Juvenile Accountability Incentive Block Grants: Strategic Planning Guide: Summary

In 1998, Congress increased the Federal investment in juvenile justice by
enacting the Juvenile Accountability Incentive Block Grants (JAIBG) program.
Funds available through this new program provide States and units of local
government with badly needed resources to begin making critical improvements
to the infrastructure of the juvenile justice system.

In particular, JAIBG funds enable units of local government and States to
promote accountability in the juvenile justice system through support for
juvenile facilities; accountability-based sanctions; the hiring of additional
juvenile judges, probation officers, prosecutors, and public defenders; pretrial
services; juvenile gun and drug courts; and controlled substance testing. JAIBG
also supports interagency information-sharing programs that enable the juvenile
and criminal justice systems, schools, and social services agencies to make
informed decisions regarding the early identification, control, supervision, and
treatment of juveniles who repeatedly commit serious or violent delinquent acts.
Finally, JAIBG authorizes programs that use law enforcement to protect school
personnel and students from drug, gang, and youth violence.

Each of these areas of activity supports our efforts to intervene with juveniles
who have committed a crime, to hold them accountable, and to provide them
with the direction and support they need to avoid committing further offenses.
Juvenile Accountability Incentive Block Grants: Strategic Planning Guide is
intended to serve as a planning tool, providing a conceptual framework to
analyze juvenile justice system needs and determine the most effective use of
JAIBG funds. The Guide shows how results-based decisionmaking can be
applied in the JAIBG program to identify desired results, create and track
indicators of progress toward achieving those results, and assess program
performance so that adjustments can be made that will improve the delivery of
programs and services in the juvenile justice system. The Guide will also
benefit a broad spectrum of planners and practitioners by providing them with
information that can be used to foster local efforts to employ results-based
decision making across a variety of disciplines.