GREENLEAF INTERSTATE COMPACT PROPOSAL FOR JUVENILES PASSES SENATE

HARRISBURG—A measure to ratify an updated and uniform Interstate Compact for Juveniles has been approved unanimously by the Pennsylvania Senate.

Legislative passage of Senate Bill 319, sponsored by Sen. Stewart J. Greenleaf, would provide for the commonwealth’s ratification of an interstate agreement that sets rules for the movement of adjudicated juveniles and non-adjudicated runaways across state lines. The original compact was established in 1955 when only a few hundred juveniles were apprehended across state lines annually. Today the number exceeds 20,000.

Greenleaf noted that the compact’s member states are not currently operating under a modern, uniform set of standards. "The goal of the new compact is to establish an independent compact operating authority to administer the agreement by means of a national governing commission that will include representatives of all member states," Greenleaf said. The commission would appoint an operating authority and adopt rules and procedures. It would set up an information sharing system to make management of delinquency and runaway cases more efficient and to guard public safety through improved supervision.

The new Interstate Compact for Juveniles must be ratified by 35 states in order to go into effect. If the House passes and the Governor signs Senate Bill 319, Pennsylvania will join the 16 states that have ratified the new agreement to date.