Valid Court Order (VCO) Exception

Section 4.10

Federal and Local Policymakers and Advocates Should Amend the JJDPA to Prohibit the Use of the Valid Court Order (VCO) Exception to Securely Confine Youth Adjudicated for Status Offenses

As discussed in Section 4.8, in 1984, the JJDPA was amended to allow judges to issue detention orders in status offense cases if youth violated a valid court order. Since that time, a critical minority of states have outlawed use of the VCO in statute, and many more use it infrequently.1 More than half the U.S. states and territories, however, use the VCO exception to securely confine youth petitioned for status offenses, with a handful of states using the exception more than a thousand times a year.2

Since its enactment in 1974, the wisdom underlying the original DSO core requirement has been confirmed. Studies show that locked confinement does not address the underlying causes of status-offending behavior and may even exacerbate those causes.3 Given these findings, and the increasing capacity of states to address status behaviors without locked confinement or even court intervention, the time has come to amend the JJDPA to eliminate use of the VCO exception and return to the JJDPA DSO core requirement to its original intent.

More than half the U.S. states and territories, however, use the VCO exception to securely confine youth petitioned for status offenses.2

In 2015, S. 1169, legislation to reauthorize the JJDPA, was voted out of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Among other things, S. 1169 would eliminate use of the VCO exception and provide states with the supports needed to come into compliance with the new law within three years of its enactment date. Elimination of the VCO is supported by several leading youth and juvenile justice organizations, among them the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges – the same organization which initially advocated for inclusion of the VCO almost 30 years ago.4


1 Szymanski, L. (2011). What is the Valid Court Order Exception to Secure Detention for Status Offenders? NCJJ Snapshot, 16(5). Pittsburgh, PA: National Center for Juvenile Justice; Gannon Hornberger, N. (2010). “Improving Outcomes for Status Offenders in the JJDPA Reauthorization.” Juvenile and Family Justice Today. p. 16.

2 Gannon Hornberger, N. (2010). “Improving Outcomes for Status Offenders in the JJDPA Reauthorization.” Juvenile and Family Justice Today. p. 16.

3 Holman, B., and Jason Ziedenberg. (2006). The Dangers of Detention. Washington, DC: Justice Policy Institute. P. 4.

4 National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. Resolution Supporting Reauthorization of JJDP Act and Elimination of the VCO (March 2010) (on file with the Coalition for Juvenile Justice).