Abstract
The Model Juvenile Justice Act for States establishes a unified, evidence-based, and humane statutory architecture designed for adaptation by U.S. states. It connects children's rights and public-safety objectives with rehabilitation, proportionality, diversion, restorative justice, procedural fairness, transparent transfer standards, and measurable system performance.
The Act is organized into eight interconnected modules covering the core framework; age and jurisdiction; diversion and school-based responses; waiver and reverse waiver; restorative justice and Family Group Conferences; procedural safeguards; data, key performance indicators, and reporting; and implementation. It can support full codification or phased adoption through amendments to existing state law. Version v0.3 is an independent policy resource prepared for expert review and state-specific analysis.