Speech #990040507

The report concluded that only slight progress appears to have been made in reducing the use of secure detention and that many questionable detentions still occur. It found that juveniles were detained for long periods of. time. that juveniles committed for treatment were held in detention facilities where treatment was not provided. that standards for Juvenile detention facilities were not met. and that some methods used to separate juveniles from adults were inadequate or created isolation. The report. which suggested ways that the Federal Government could help States improve their detention practices. also noted questionable detention practices by the Federal Government itselffor example. in the operations of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Furthermore. by the administrations own figures. as contained in the budget materials prepared by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention for fiscal year 1986. some 22.000 juveniles remain in "inappropriate institutional confinement" in participating States. Nevertheless. the administration asserts that the goals of deinstitutionalizing status offenders "have been met" and seeks tie complete elimination of funding for OJJDP. which stands at a fiscal year 1985 level of $67.3 million.