Juvenile Delinquents

By Elizabeth Franklin-Best, Esq., and Christopher Zoukis, JD, MBA

Program Statement	5216.06
Subject	Juvenile Delinquents
Current edition	April 26, 2019
Change notices	None
Supersedes	Rescinds Program Statement 5216.05, Juvenile Delinquents (9/1/1999)
Office of primary interest, as printed	RSD/WSP
Governing statute	18 U.S.C. §§ 5031–5042 (chapter 403, Title 18) — in particular § 5031 (definitions), § 5032 (delinquency proceedings and transfer), § 5035 (detention prior to disposition), § 5037 (dispositional hearing), § 5038 (use of juvenile records), § 5039 (commitment)
Governing regulation	None. There is no 28 C.F.R. part governing the Bureau’s confinement of juveniles
Related BP forms	The Program Statement’s own form list reads “None.” It does name the FBI Fingerprint Card, FD-249
Official PDF	https://www.bop.gov/policy/progstat/5216_006.pdf

Checked against the BOP policy set · 2026-09-07 · How we verify

Program Statement 5216.06 is the Bureau of Prisons’ internal instruction for handling anyone under 18 in federal custody and anyone under 21 who has been found delinquent under the federal juvenile statutes. Its single most important operative statement is this: the Bureau does not house juveniles in its own institutions. It contracts with foster homes and with private and government-run juvenile facilities, and a Residential Reentry Manager — not a prison warden — arranges the placement.

If your child has just been taken into federal custody, that is probably the fact you needed first. The rest of this page sets out, from the statute and from the Bureau’s own policy text, where a juvenile may and may not be held, what separation from adults actually means as a matter of federal law, how the rules change on an eighteenth and a twenty-first birthday, and who the Bureau’s own policy makes responsible at each step. If you are new to the federal system generally, start with what families should know about federal prison and read this alongside it.

Two cautions, stated plainly at the top because they matter more than anything else here. Nothing on this page can tell you whether a particular young person will be treated as a juvenile rather than prosecuted as an adult — that is a court decision under 18 U.S.C. § 5032, turning on facts and on a judge’s finding, and nobody can promise an outcome. And nothing here predicts where anyone will be placed or when they will come home. What follows is the rule set, accurately, so that you and the lawyer can ask the right questions of the right office.

The rule itself: juvenile delinquents

Program Statement 5216.06 sorts every case into one of three age groups, then sets different rules for each. That three-way split is the operative structure of the whole document.

The JJDPA (18 U.S.C. §§ 5031 through 5042) specifies the requirements for a juvenile who has not attained his or her 18th birthday and any juvenile sentenced under the JJDPA as a juvenile delinquent. The requirements are different for each of three groups of juveniles:

– those who have not attained their 18th birthday; – those who have attained their 18th birthday but have not attained their 21st birthday; and – those who have attained their 21st birthday.

Reproduced from Program Statement 5216.06 at p. 1.

Under 18: the limitation, and where a Bureau institution is ruled out

1) Limitation. Any juvenile who has not attained his or her 18th birthday normally is to be placed in a juvenile facility. Title 18 U.S.C. § 5039 states:

> “No juvenile committed…to the custody of the Attorney General may be placed or retained in an adult jail or correctional institution in which he has regular contact with adults incarcerated because they have been convicted of a crime or are awaiting trial on criminal charges.”

Juveniles may be placed in facilities for youthful offenders, such as those operated by the California Youth Authority, where they may have regular contact with youthful offenders who are serving state-imposed adult sentences.

Placement in a Residential Reentry Center (RRC) which also houses adults is to be considered only for those juveniles ordered by the court to reside in a RRC as a condition of probation.

2) Placement Alternatives. A juvenile who has not attained his or her 18th birthday is to be placed in a juvenile facility which has an appropriate level of programming and security.

18 U.S.C. § 5039 specifies that, when possible, a juvenile shall be committed:

> “[T]o a foster home or community-based facility located in or near the home community.”

A Bureau institution may not be designated for a juvenile who has not attained his or her 18th birthday unless that institution can ensure that the juvenile will not have regular contact with adults. Due to the many requirements for housing them, juveniles are housed in contract juvenile facilities, not in Bureau institutions.

Reproduced from Program Statement 5216.06 at pp. 2–3.

