MCJJ - Michigan Committee on Juvenile Justice Home

The Michigan Committee on Juvenile Justice

The committee's primary charge is to provide advice and input on prevention and treatment of juvenile delinquency, administration of juvenile justice and the reduction of juvenile delinquency.
MCJJ Mission

To advise the Governor on matters related to juvenile justice legislation and administration, to mobilize communities to develop and implement prevention services, and to create a strategic plan that sets standards, determines priorities and allocates funds for successful delinquency prevention and rehabilitative programs.
OJJDP Core Requirements

Deinstitutionalization of status offenders, separation of juveniles from adults in institutions (separation), removal of juveniles from adult jails and lockups (jail removal), and reduction of disproportionate minority contact.
Delinquency Prevention & Intervention Programs

MCJJ funds delinquency program initiatives related to community policing, community reintegration, gender specific (female) programs, community based programs, prevention, minority over-representation, and disproportionate minority contact programs.
OJJDP Grant Funding

The Juvenile Justice Grant Unit, directed by federal mandates and a committee appointed by the governor, funds a wide array of delinquency program initiatives using federal funding from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Spotlight & Events

Muskegon Parents Seek to End 'Zero Tolerance' Suspensions

Parents of students attending Muskegon High School are calling on school district officials to change the district's policy of automatically suspending students and involving the school's police officer when fights break out.
Regional Forums to Combat Truancy Set for May

The Michigan School-Justice Partnership is hosting a series of regional conferences in May and June as efforts to devise strategies for reducing truancy move forward.
Governor Signs Juvenile Sentencing Reforms

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has signed into law new sentencing guidelines for juveniles convicted of first-degree murder, felony murder, or repeat sexual assaults. Meanwhile, the state Supreme Court is weighing whether those who were previously sentenced for crimes committed as juveniles under a mandatory life without parole law are entitled to sentencing review.
School Discipline Guidance Offered to States, Schools

The U.S. Department of Education has produced a school discipline guidance package to support safe schools, reduce expulsions and suspensions, and ensure fair treatment of all students.

School Truancy Reduction

The Michigan Committee on Juvenile Justice (MCJJ) is making the reduction of school truancy and elimination of the school to prison pipeline one of its top priorities for the next three years. Students who miss excessive amounts of class are far more likely to drop out of school, enter the juvenile justice system, and eventually, end up in prison, research shows. Unnecessary suspensions and expulsions also contribute to the problem.
Flint Families and Schools Together

The Families and Schools Together (FAST) – Middle School FAST model is being implemented to reduce compulsive behaviors in youth such as substance abuse and violence, and to improve positive scholastic behaviors, while building resiliency factors against risks and stressors that contribute to violence and delinquency.
Albion Delinquency Prevention Planning

The City of Albion is participating in a delinquency prevention planning process intended to reduce risk and enhance protective factors as a way to prevent youth from entering the juvenile justice system.
Oakland County Truancy Program

This school truancy program focuses on children and youth between the ages of 6 to 15 who have been reported by the school as having significant non-attendance patterns that are considered truant according to school policy.

Melinda Fandel
Juvenile Justice Specialist
Federal Grants Unit, Child Welfare, Funding, and Juvenile Justice Programs, Department of Human Services