Youth Correction Act in 1950

Youth Correction Act

In 1950 Congress enacted a comprehensive alternative sentencing system for youthful offenders between the ages of eighteen and twenty-six. As part of this Federal Youth Corrections Act (FYCA) provided for the commitment of eligible young offenders to specially established rehabilitative facilities that were, separate from adult offender facilities, so that they would receive "essential varieties of treatment." If the trial judge found, however, that a youth would not benefit from such treatment, the judge could sentence the offender under any other applicable provision. Furthermore, under the FYCA, a trial judge could have a youth committed for observation (Ogletree 11)

Later, the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (JJDPA) was a comprehensive developmental approach to preventing youth crime based on the social development model, an integration of social control theory and social learning theory. A core requirement, as amended, consisted of four interrelated stages: identification, assessment, intervention and monitoring. The JJDPA was signed into law by President Gerald Ford. States housing juveniles in adult jails were required to keep them separate from adults, in order to be eligible for funding under the Act. In 1980, following numerous suicides, assaults, and other tragedies involving juveniles in jails, the JJDPA was amended to require states to "remove" juveniles from jails and to not hold juveniles in adult jails at all (Shiraldi 20).

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 1975 was originally the Education for all Handicapped Children's Act. The IDEA is landmark civil rights legislation because it guarantees a free appropriate public education for all eligible children and youth with disabilities through age 21. IDEA has been applied to public schools and state-operated programs, including juvenile detention and confinement facilities. It has become an important force in juvenile delinquency cases.

Federal programs are responsible for funding juvenile correctional education programs; the largest sources being the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Act, Title I of the Improving America's Schools Act (formerly the Elementary and Secondary Education Act), and IDEA. Monies also flow to states from other federal programs including The Bilingual Education Act, the Job Training Partnership Act, and the Drug Free Schools and Communities Act. States contribute little to their own agencies which provide juvenile correctional education programs. Only a third of state juvenile correctional agencies spend $2,001 or more annually per student. (Baker 6)

States have enacted laws, however, that benefit youthful offenders.

In Texas, soft skills development and career exploration are the goal of Project Re-Integration of Offender-Youth Program (RIO-Y) for adjudicated African-American male youth with disabilities incarcerated in Youth Commission juvenile detention facilities. Under this program youth are able to enter employment or go back to school. Project RIO-Y is funded by the U.S. Department of Labor. (Baker 7)

In California, a law was passed prohibiting juveniles from being held in county jails, sheriff's facilities, and other adult facilities. This was spurred by the suicide of 15-year-old Kathy Robbins. Jailed for being in the town square after curfew hour, Kathy Robbins hanged herself from the top rail of the bunk bed in her cell in the Glenn County Jail in rural California. She had been in jail for a week, as a juvenile court judge had refused to release her. She was one of six juvenile suicides that took place in adult jails in California between 1979 and 1984.