth until age 21. The National Institute of Child 
Health and Development is the lead agency for this study, and other 
federal agencies that have joined in planning and conducting this study 
include the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency. OJJDP expects to expand what is known regarding 
delinquency prevention, intervention, and treatment.
Field-Initiated Research and Evaluation Program
    OJJDP proposes providing flexible funding for creative yet rigorous 
research and evaluation that advances OJJDP's mission to prevent and 
respond to juvenile delinquency and victimization. OJJDP will seek 
applications addressing a broad range of research and evaluation topics 
and methodologies in the fields of delinquency prevention, 
intervention, and treatment. This includes studies that address issues 
around child victimization.
Juvenile Justice Evaluation Center
    OJJDP proposes funding a program that would provide training and 
technical assistance to state, tribal, local, and non-profit entities 
that work in the juvenile justice and victimization field on how to 
prepare for and carry out an evaluation of their activities. The 
Juvenile Justice Evaluation Center would develop easily accessible 
tools and resources for the field and would assist these agencies in 
developing evidence-based strategies and programs.
National Juvenile Justice Data Collection Program
    OJJDP intends to continue support for several key national juvenile 
data collection programs, some of which have existed for several years, 
and others which are new. These include:
     Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement, which 
collects information about all youth residing in facilities who are 
awaiting or have been adjudicated for a status or delinquent offense.
     Juvenile Residential Facility Census, which collects 
information about the security and services of facilities that hold 
youth for delinquent offenses, pre- and post- adjudication.
     Census of Juveniles on Probation, which collects a 1-day 
count of all youth on formal probation, including demographic 
characteristics and the offense for which they are being supervised.
     Census of Juvenile Probation Supervision Offices, which 
collects information about the offices that oversee the youth who are 
on probation in the United States.

Substance Abuse and Treatment

Family and Juvenile Drug Court Programs
    OJJDP anticipates providing funding to support the implementation 
of family drug courts that serve substance-abusing adults who are 
involved in the family dependency court system, as a result of child 
abuse or neglect. The Center for Children and Family Futures will 
provide training and technical assistance to family drug courts.
    OJJDP expects to continue funding jointly with the Department of 
Health and Human Services' Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) 
to enhance the capacity of existing juvenile drug courts to serve 
substance-abusing juvenile offenders through the integration and 
implementation of the juvenile drug court and the Reclaiming Futures 
program models. The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court 
Judges provides training and technical assistance for OJJDP's juvenile 
drug court initiatives.
Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws Program
    OJJDP expects to continue funding the Enforcing Underage Drinking 
Laws Program through its four components: block grants to the 50 
states, the 5 territories, and the District of Columbia; discretionary 
grants; technical assistance; and research and evaluation. Under the 
block grant component, each state, the District of Columbia, and the 
territories receive approximately $360,000 annually to support law 
enforcement activities, media campaigns, and coalition building. The 
EUDL discretionary grant component

[[Page 62826]]

supports several initiatives to help communities develop a 
comprehensive approach to address underage drinking. EUDL training and 
technical assistance supports communities and states in their efforts 
to enforce underage drinking laws. EUDL funds also support evaluations 
of several EUDL community initiatives.
Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws Assessment, Strategic Planning, and 
Implementation Initiative
    OJJDP proposes the establishment of a discretionary component of 
the Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws (EUDL) program that enables states 
to implement an assessment, strategic planning, and implementation 
process. Applicants will explain how they will assess local conditions 
and design a long-term strategic plan; implement selected and approved 
actions of that plan; collect, analyze, and report data; and have an 
expert panel assess how the state responded to the recommendations, 
crafted its strategic plan, and implemented portions of the plan with 
the remaining funds.

