IMPORTANT UPDATE

The new Interstate Compact for Juveniles is now active.

The Compact has been adopted by 35 states.

The Council of State Governments, in cooperation with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, is currently supervising the introduction of The Interstate Compact for Juveniles. At issue are the management, monitoring, supervision and return of juveniles, delinquents and status offenders who are on probation or parole and who have absconded, escaped or run away from supervision and control to states other than where they were sentenced. Also at issue is the safe return of juveniles who have run away from home, leaving their state of residence.

2008 State Legislative Activity

     (Updated: August 27, 2008)

The new Interstate Compact for Juveniles has been adopted by 35 states and is currently under consideration in three additional states in 2008.

Now Available Online

The Interstate Compact for Juveniles promotional video

For a free copy, please contact Keith A. Scott at (859) 244-8247 or kscott@csg.org.

The Interstate Compact for Juveniles, a new interstate agreement, significantly updates the 50-year-old mechanism for tracking and supervising juveniles that move across state borders. Providing enhanced accountability, enforcement, visibility and communication, the new compact seeks to update a crucial, yet outdated tool for ensuring public safety and preserving child welfare.

Primary changes to the original Juvenile Compact (1955) include:

• The establishment of an independent compact operating authority to administer ongoing compact activity, including a provision for staff support.
• Gubernatorial appointments of representatives for all member states on a national governing commission. The commission would meet 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.).
• Compel collection of standardized information.

Links & Downloadable Materials

• Interstate Compact for Juveniles - revised language
• Interstate Compact for Juveniles - Resource Kit (PDF)
• State-by-State Status Chart  8/27/2008 (PDF) UPDATED
• State Official's Guide - Interstate Compact for Juveniles

• Resolutions & Endorsements
• Interstate Compact for Juveniles -original language, circa 1955
• Presentation to the Assoc. of Juvenile Compact Administrators, Annual Meeting 2005

• Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention
• Association of Juvenile Compact Administrators
• American Probation and Parole Association

For more information or assistance on the Interstate Compact for Juveniles,

please contact Keith A. Scott at (859) 244-8247 or kscott@csg.org.