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Panel advances bill making Youth Justice Oversight Committee permanent and easing grant access
Summary
House Bill 1403 would establish the Youth Justice Oversight Committee (YJOC) as a grant-bearing entity, broaden its duties, and adopt a funding formula to ease local access to juvenile diversion and behavioral-health grants; sponsors said the change aims to increase grant uptake and local technical support.
House Bill 1403 would convert the Youth Justice Oversight Committee from a pilot into a permanent, grant-bearing body, amend its duties to enable broader review and grant administration, and adopt a funding formula for juvenile diversion, community alternatives and juvenile behavioral-health competitive grants.
Representative McNamara, the bill sponsor, said the YJOC was created during prior juvenile-justice reform work and has completed its initial planning; the bill is intended to remove barriers that prevent local communities from applying for and implementing grant-funded programs. Mark Fairchild of the Commission on Improving the Status of Children described the committee's work in developing probation standards, diversion recommendations and a final plan identifying local needs.
Fairchild and McNamara told senators that small communities often lack the technical capacity to apply for or administer grants; HB 1403 would allow the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute (ICJI) and partner entities to offer technical assistance and flexible collaborative service-planning structures so that local providers and stakeholders can build programs that meet local needs.
The bill includes a technical amendment (Amendment #3) to move funding dates from 2025 to 2027; committee discussion noted the amendment was necessary so awards could continue past 2025. The committee approved the amended bill and advanced it by a roll-call vote recorded as 10–0.
