Deinstitutionalization of Status Offenders (DSO)
Status offenders are youth who are charged with or who have committed offenses that would not be a crime if committed by an adult; such as runaways, truants, and curfew violators. Washington State has struggled with issues related to juvenile non-offenders and status offenders. DSO is a very high priority for the GJJAC.
An OJJDP Bulletin (October 2002) described the characteristics of runaways and throwaways (youth who have been thrown out by their caretakers)—many of these youth were a victim of physical or sexual abuse, were substance dependent (drug and/or alcohol problems), had been in the company of someone known to be abusing drugs, had engaged in criminal activity or spent time in a place where criminal activity was known to occur, and had previously attempted suicide.
The At-Risk/Runaway Youth Act, also known as the “Becca Law,” was enacted by the Washington State Legislature in 1995. This Act authorized the creation and use of Secure Crisis Residential Centers (S-CRCs) to hold runaway youth brought to the facility by law enforcement. Runaway youth may be held in the S-CRC for up to five days, so they can be assessed and stabilized, and reunified with parents or guardians. The intent of securely detaining the youth for this brief period is to provide for reunification of the youth with their family, along with assessment, referrals to treatment and services, and for multi-disciplinary team meetings, intended to protect and stabilize the youth, and to allow for the arrangement of appropriate placement options, as necessary.
This provision of the Becca Law is in conflict with federal law that was enacted to provide equal protections to status offenders and non-offenders—the DSO requirement of the federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (JJDP) Act. While an exception to this federal requirement allows status offenders to be held in a secure juvenile detention facility for a brief period of time, under juvenile court authority, in order to arrange for returning the youth to parents or guardians, to arrange for appropriate shelter care placement, or for investigative or identification purposes, the time limit is less than the 1995 state law allows—for up to 24 hours, excluding weekends and holidays—not for five days, as state law allows.
As a result of being out of compliance with the DSO requirement, OJJDP has reduced the federal funding available to Washington State by 25% each federal fiscal year, beginning in 2000. The 2002 amendment of the JJDP Act allowed Washington State full funding in FFY 04. Starting in Federal FY 05 Formula funding was reduced by 20%, requiring at least 50% of the remaining funds be allocated to addressing the DSO core requirement. The GJJAC continues to attempt to bring Washington State back into compliance with federal regulations.
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Heather Hammer, David Finkelhor and Andrea Sedlak, Runaway/Thrownaway Children: National Estimates
and Characteristics, National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children (NISMART), October
2002, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention.
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