Better Monitoring and Recordkeeping Systems Needed to Accurately Account for Juvenile Justice Practices

摘要

The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, as amended, authorizes the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to provide federal resources, leadership, and assistance to state and local governments and private organizations in conducting juvenile justice and juvenile delinquency programs. This report consists of testimony discussing state monitoring efforts and progress made under 10 of the act's objectives. GAO found that the Office does not ensure that states verify the accuracy of data in their monitoring reports which each state must submit to demonstrate its progress under the act. Therefore, the Office cannot be assured it has reliable data to properly gauge the progress being made. This report contains examples of inaccurate or incomplete data upon which monitoring reports are based. Under 10 of the act's objectives GAO evaluated, GAO found indications that some progress had been achieved. However, a definitive basis for determining the overall extent of the progress for any individual objective could not be made because sufficient data were not available.