Cover Letter Draft/final

Actual Cover Letter (Accompanies the JRFC Form) DRAFT

October 20, 2010

Dear Facility Administrator:

I am writing to request your participation in an important effort being undertaken by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). Enclosed you will find the 2010 Juvenile Residential Facility Census (JRFC) questionnaire. Your completion of this questionnaire, while voluntary, is an important step in helping OJJDP identify and address the needs of young persons in residential placement. The JRFC is a continuing data collection effort undertaken by OJJDP which asks for information on characteristics of juvenile facilities and the services provided to youth housed in these facilities.

The reference date for this survey is Wednesday, October 27, 2010. Please complete this questionnaire on or shortly after that date and return it by November 28, 2010, in the enclosed postage-paid envelope.

OJJDP has worked closely with professionals at the State, local and facility level to develop a strong and useful system of collecting information on the juvenile corrections system. With both the Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement (CJRP) and the JRFC, we have an invaluable source of information that can inform policy, practice and programming. However, this system relies on your commitment and your participation.

I trust we can count on your support as we have in the past. This data collection is being conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau on behalf of OJJDP. If you have any questions concerning this questionnaire, please contact Regina Yates of the U.S. Census Bureau at 1-800-352-7229. Thank you for your time and assistance in this endeavor.

Sincerely,

Jeff Slowikowski

Acting Administrator

Enclosures

The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 2002, provides the authority for conducting this data collection (see, 42 U.S.C. § 5661). We rely on your cooperation to present a clear picture of the state of juvenile justice placement in this country. The confidentiality of the information you provide on this questionnaire is protected by federal law (Title 42, Section 3789g 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 a fine not to exceed $10,000. While public facilities are not subject to this statutory 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. If you would like more information concerning this authorization or the confidentiality protections, please write to Janet Chiancone at the address below.

Under the Federal Paperwork Reduction Act, a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. We try to create forms and instructions that are accurate, can be easily understood, and which impose the least possible burden on you to provide us with information. We estimate that it will take approximately 2 hours to complete this questionnaire. This estimate includes time for reviewing the instructions, searching for and gathering the data, completing the form, and reviewing answers. If you have comments regarding the accuracy of this estimate, or suggestions for making this form simpler, you can write to:

Janet Chiancone

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

U.S. Department of Justice

810 7^th Street, NW

Washington, DC 20531