18 to 21: the five rules that decide juvenile or adult designation

This is the section most families never see and most need. When a young person is between 18 and 21, the Bureau’s designation decision turns on how the juvenile sentence interacts with any adult sentence:

b. Confinement of 18-to-21 Year-Old Juveniles. Confinement of any juvenile who has attained his or her 18th birthday but has not attained his or her 21st birthday shall be as follows:

1) For a juvenile who is sentenced as an adult pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 5032, an institution must be designated in accordance with the Program Statement Inmate Security Designation and Custody Classification.

2) For a juvenile who has no federal adult sentences and is found delinquent, placement is to be in accordance with the procedures in Section 3 for persons under 18.

3) If all concurrent federal adult sentences are less than the juvenile sentence, the inmate is to be treated as a juvenile for institution designation.

4) If any concurrent federal adult sentence is equal to or greater than the juvenile commitment, the adult sentence must take precedence for designation of an institution, and the Bureau must notify the court which imposed the juvenile sentence that the federal adult sentence is to take precedence regarding institution designation.

5) If there is a consecutive federal adult sentence, the inmate is to continue to be treated as a juvenile for institution designation while serving the juvenile sentence. When the juvenile sentence expires, designation is to be accomplished as described in Section 3.

c. Change in Placement. When a juvenile sentenced as an adult attains his or her 18th birthday or a juvenile sentenced as a juvenile attains his or her 21st birthday:

1) A Bureau institution may be designated, treating that juvenile as an adult, in accordance with the Program Statement Inmate Security Designation and Custody Classification, or 2) The juvenile may remain in a contract juvenile facility for continuity of program participation.

Reproduced from Program Statement 5216.06 at p. 3.

Read rule (3) and rule (5) together. They are the two places in this policy where a shorter or later-starting adult sentence does not pull a young person into an adult institution. Rule (4) is the opposite: an equal or longer concurrent adult sentence takes precedence, and the Bureau is directed to tell the sentencing court that it has. That notification is a real, identifiable event a lawyer can ask about.

And note what §3c says on a birthday: a Bureau institution may be designated — or the young person may remain in the contract juvenile facility “for continuity of program participation.” Both options are on the page. Continuity of programming is an argument that exists in the Bureau’s own policy, and it is worth making before the birthday, not after.

The nine placement factors

The following factors should be considered when making a placement:

– age; – offense behavior, including violence and weapons involved in the offense; – length of commitment; – prior record; – adjustment during prior commitments; – mental and physical health; – special needs; – Central Inmate Monitoring assignments; and – the safety of the community.

The Residential Reentry Manager (RRM) who is responsible for a juvenile facility is knowledgeable about that facility and can determine if a particular juvenile will fit that facility’s security and program capabilities.

A RRM requesting a designation for a juvenile shall work with the Management Center Administrator and other RRMs to identify the most appropriate facility to designate for the juvenile.

Reproduced from Program Statement 5216.06 at p. 4.

That list is the closest thing this Program Statement has to a scoring worksheet, and it is where advocacy goes. “Mental and physical health” and “special needs” are two of the nine, and they are the two most often supported by documents a family already has.

What the money looks like

One concrete number appears in the Program Statement, and families ask about it:

c. Financial Responsibility. Employed juveniles are expected to pay subsistence. The amount should approximate 25% of the juvenile’s gross weekly income.

Juveniles are expected to meet all legitimate financial obligations. Staff are to assist juveniles to develop a plan to meet these obligations.

Costs of incarceration are not charged to juveniles.

Reproduced from Program Statement 5216.06 at p. 8.

What the statute says that the Program Statement does not

A Program Statement is the Bureau’s instruction to its own staff. The statute is what binds. And 18 U.S.C. § 5039 is three sentences long — PS 5216.06 quotes two of them and leaves out the third, which is the one that gives a parent something to hold.

§ 5039. Commitment

No juvenile committed, whether pursuant to an adjudication of delinquency or conviction for an offense, to the custody of the Attorney General may be placed or retained in an adult jail or correctional institution in which he has regular contact with adults incarcerated because they have been convicted of a crime or are awaiting trial on criminal charges.

Every juvenile who has been committed shall be provided with adequate food, heat, light, sanitary facilities, bedding, clothing, recreation, counseling, education, training, and medical care including necessary psychiatric, psychological, or other care and treatment.

