Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Committee (JJDPC)

The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency's (PCCD) Office of Juvenile Programs (OJP), Delinquency Prevention and Juvenile Justice Unit is looking for at least 11-15 current, or former involved adjudicated youth; parents of current or formerly adjudicated youth; and a few (up to three) allied professionals that work with adjudicated youth (this can include: youth advocates, JPO's, social workers, school counselors and others) to start a YOUTH Advisory Board. 

The Youth Advisory Board is a subcommittee of the Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Committee (JJDPC) and will be youth led.  The goal of the Advisory Board is to have quarterly meetings, in person and via conference call, to discuss and make recommendations regarding youth issues to the larger JJDPC group. 

This is a new advisory board and PCCD is offering both stipends and transportation vouchers for attendance to the meetings. The meetings will be held virtually via Teams or Skype due to the pandemic.  It is expected that once CDC restrictions are lifted the meetings will be held initially at PCCD's office, after-school in Harrisburg, PA, with the goal to have regional meetings across the state as needed and the group decides. 

If you are interested in being considered, or know a youth which fits the criteria, and is interested in being a part of this new Advisory Board, please complete and submit the following information in this Survey Monkey link here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PCCDYouthCouncil

If you have any questions, please send an email to: RA-PCCD-OJJDP@pa.gov.

The mission of the JJDPC Racial/Ethnic Disparities (R/ED) Subcommittee, adopted in October 2021, is as follows:

"In response to the overrepresentation and disparate treatment of black and Hispanic children in Pennsylvania's justice systems, we seek to promote equity, justice, and improved outcomes by advocating strategies for policy changes, education programs, funding, and technical assistance at the local and state levels."

The R/ED Subcommittee includes representation from the Department of Human Services, the delinquency intervention arena, juvenile court services, public defenders, education and community-based organizations.   

The R/ED Subcommittee has supported a number of initiatives focused on fulfilling this mission, including developing the Pennsylvania Reducing R/ED in Juvenile Justice Certificate Program in partnership with Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy's Center for Juvenile Justice and the Center for Children's Law and Policy. PCCD has also invested in Juvenile R/ED Coordinators at the county level to facilitate local efforts to promote equity and reduce disparities within the juvenile justice system.

The Subcommittee is also charged with developing Pennsylvania's R/ED plan to submit to OJJDP. Pursuant to the federal Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention Act at 34 U.S.C. § 11133(a)(15), states and territories must "implement policy, practice, and system improvement strategies at the state, territorial, local, and tribal levels, as applicable, to identify and reduce racial and ethnic disparities among youth who come into contact with the juvenile justice system, without establishing or requiring numerical standards or quotas, by— 

(A) Establishing or designating existing coordinating bodies, composed of juvenile justice stakeholders (including representatives of the educational system) at the state, local, or tribal levels, to advise efforts by states, units of local government, and Indian Tribes to reduce racial and ethnic disparities;

(B) Identifying and analyzing data on race and ethnicity at decision points in state, local, or tribal juvenile justice systems to determine which such points create racial and ethnic disparities among youth who come into contact with the juvenile justice system; and

(C) Developing and implementing a work plan that includes measurable objectives for policy, practice, or other system changes, based on the needs identified in the data collection and analysis under subparagraph (B)."

The term "racial and ethnic disparity" means minority youth populations are involved at a decision point in the juvenile justice system at disproportionately higher rates than non-minority youth at that decision point.  34 U.S.C. § 11103(41).

Questions about the work of this Subcommittee should be directed to Greg Young at gyoung@pa.gov or (717) 265-8495​.