Department of Justice Seeks Public Comments on Juvenile Facility Census Program
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The Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced a plan to revise and combine two data collections into one program called the Juvenile Facility Census Program (JFCP). The plan is published in the Federal Register on November 28, 2025. The DOJ is asking for public comments for 30 days, ending December 29, 2025.
The JFCP is overseen by the National Institute of Justice and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. The program collects information from all types of facilities that house young people under 21 years old after contact with the juvenile justice system. This includes youth held for status offenses and delinquency offenses.
The JFCP will replace two earlier programs:
- Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement (CJRP)
- Juvenile Residential Facility Census (JRFC)
The program gathers general information about each facility and counts of youth who live there. There are two main sections, called modules:
- Youth Characteristics Module (Form CJ-14): This asks for details about each youth, like age, gender, and how long they stay in a facility. It takes about 4 hours to finish for each facility.
- Facility Operations Module (Form CJ-15): This collects information on services, features, and how the facility works. It takes about 2 hours to finish for each facility.
The JFCP works on a two-year cycle. Each year, both modules are given to about 1,636 facilities. Each cycle totals about 9,816 hours of work for everyone, split between the two modules. The Youth Characteristics module takes 6,544 total hours. The Facility Operations module takes 3,272 hours.
The information collected helps create reports and statistics. These materials are shared with Congress, the President’s office, researchers, media, and the public through agency websites.
Responding to the survey is voluntary. Estimated annual costs for the JFCP are $1,142,115, with each full collection cycle costing $2,284,230.
Anyone who wants to see the forms or comment on the program can visit www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Comments can include thoughts on the need for the collection, how useful the data are, accuracy of the burden estimates, ways to improve the questions, or ways to reduce the burden.
For questions, contact Benjamin Adams, Supervisory Social Science Analyst, National Institute of Justice, 999 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20531, email: [protected], phone: 202-598-6493.
For more facts, contact Darwin Arceo, Department Clearance Officer, Justice Management Division, U.S. Department of Justice, Two Constitution Square, 145 N Street NE, 4W-218, Washington, DC 20530.
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