Those who cared deserve reward

The year 1974 was a long time ago.
But it appears that in the years between then and now, some states have been routinely violating a federal law.
That’s not the case, however, in Jay County.
Not long after Congress passed and the president signed the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, local officials stepped up to comply with the law.
Its premise was incredibly simple. Juveniles can be arrested for what’s called a status offense, something that wouldn’t be a crime if it were committed by an adult. Status offenses range from truancy to underage drinking to what’s known as incorrigibility, which translates into not being controllable by your parents.
None of those are offenses that could get an adult arrested, but they are offenses because of one’s status as a juvenile.
What the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act said was something that was pretty much common sense: Juvenile status offenders should not be jailed with adult criminal offenders.
To the credit of the local judiciary, that message was received loud and clear.
Jay Circuit Court Judge Dale Hunt took the matter seriously indeed. His efforts led to the establishment of Jay County Shelter Care and what is now Youth Service Bureau of Jay County.
Every state and every county was facing the same mandate from the federal government, but not every state or every county stepped up to the challenge. Jay County, thanks to Judge Dale Hunt, did step up. And surrounding counties took advantage of our local leadership, soon placing status offender juveniles at Jay County Shelter Care.
But apparently not everyone got the message.
Sen. Charles Grassley said last week that some states have been routinely violating the law designed to protect juveniles for decades. And he blames the U.S. Justice Department for failing to monitor the situation.
There’s supposed to be a connection between compliance and federal grant support, but while places like Jay County have complied others have not.
“So many states allegedly report whatever figures they want in order to keep the money flowing,” Grassley said.
In other words, good-hearted people locally have been playing by the rules. But others elsewhere have not.
The goal now should be:
•Fix compliance in order to protect kids.
•Penalize states and localities that have lied to the federal government about their compliance with a law that’s now 40 years old.
•And, finally, wouldn’t it make sense to reward those like Indiana and Jay County and the Youth Service Bureau who actually played by the rules?
Others have been cheating — cheating Uncle Sam and cheating their own young people — for decades. Those who have cared for their troubled young people and complied with the law ought to receive some sort of recognition. — J.R.