Mentoring

Mentoring and Community Engagement
    OJJDP seeks to support mentoring programs that utilize a strengths-
based, community engagement approach. Research suggests that programs 
in which the mentor and mentee work together to address a social issue, 
participate in community service, or become involved in other local 
civic activities have resulted in reduced delinquency among the mentees 
and future involvement with their communities. The theoretical 
framework for this initiative is Positive Youth Development, which 
focuses on building the strengths of youth to promote the likelihood of 
positive outcomes.
Mentoring and Juvenile Drug Courts
    OJJDP proposes funding to support a mentoring component to the 
Juvenile Drug Court/Reclaiming Futures Program. A structured mentoring 
component would provide youth participating in a drug court with a 
caring and supportive adult mentor who would share information and 
insight, listen to the youth, and provide encouragement. Incorporating 
a mentoring component would build upon the existing partnership with 
Reclaiming Futures/Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and CSAT.
National and Local Youth Mentoring Programs and Training and Technical 
Assistance
    OJJDP anticipates providing funding to support national 
organizations that have mentoring programs ready for implementation 
that will strengthen and expand existing mentoring activities. OJJDP 
provides training and technical assistance to advance the capacity of 
state and local jurisdictions and Indian tribal governments to develop, 
implement, expand, evaluate, and sustain youth mentoring efforts that 
incorporate research-based findings of best practices and principles.
    OJJDP also anticipates funding local faith- and community-based 
organizations and schools to develop, implement, and expand 
neighborhood mentoring programs and to increase communities' capacity 
to develop and implement mentoring programs and provide mentoring 
services, particularly to populations of at-risk youth who are 
underserved due to location, shortage of mentors, special physical or 
mental challenges, or other situations identified by the community in 
need of mentoring services.

Child Victimization

Children's Advocacy Centers
    OJJDP intends to provide continuation funding to programs that 
improve the coordinated investigation and prosecution of child abuse 
cases. These programs include funding for a national subgrant program 
for local children's advocacy centers, a membership and accreditation 
program, regional children's advocacy centers, and specialized 
technical assistance and training programs for child abuse 
professionals and prosecutors. Local Children's Advocacy Centers 
utilize multidisciplinary teams of professionals to coordinate the 
investigation, treatment, and prosecution of child abuse cases.
Court Appointed Special Advocate Programs
    OJJDP expects to provide continuation funding to support Court 
Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) programs across the country. CASA 
programs provide children in the foster care system or at risk of 
entering the dependency system with high-quality, timely, effective, 
and sensitive representation before the court. CASA programs train and 
support volunteers who advocate for the best interests of the child in 
dependency proceedings. OJJDP funds a national CASA training and 
technical assistance provider and a national membership and 
accreditation organization to support state and local CASA 
organizations' efforts to recruit volunteer advocates, including 
minority volunteers, and to provide training and technical assistance 
to these organizations and to stakeholders in the child welfare system.

Missing Children

Missing Children Programs and Services
    OJJDP intends to provide continuation funding to a national 
membership organization for nonprofit organizations serving the 
families of missing children and to assist in identifying and 
promulgating best practices in serving these children and families.
    In FY 2010, OJJDP also expects to award funding to programs that:
     Provide training and technical assistance to local, state, 
and tribal law enforcement agencies and other organizations charged 
with responding to missing children cases.
     Design and implement the 2010 AMBER Alert National 
Conference.
     Improve responses to child abductions across borders.
     Conduct research on children characterized as lost, 
injured, or missing to improve community responses to these cases.
     Conduct a national study of the incidence of missing 
children.
Missing and Exploited Children Training and Technical Assistance 
Program
    OJJDP expects to fund a program to design and implement training in 
areas such as child abuse investigations, child fatality 
investigations, and child sexual exploitation investigations. 
Authorized by the Missing Children's Assistance Act, this program will 
help state and local law enforcement, child protection, prosecutors, 
medical providers, and child advocacy center professionals develop an 
effective response to child victimization cases.

Child Exploitation

Internet Crimes Against Children Program
    OJJDP intends to make continuation awards to support the operations 
of the 61 Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task forces. The ICAC 
Task Force Program helps state and local law enforcement agencies 
develop an effective response to sexual predators who prey upon 
juveniles via the Internet and other electronic devices, and child 
pornography cases. This program encompasses forensic and investigative 
components, training and technical assistance, victim services, and 
community education.

[[Page 62827]]

