April 23, 2014
Q.

In adult prisons and jails, can adult inmates provide inmate peer education to juvenile inmates?

A.

No.  Under the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA), juveniles may not have sight or sound contact with adult inmates in any institution.  See 42 USC 5601 et seq.  Moreover, in any facility that houses juvenile residents, adult inmate trustees may not have sight or sound contact with residents in a juvenile facility. Thus, should an agency that oversees adult and juvenile commitments for a given state decide to utilize peer educators from its adult prison system, such peer educators could not educate juvenile residents, in either a juvenile facility or an adult facility.  Even where a state agency does not have jurisdiction over adult and juvenile corrections, a program whereby adult inmates are transported to a juvenile prison to provide face-to-face peer education on any topic would violate the JJDPA.

Standard
Categories
Definitions,
Inmate Education,
Youthful Inmates