§11162 Training and technical assistance

Summary

The Administrator must create and run training and help programs for people who work with young people in trouble. That includes staff in juvenile justice, police, courts (including example juvenile and family court programs), jails and prisons, schools, mental health, and related services. The Administrator can give grants or make contracts to other groups to run this training. The training and help must cover core rules and best practices, how to follow the changes made by the Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 2018 (including pilot projects to develop “sight and sound” separation in certain facilities), how to share evidence‑based programs, and ways to recruit, train, and keep professionals in medicine, law enforcement, courts, social work, education, and child protection. The Administrator must also teach about models for youth who are status offenders or who are detained, share best practices for defense attorneys for children, help states use those best practices on request, work with detention staff to improve conditions and reduce harmful restraints or isolation, and train decision‑makers on placements and services for youth with mental health or substance abuse needs (including intake staff, probation officers, judges and court staff, prosecutors and defense counsel, and family members). The Attorney General, through the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the Office of Justice Programs, must provide or fund training and help for State and local courts and judges to improve outcomes for youth and to meet the law’s requirements. The Attorney General, with the Secretary of Agriculture, must also guide States about options for school food authorities to get reimbursement under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) for incarcerated youth who would otherwise be eligible for free or reduced‑price lunches.