History of the Interstate Compact for Juveniles (ICJ)
The history of the ICJ dates back to 1950s. In 1954, Congress was spurred to action to address concerns regarding “a vast army of wandering kids being shuttled from place to place.” The U.S. Senate Juvenile Delinquency Subcommittee launched an extensive investigation, which drew even more attention when findings became the subject of a Parade Magazine article, entitled “Nobody’s Children: How America’s 300,000 runaway teen-agers get the runaround.” Ross, S. & Keister, E. (1954, September). Subsequently, in 1955, several states recognized “that juveniles who are not under proper supervision and control, or who have absconded, escaped or run away, are likely to endanger their own health, morals and welfare, and the health, morals and welfare of others,” and adopted an interstate compact to control the movement of juveniles providing for trans-state supervision, and creating an orderly mechanism for their return. Interstate Compact on Juveniles, art. I (1955). The principal objectives of 1955 ICJ were: (1) cooperative supervision of delinquent juveniles on probation or parole; (2) the return from one state to another of delinquent juveniles who have escaped or absconded; (3) the return from one state to another of non-delinquent juveniles who have run away from home; and (4) to take additional measures for the protection of juveniles and of the public. Interstate Compact on Juveniles art I, §§ (1) – (4) (1955) (On file with author). The intent of the 1955 Compact was to bring order to the interstate movement of juvenile delinquents and status offenders and ensure that proper supervision and services were provided to juveniles covered by the compact. See In re O.M., 565 A.2d 573, 582-583 (D.C. 1989). The ICJ continues to advance these goals, but with specific and detailed authority for rulemaking and enforcement as well as other important improvements.