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On Thursday, Republican and Democratic U.S. representatives introduced the "Supporting Youth Opportunity and Preventing Delinquency Act," in the U.S. House of Representatives. House Bill 5963 would update http://www.ojjdp.gov/about/jjdpa2002titlev.pdf">the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, adding new language to encourage states, cities and reservations to utilize evidence-based programs that are "trauma informed" to help address juvenile crime in the country.

http://democrats-edworkforce.house.gov/imo/media/doc/2016Reauth_002_xml.pdf">The bill lists several evidence-based programs "including delinquency prevention, intervention, mental health, behavioral health and substance abuse treatment, family services, and services for children exposed to violence." The bill would also change the definition of an "adult inmate" so it would not include a person who "at the time of the time of the offense, was younger than the maximum age at which a youth can be held in a juvenile facility under applicable State law."

House Bill 5963 would also require much more data collection on juvenile offenders than is currently required now. It would require the Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to collect data on state and localities' use of restraint and seclusion, the number of juveniles released from custody and the type of living arrangements to which they were released, the number of juveniles whose offense originated on school grounds and the number of juveniles who are pregnant but in secure detention.

http://democrats-edworkforce.house.gov/media/press-releases/members-introduce-bipartisan-bill-to-improve-and-strengthen-juvenile-justice-system">In a press release from the Education and Workforce Committee Democrats, principal author of the bill Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) said that the purpose of the bill was to help children born into circumstances outside of their control a better path forward.

"These bipartisan reforms will deliver state and local leaders the tools they need to help the most vulnerable kids in their communities put the past behind them and work toward a brighter future," Curbelo said in the press release. "I want to thank Ranking Member (Bobby) Scott (D-VA) for all he has done to move this issue forward and for working together to deliver these bipartisan reforms.”