New Jersey § 52:17b-169

§ 52:17b-169.

The Legislature finds and declares: a. The public safety requires reform of the juvenile justice system; b. Juvenile arrests for murder, robbery, aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault

and aggravated assault have increased 38 percent between 1988 and 1993 and New Jersey

ranks near the top nationally in the number of juvenile arrests for serious violent

crimes; c. Juvenile crime has become a leading cause of injury and death among young people; d. Currently, preventive, deterrent and rehabilitative services and sanctions for

juveniles are the responsibility of no less than three State departments: The Department

of Law and Public Safety deals with county prosecutors and local police and implements

prevention programs; the Department of Corrections operates the New Jersey Training

School for Boys and the Juvenile Medium Security Facility, and its Bureau of Parole

supervises juvenile parolees; and the Department of Human Services operates residential

and day programs in facilities for juveniles adjudicated delinquent; e. The division of responsibility for the juvenile justice population and the limitations

on resources available to meet ever-increasing demands for services provided by the

Departments of Human Services and Corrections have prevented the departments from

maximizing efforts to meet the special needs of the juvenile justice population; f. The juvenile justice system lacks services and sanctions short of incarceration,

particularly in urban areas and for that reason, many juveniles are not held accountable

until they have committed a series of increasingly serious criminal acts; g. The special needs of juveniles can be addressed through services and sanctions

provided at the county and local level; h. The need to protect the public from criminal acts by juvenile offenders requires

a comprehensive program and concerted action of governmental agencies and private

organizations at the State, county and local level that permit effective response

and avoid waste of scarce resources; i. (1) The comprehensive program should provide a range of services and sanctions for juveniles

sufficient to protect the public through prevention; early intervention; and a range

of meaningful sanctions that ensure accountability, provide training, education, treatment

and, when necessary, confinement followed by community supervision that is adequate

to protect the public and promote successful reintegration into the community; (2) Consistent with the need to protect the public, services and sanctions for juveniles

shall provide balanced attention to the protection of the community, the imposition

of accountability for offenses committed, fostering interaction and dialogue between

the offender, victim and community and the development of competencies to enable juvenile

offenders to become responsible and productive members of the community. j. The most efficient and effective use of available resources requires fixing responsibility

for the comprehensive program in a single State agency and providing incentives to

encourage the development and provision of appropriate services and sanctions at the

county and local level; and k. It is, therefore, necessary to establish a Juvenile Justice Commission responsible

for operating State services and sanctions for juveniles involved in the juvenile

justice system and responsible for developing a Statewide plan for effective provision

of juvenile justice services and sanctions at the State, county and local level;

to establish a State/Community Partnership Grant Program through which the State will

provide incentives to county and local governments to encourage the provision of services

and sanctions for juveniles adjudicated or charged as delinquent and programs for

the prevention of juvenile delinquency, and to establish county youth services commissions

responsible for planning and implementing the Partnership at the local level.