Revised Alert and cover letter

Actual Cover Letter (Accompanies the JRFC Form)

October 18, 2006

Dear Facility Administrator:

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) is again sponsoring the Juvenile Residential Facility Census (JRFC). The U.S. Census Bureau is the data collection agent and we request your cooperation in completing and returning your census information to the U.S. Census Bureau.

While you are not legally required to respond to this census, we rely on your cooperation to present a clear picture of the state of juvenile justice residential programs in this country. The confidentiality of the information you provide on this questionnaire is protected by Title 42, Section 3789 of the United States Code and will only be revealed or used for research purposes. (See page 2 of this letter for more details). Your participation is entirely voluntary and you may decline participation at any time. Without your participation we will have a less than complete picture of the characteristics and services provided to juvenile justice youth in residential placement. Your response is important to the success of this effort.

The reference date for this survey is (date). Please complete the 2008 JRFC on or shortly after that day and mail or fax the completed form by (date). On the reverse side of this letter is a statement regarding confidentiality protections and an estimate of the time it will take to complete the census.

I trust that we can count on your support as we have in the past. If you have any questions, please call Regina Yates or Art Ciampa of the U.S. Census Bureau at the toll free number, 1-800-352-7229.

Thank you for your time and efforts in this important data collection effort.

Sincerely,

J. Robert Flores

Administrator

Attachments

Enclosures

The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 2002, 42 U.S.C. § 5661 provides the authority for conducting this data collection. While you are not legally required to respond to this census, we rely on your cooperation to present a clear picture of the state of juvenile justice residential programs in this country. The confidentiality of the information you provide on this questionnaire is protected by Title 42, Section 3789 of the United States code. This law requires both the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Census Bureau to hold strictly confidential any information that could identify individual youth, employees, or private facilities. The penalty for anyone violating this confidentiality is $11,000. While public facilities are not subject to this statuary protection, OJJDP’s policy is that the information collected for the Juvenile Residential Facility Census (JRFC) will only be used or revealed for research or statistical purposes, and it will take appropriate measures to protect the confidentiality of public facilities. The identities of youth residing in public facilities are protected. Your compliance with the request for information is entirely voluntary.

(Insert existing OMB statement here)

If you would like more information concerning this authorization or the confidentiality guarantee, please write to Janet Chiancone at the address below.

Janet Chiancone

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

U.S. Department of Justice

Washington, DC 20531