For Immediate Release
Aug. 27, 2008
Contact: Jack Penchoff
859-244-8153

Illinois Becomes Final State to Pass Interstate Compact for Juveniles

A special agreement to track and monitor juvenile offenders in an effort to keep America’s children from falling through the cracks in the system reached the necessary threshold to take effect. Illinois became the 35th to pass the Interstate Compact for Juveniles. Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich signed Senate Bill 2821 into law Aug. 26 signifying the official launch of the compact nationwide.

Every year thousands of juvenile offenders cross state lines and are lost in the system. Often left to fend for themselves and disconnected from social services and the help they need, young offenders who would otherwise be supervised commit violent and nonviolent crimes.

But the compact seeks to change that.

First written in 1955, the compact is an agreement among states to track young offenders. The Council of State Governments’ National Center for Interstate Compacts took on the challenge of rewriting the outdated compact in 2001 and advocating for its passage. The first state introduced the compact in 2003. In order to take effect, 35 states must sign the compact into law.

The new Interstate Compact for Juveniles significantly updates the 50-year-old agreement for tracking and supervising juveniles who move across state borders. The new language passed in 35 states to date, provides enhanced accountability, enforcement, visibility and communication and seeks to update a tool for ensuring public safety as well as preserving child welfare.

“After a long but persistent effort, CSG’s hard work has ultimately paid off,” said Keith Scott, director of the National Center for Interstate Compacts. “NCIC will meet with the 35 member states later this fall to begin that process—In fact, we are already making preparations. We are confident that the remaining states will join the compact as well which will enable the entire country to efficiently and effectively monitor and administer the movement of the youth who are the subject of this important initiative.”

Now fully updated from the 1955 version, changes to the new Interstate Compact for Juveniles include:

• The establishment of an independent compact operating authority to administer ongoing compact activity, including a provision for staff support;

• Gubernatorial appointments ofrepresentatives for all member states on a national governing commission (The commission wouldmeet annually to elect the compact operating authority members, and to attend to general business and rule making procedures);

• Rule-making authority, provision for significant sanctions to support essential compact operations;

• Mandatory funding mechanism sufficient to support essential compact operations (staffing, data collection, training/education, etc.); and

• Language to compel collection of standardized information on juvenile offenders.

For more information on the new compact, or to interview a CSG expert, contact Jack Penchoff at 859-244-8153 or visit CSG’s National Center for Interstate Compacts Web site at http://www.csg.org/programs/ncic/default.aspx.

###

The Council of State Governments is the premier multibranch organization forecasting policy trends for the community of states, commonwealths and territories on a national and regional basis.

CSG alerts state and elected and appointed officials to emerging social, economic and political trends; offers innovative state policy responses to rapidly changing conditions; and advocates multistate problem-solving to maximize resources and competitiveness.

CSG promotes excellence in decision-making and leadership skills and champions state sovereignty.