Juvenile Accountability Block Grants Program Guidance Manual 2007.

Source: (2007) Rockville, MD: US Department of Justice.

This manual, designed as the primary reference for State and local program managers, provides guidance to assist States in applying for, receiving, obligating, and expending the Juvenile Accountability Block Grants (JABG) funds. This manual offers guidelines and reference for State and local program managers for applying for JABG funding and explains eligibility, State allocation of funds, distribution of funds, and waivers. Other detailed guidelines include: application process, requirements of State recipients and local subgrantees, definitions of terms, and other available resources. The JABG Program provides State and local governments with funds to develop programs which prevent and control delinquency while strengthening their juvenile justice systems. In implementing the program, OJJDP seeks to reduce juvenile offending through both offender-focused and system-focused activities that promote accountability. The premise of the program is that both the juvenile offender and the juvenile justice system be held accountable. For the juvenile offender, accountability means holding offenders responsible for their delinquent behavior through the imposition of sanctions or other individualized consequences, such as restitution, community service, or victim offender mediation. Juvenile accountability is best achieved through a system of graduated sanctions imposed according to the nature and severity of the offense, moving from limited interventions to more restrictive actions if the offender continues delinquent activities. For the juvenile justice system, strengthening the system requires an increased capacity to develop youth competence, to efficiently track juveniles through the system, and to provide enhanced options such as restitution, community service, victim-offender mediation, and other restorative justice sanctions that reinforce the mutual obligations of an accountability based juvenile justice system. Abstract courtesy of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.gov.