Summary
Last month, the House passed H.R. 5963, the Supporting Youth Opportunity and Preventing Delinquency Act of 2016. The bill would reauthorize and amend federal juvenile justice programs for five years. The Senate Committee on the Judiciary approved its own reauthorization proposal, the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Reauthorization Act of 2015 (S. 1169), last year. The two bills are similar in many respects, but differ in the timing and level of reauthorization, and other matters. This Issue Brief compares the two bills, highlighting provisions of interest to states.