JJDPA and Secure Detention of Non-Delinquent Runaways
When a non-delinquent runaway is held in secure detention pending return to the home/demanding state, concerns regarding the requirements of the Juvenile Justice and Dependance Prevention Act (JJDPA) may arise. The JJDPA’s deinstitutionalization of status offenders (DSO) requirement provides that youth charged with status offenses, and abused and neglected youth involved with the dependency courts, may not be placed in secure detention or locked confinement, except under certain circumstances.
Nonetheless, the JJDPA clearly provides an exemption for secure detention for out-of-state runaway youth held pursuant to the ICJ. The JJDPA expressly creates an exemption to the DSO requirements and permits detention of "a juvenile who is held in accordance with the Interstate Compact on Juveniles as enacted by the State;" see 34 U.S.C. 11133(a)(11)(A)(III). Moreover, there is no specific time frame set forth in the above provision. Section 34 U.S.C. 11133(a)(11)(A)(III) clearly allows such detention as long as the juvenile is being “held in accordance with the Interstate Compact on Juveniles.” This includes the duly authorized administrative rules promulgated under the authority of the ICJ. The Commission’s understanding has been affirmed by guidance provided by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). See OJJDP, “An Overview of Statutory and Regulatory Requirements for Monitoring Facilities for Compliance with the Deinstitutionalization of Status Offenders, Separation, a Jail Removal Provisions of the JJDPA,” (2019), at page 11.
Challenges to detention of runaways pursuant to the ICJ, and the predecessor compact, have not been successful. E.g., In re Doe, 73 P.3d 29 (Haw. 2003) (Under the provisions of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, 34 U.S.C. 11133(a)(11)(A)(III) creates an exemption to the ‘deinstitutionalization’ of status offenders and also permits detention of juveniles who are held in accordance with the Interstate Compact for Juveniles as enacted by the State.); L.A. v. Superior Court ex rel. County of San Diego, 147 Cal. Rptr. 3d 431, 435 n.2 (Cal. Ct. App. 2012) (“A minor taken into custody upon the ground that he or she is a person described in Section 601, or adjudged to be a ward of the juvenile court solely upon that ground, may be held in a secure facility, other than a facility in which adults are held in secure custody, in any of the following circumstances: . . . for up to 24 hours after having been taken into custody, in order to locate the minor's parent or guardian as soon as possible and to arrange the return of the minor to his or her parent or guardian, with the exception of an out-of-state runaway who is being held pursuant to the Interstate Compact for Juveniles”); Hopkins v. State, 105 So.3d 470 (Fla. 2012); see 34 U.S.C. 11133(a)(11)(A)(III) (2012); see also Memorandum from Ashley Lippert, Exec. Dir., Interstate Comm’n for Juveniles & Richard L. Masters, Gen. Counsel, Interstate Comm’n for Juveniles, to All Interstate Comm’n for Juveniles Offices (May 20, 2010) (on file with author).