Report of the National Advisory Committee
for Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

July 1980

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office
Washington, D.C. 20402

97

30-81

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

To the President and Congress

of the United States:

I have the honor of transmitting herewith the Report of the National Advisory
Committee for Juvenile Justice and Deliquency Prevention: Standards for the
Administration of Juvenile Justice, prepared in accordance with the provisions of
Section 247 of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (Public Law No.
93-415, as amended by Public Law No. 95-417).

The JJDP Act created a major Federal initiative to respond to the "enormous
annual cost and unmeasurable loss of human life, personal security, and wasted
human resources," caused by juvenile delinquency and delegated the responsibility
for administering and coordinating the programs established under that initiative to
the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Law Enforcement
Assistance Administration. As part of this effort, the Act called for development of
national standards for the administration of juvenile justice. This report represents
the culmination of the first phase of an ongoing process to generate improvements in
the juvenile justice system. These standards provide direction for change and can be
used as a benchmark for measuring progress toward improving the quality of justice
for young people in the United States.

The Report, which reflects the basic principles and policies of the JJDP Act, offers specific strategies, criteria and approaches that can be used in accomplishing some of the important objectives of the Act. Over the past decade a number of state and national groups, including many supported by LEAA, have carefully re-examined existing laws and practices and formulated criminal and juvenile justice standards and model legislation. This effort, which has benefited from these activities, represents a significant contribution to the field in its own right. It will serve as an important resource for use by policy makers, planners, youth advocates, legislators, judges, juvenile services agency administrators and other juvenile justice professionals and practitioners in all parts of the country.

Respectfully submitted,

Suth Sahy

Ira M. Schwartz

National Advisory Committee for Juvenile Justice

and Delinquency Prevention

C. Joseph Anderson, Chairman (1978-1982)

J. D. Anderson, Chairman (1975-1978)

REPORTERS

Richard Van Duizend
Wallace J. Mlyniec

Richard L. Foster