Arts & Juvenile Justice: Action & Opportunities

Written by Christopher Fisher. Principal & Founder, Spinnaker Government Relations

The federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has released its 2023 competition for the Arts Programs for Justice-Involved Youth grants.  OJJDP seeks applications for funding to “develop, enhance, or expand high-quality arts programs for justice-involved youth.”

OJJDP considers “high-quality arts programs” to be those that provide opportunities for rigorous artistic exploration, skill building and culminating events, and that provide youth with mentorship from artists. Arts programs may include but are not limited to visual arts, performing arts, filmmaking, and literary arts.

The term “justice-involved youth” is defined by OJJDP as youth (under age 18) participating in court-ordered diversion programs, in detention, correctional, or other residential facilities, and/or who are on probation due to a delinquency finding by juvenile court.

Applicants can propose points of engagement anywhere across juvenile justice systems, ranging from arts education for youth in secure facilities such as juvenile detention and confinement, arts programs as alternatives to incarceration, and/ or as a strategy to support successful reentry into communities.

• Due date(s):
  • Applicants must submit an Application for Federal Assistance standard form (SF-424) and a Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (SF-LLL) form on Grants.gov (https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/register.html ) by 8:59 pm ET on April 6.
  • Applicants must submit their full application, including attachments, in JustGrants at www.JustGrants.usdoj.gov by 11:59 ET on April 20.
• Award size:
  • 5 awards of $50,000 each.
• Performance Period:
  • 18 months
• Eligible applicants:
  • Nonprofits other than Institutions of Higher Education
  • Local units of government
  • Native American Tribal governments and organizations

Link to the full Request for Applications: https://ojjdp.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh176/files/media/document/O-OJJDP-2023-171601.pdf

Action Needed:

Additionally, Congress is currently deliberating funding for this program for FY2024.  If you would like to see more funding for the arts in juvenile justice, now is the time to communicate your support to your Senators and Representative(s).

To do so, please email or call the DC offices of Senator Budd, Senator Tillis, and your Representatives before Friday, March 24th.  You can find contact info for your Congressional Representative via your address here: https://www.ncleg.gov/FindYourLegislators.

To make contacting your members of Congress as easy as possible, we have provided the following suggested speaking points. These can also be adapted for email.

Speaking Points:

• I am calling/writing on behalf of [NAME of YOUR ORG], a constituent organization located in [CITY, STATE], to express support for funding for the Arts in Juvenile Justice Demonstration Program.
• Established by Congress in FY22 and administered by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the Arts in Juvenile Justice Demonstration Program supports partnerships between high-quality arts programming and juvenile justice systems to reduce delinquency, recidivism, and/or other problem and high-risk behaviors.
• Arts-based programs and art therapy have been shown to foster the development of prosocial behaviors, including strengthening a youth’s problem-solving skills, autonomy, self-esteem, engagement, mood, sense of purpose, and social competence, while also producing positive outcomes in school grades, test scores, and high-school graduation rates.
  • OJJDP’s literature review of arts-based program and art therapies for at-risk, justice-involved, and traumatized youths can be found here: https://ojjdp.ojp.gov/model-programs-guide/literature-reviews/arts-based-programs-and-arts-therapies-risk-justice-involved-and-traumatized
• The Arts in Juvenile Justice Demonstration Program is important to [NAME of YOUR ORG] and we respectfully urge Congress to appropriate $5 million for the program in Fiscal Year 2024.
• Thank you for your consideration of our views.