1997-98 Academy Text Supplement

Chapter 21-4


Juvenile Justice

Statistical Overview

Developments in Juvenile Justice and Crime Victims

Crime victims' rights and services were elevated to national importance with the 1996 release of the National Juvenile Action Plan which, for the first time, incorporated victims' rights within the juvenile justice system into a comprehensive national framework and strategy to address juvenile violence, victims of juvenile offenders, and the juvenile justice system.

Developed by the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, with strong input from the Office for Victims of Crime, the Action Plan calls for:

For additional information, see Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Combating Violence and Delinquency: The National Juvenile Justice Action Plan - Report. (U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, March 1996)

Legislative Developments

Eight states raised victims' rights in the juvenile system to constitutional status: