Formula Grants (Title II)

INTRODUCTION:

Since 1974, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) in the United States Department of Justice has administered the Title II Formula Grants Program (Title II) to support state and local delinquency prevention and intervention efforts and juvenile justice system improvements. The OJJDP mission statement is as follows:

The OJJDP provides national leadership, coordination, and resources to prevent and respond to juvenile delinquency and victimization. OJJDP supports states and communities in their efforts to develop and implement effective and coordinated prevention and intervention programs and to improve the juvenile justice system so that it protects public safety, holds offenders accountable, and provides treatment and rehabilitative services tailored to the needs of juveniles and their families.

PURPOSE:

The purpose of these Title II funds is to assist communities in local efforts designed to enhance, expand or respond to a variety of juvenile justice and delinquency issues. The fund is administered by the Missouri Department of Public Safety’s Juvenile Justice Unit and the Governor-appointed Missouri Juvenile Justice Advisory Group (JJAG), which establish funding priorities. Funds are targeted to serve juveniles who are at-risk or involved in the justice system, the professionals and lay persons who work with those juveniles. The monies are to be utilized for model program implementation, direct services, system-improvement, policy design, data collection/analysis, research and training and technical assistance.

FUNDING SOURCE:

Title II funds are appropriated by Congress and administered by OJJDP and is identified in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) compendium as 16.540. The Formula Grants Program is authorized under Sections 221–223 of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDP Act) of 1974, as amended, 42 U.S.C. §§ 5631-5633.

Availability of Funds

Funds are based on federal award determinations made by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Priority is given to programs that are requesting continuation funding from the previous year and have documented an ability to achieve the project objectives and administrative guidelines. Any remaining funds are will be let out for competitive bids for new programs.

No in-kind or cash match is required to receive Title II funds.

Eligibility Requirements

The Missouri Department of Public Safety establishes eligibility criteria that must be met by all organizations that receive Title II funds. Each applicant organization shall meet the requirements described in the current Title II Funding Opportunity Announcement.

Current Title II Purpose Areas

Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI): At its essence, the purpose of the JDAI is to demonstrate that jurisdictions can safely reduce reliance on secure detention. The objectives of JDAI are to:

  • Eliminate the inappropriate or unnecessary use of secure detention;
  • Minimize re-arrest and failure-to-appear rates pending adjudication;
  • Ensure appropriate conditions of confinement in secure facilities;
  • Redirect public finances to sustain successful reforms; and
  • Reduce racial and ethnic disparities.

The JDAI model is built around the following eight core strategies:

  • Promoting collaboration between juvenile court officials, probation agencies, prosecutors, defense attorneys, schools, community organizations and advocates;
  • Using rigorous data collection and analysis to guide decision making;
  • Utilizing objective admissions criteria and risk-assessment instruments to replace subjective decision-making processes to determine whether youth should be placed into secure detention facilities;
  • Implementing new or expanded alternatives to detention programs — such as day and evening reporting centers, home confinement and shelter care — that can be used in lieu of locked detention;
  • Instituting case processing reforms to expedite the flow of cases through the system;
  • Reducing the number of youth detained for probation rule violations or failing to appear in court, and the number held in detention awaiting transfer to a residential facility;
  • Combating racial and ethnic disparities by examining data to identify policies and practices that may disadvantage youth of color at various stages of the process, and pursuing strategies to ensure a more level playing field for youth regardless of race or ethnicity;
  • Monitoring and improving conditions of confinement in detention facilities.

This program area is not limited to juvenile courts. Community-based, youth serving agencies and organizations with strong collaborative relationships with their local juvenile justice systems are encouraged to apply for projects/programs employing best practices and/or model programs. Best practices are strategies and programs demonstrated though research and evaluation to be effective at preventing or intervening in juvenile justice delinquency. Best practice models include program models that have been shown, through rigorous evaluation and replication, to achieve target outcomes. Model programs can come from many valid sources (e.g., OJJDP’s Model Programs Guide, Blueprints, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Model Programs, State model program resources, etc.)

OJJDP Program Area 10 – Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC): Disproportionate minority contact refers to the disproportionate number of minority youth who come into contact with the juvenile justice system. Missouri is required to address juvenile delinquency prevention and system improvement efforts to reduce, without establishing or requiring numerical standards or quotas, the overrepresentation of minority youth in the juvenile justice system. Proposed projects are expected to collaborate with the statewide DMC coordinator and the local DMC Coordinator to advance local DMC efforts as well as statewide coordination, analysis and research to address the disproportionate number of youth members of minority groups who come into contact with the juvenile justice system.

The network of Missouri’s local DMC Coordinators meet on a quarterly basis with the statewide DMC Coordinator, the statewide DMC Research Coordinator, members of the Missouri Juvenile Justice Advisory Group and other professionals with expertise in identifying and addressing racial disparities in the juvenile justice system.

This program area is not limited to juvenile courts. Community-based, youth serving agencies and organizations with a vested interest in addressing DMC and a strong collaborative relationship with their local juvenile justice systems are encouraged to apply.

OJJDP Program Area 13 – Gender-Specific Services: Services designed to promote healthy attitudes, behaviors, and lifestyles, and promote social competence in girls. Key program elements generally address issues in the context of relationships to peers, family, school, and community. Gender-specific programming goes beyond simply focusing on girls. It represents a concentrated effort to assist all girls in positive female development. It takes into account the developmental needs of girls at adolescence, a critical stage for gender identity formation. Proposed projects for gender-specific services will be expected, in some degree, to collaborate with the statewide gender-specific services coordinator to advance the coordination of services and training projects to address the needs of female offenders in the juvenile justice system.