    In addition, OJJDP intends to issue competitive solicitations for 
related ICAC activities and programs, including:
     Designing and implementing the 2011 ICAC National Training 
Conference.
     Research on Internet and other technology-facilitated 
crimes against children.
     Training for ICAC officers, prosecutors, judges, and other 
stakeholders.
     Technical assistance to support implementation of the ICAC 
program.
Project Safe Childhood Community-Based Programs
    OJJDP proposes to issue one or more competitive solicitations to 
support the goals of Project Safe Childhood. This program will solicit 
proposals to implement community-based strategies and public awareness 
efforts to protect children from online sexual exploitation. OJJDP will 
focus 2010 projects on emergent topics, such as sexting, cyber 
bullying, and self-production of child pornography. OJJDP may solicit 
competitive proposals from communities working in conjunction with U.S. 
Attorneys' Offices to create or disseminate public education and 
awareness strategies within their respective jurisdictions.
Project Safe Childhood National Training Conference
    OJJDP proposes funding to support the design and implementation of 
the 2010 National Project Safe Childhood Conference. The conference 
will provide law enforcement, prosecutors, youth-serving organizations, 
and state and local agencies training on Project Safe Childhood. 
Conference content will include training on investigative techniques, 
reviews of research on the scope and prevalence of child exploitation, 
successful community awareness/education strategies, and examples of 
multidisciplinary coordination to reduce youth risk and hold offenders 
accountable.
High-Risk Runaway Program
    OJJDP proposes to fund strategies to address the problem of chronic 
runaway juveniles who are exploited sexually for commercial gain or who 
are at risk of such exploitation. OJJDP intends to identify best 
practices for dealing with high-risk victims that support a victim 
centered approach. This program provides an opportunity for communities 
to replicate successful strategies to protect these youth. Children and 
youth who leave and remain away from home without parental permission 
are at risk of developing and have a disproportionate share of serious 
health, behavioral, and emotional problems.
Young Sexual Offenders Program
    OJJDP proposes to fund a program to assist localities in responding 
to instances of child sexual victimization by perpetrators who are 
younger than 18 years old, with a specific emphasis placed on 
interfamilial child victims and offenders. The program will develop 
communities' capacity to utilize a multidisciplinary approach when 
working with children who have been sexually abused by other children 
and adolescents. The program will also build communities' capacity to 
provide treatment and supervision resources to youthful perpetrators of 
sexual abuse against children. This program would be coordinated with 
OJP's Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, 
and Tracking (SMART) Office.

Juvenile Justice System Improvement

National Juvenile Delinquency Court Improvement Program
    OJJDP proposes funding grants to judicial administrative 
authorities to implement the ``Sixteen Key Principles of a Juvenile 
Delinquency Court of Excellence.'' The National Council of Juvenile and 
Family Court Judges developed these principles in close consultation 
with OJJDP and approximately 100 experts. The initiative would be 
modeled on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' State 
Court Improvement Program, which has been instrumental in the 
nationwide implementation of comprehensive systemic improvements to 
courts' handling of child abuse and neglect or dependency cases.
National Training and Technical Assistance Center for Youth in Custody
    OJJDP proposes funding an organization or partnership of 
organizations to provide an array of technical assistance and training 
services for state, tribal, local, non-profit, and other youth serving 
organizations that handle youth in custody and youth being released 
from custody. This initiative would also cover organizations that 
provide reentry services (pre-release planning, transitional placement, 
community services).
Programs To Address the Mental and Physical Needs of Youth in the 
Juvenile Justice System
    OJJDP proposes to work with states to explore innovative approaches 
to address the mental and physical needs of youth in the juvenile 
justice system. These programs would focus on providing mental health 
and physical health services for incarcerated juveniles who may need 
mental and physical assessments, development of individualized 
treatment and discharge plans, and the identification and provision of 
aftercare services.
Programs To Improve Dependency Courts' Handling of Child Abuse and 
Neglect Cases
    OJJDP expects to provide continuation funding to programs that 
provide training and technical assistance to judicial and court 
personnel who work within the dependency system. The purpose of this 
initiative is to improve the juvenile and family courts' handling of 
child abuse and neglect cases and ensure timely decisionmaking in 
permanency planning for abused and neglected children. The initiative 
also aims to reduce and eventually eliminate racial disproportionality 
and disparate treatment in the dependency system.

General

Field-Initiated Demonstration Programs

    OJJDP proposes awarding grants to programs that foster innovations 
and advancements in juvenile justice-related practice at the local, 
state, and tribal government levels. This program would be part of the 
Office's comprehensive effort to support programs that demonstrate the 
practical implications for policy, practice innovative approaches, and 
enhance juvenile justice and delinquency prevention. This program would 
address a broad range of juvenile justice-related issues that support 
the mission of OJJDP.

Support for Conferences on Juvenile Justice Issues

    OJJDP intends to support conferences that address juvenile justice 
and the prevention of delinquency. This support would provide community 
prevention leaders, treatment professionals, juvenile justice 
officials, researchers, and practitioners with information on best 
practices and research-based models to support state, local government, 
and community efforts to prevent juvenile delinquency.

    Dated: November 24, 2009.
Melodee Hanes,
Acting Deputy Administrator for Policy, Office of Juvenile Justice and 
Delinquency Prevention.
[FR Doc. E9-28743 Filed 11-30-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-18-P