Congress Makes Further Cuts to Juvenile Justice Funding

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House and Senate appropriations leaders finalized a “minibus” spending package that further reduces the relevance of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and possibly jeopardizes the office’s connection with state governments. The bill - which funds the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, and Housing and Urban Development – trims the allocation from an already-reduced $275 million in fiscal 2011 to $262.5 million for fiscal 2012. The minibus package contains another continuing resolution allowing the government to operate through December 16. The structure of the juvenile justice funding comes from the Senate Appropriations Committee’s bill, which drastically reduced funding but kept some for each program of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act. Under the agreement reached by appropriations confereees, the funding levels for OJJDP’s biggest programs, which include state formula grants, mentoring and missing and exploited children, more closely mirror what was proposed by the House appropriators.

Lawsuit Claims Louisiana Office of Juvenile Justice Retaliated Against Whistle-blower

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A new lawsuit alleges the Louisiana Office of Juvenile Justice (OJJ) and its top administrator retaliated against another administrator for blowing the whistle on poor conditions at youth facilities in Louisiana. The suit, filed Aug. 12 by administrator John Anderson, accused the OJJ and Deputy Secretary Mary Livers of “retaliatory harassment,” according to The Advocate of Baton Rouge. Anderson’s suit contends he complained about “appalling” conditions at three Louisiana youth centers. Anderson was ordered to complete impossible job assignments and reassigned to menial tasks after he refused to sign an affidavit contradicting claims made in a similar suit involving another administrator from 2009, the suit alleges.