Whenever possible, the Attorney General shall commit a juvenile to a foster home or community-based facility located in or near his home community.

Quoted from 18 U.S.C. § 5039. Emphasis added. Program Statement 5216.06 reproduces the first and third sentences (at pp. 2–3) but not the second.

That second sentence is a statutory entitlement, expressed in mandatory terms — “shall be provided” — and it names counseling, education, training, and psychiatric and psychological care specifically. It is the single most useful sentence in the chapter for a parent whose child is not receiving schooling or mental health care in a contract facility, and it is missing from the Bureau’s own staff instruction. A parallel provision applies before disposition: 18 U.S.C. § 5035 requires that “Every juvenile in custody shall be provided with adequate food, heat, light, sanitary facilities, bedding, clothing, recreation, education, and medical care, including necessary psychiatric, psychological, or other care and treatment.”

Section 5035 also carries two separation rules the Program Statement does not quote: “The Attorney General shall not cause any juvenile alleged to be delinquent to be detained or confined in any institution in which the juvenile has regular contact with adult persons convicted of a crime or awaiting trial on criminal charges,” and “Insofar as possible, alleged delinquents shall be kept separate from adjudicated delinquents.” It repeats the home-community preference: “Whenever possible, detention shall be in a foster home or community based facility located in or near his home community.”

“Regular contact” is not the same as “sight and sound” — and the difference is real

This trips up almost everyone, including people who work in juvenile justice, because two different statutes use two different standards.

The standard that applies to a federal juvenile in the Attorney General’s custody is “regular contact.” That is the word in § 5039 and in § 5035, and it is the word PS 5216.06 uses throughout.

“Sight or sound” is the standard in a different statute, aimed at a different actor. It comes from the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, now codified at 34 U.S.C. § 11133, which sets the conditions a State must meet in its State plan “In order to receive formula grants under this part.” Among those core requirements: juveniles awaiting trial who are treated as adults for prosecution and housed in a secure facility “shall not have sight or sound contact with adult inmates” and “may not be held in any jail or lockup for adults” except in narrow circumstances, and a State plan must “provide that no juvenile will be detained or confined in any jail or lockup for adults” outside listed exceptions. The implementing regulation, 28 C.F.R. § 31.303, spells out what separation means in a collocated facility: “Separation between juveniles and adult inmates such that there could be no sustained sight or sound contact between juveniles and adult inmates in the facility,” accomplished “architecturally or through policies and procedures in all secure areas of the facility.” If a State falls out of compliance with a core requirement, its formula-grant allocation “shall be reduced by not less than 20 percent for each core requirement with respect to which the failure occurs.”

Why this matters to you: the sight-and-sound rules are enforced by the withholding of federal grant money from States, and the analysis is about a State’s plan and a State’s facilities. They are not the standard a federal court applies to the Attorney General’s placement of a federally committed juvenile. When a federal juvenile is held in a contract facility that is run by a county or a State, both frameworks can be in the picture at once — and they are not the same test. Ask counsel to identify which one is actually in play before anyone builds an argument on it.

The Bureau does not run juvenile facilities — it buys placements

PS 5216.06 says this twice. In the Summary of Changes: “Since juveniles are housed in contract juvenile facilities and not in Bureau institutions, the previous Program Objective relating to juveniles being housed in BOP facilities was removed” (PS 5216.06 at p. 1). And in the placement section: “Due to the many requirements for housing them, juveniles are housed in contract juvenile facilities, not in Bureau institutions” (PS 5216.06 at p. 3).

The Program Statement then describes the two kinds of placement it buys.

Foster homes. “A foster home may house one or two delinquents, but no more than two, in a family home, where there may also be natural or adopted children. The home must be state-licensed as a foster home. The foster parents may be a married couple or a single parent.” The Program Statement adds that “Because these homes are state licensed and house no more than two delinquents, a Bureau safety inspection of each home is not required,” and that “The contract for foster care services is with the agency providing the service, not the foster parents” (PS 5216.06 at p. 4).

Juvenile facilities, secure or not secure. “Juvenile facilities may be operated by private agencies or units of government and may be secure or not secure.” Secure means “The facility is surrounded by a security perimeter, and the juveniles do not have regular, unescorted access to the community.” Not secure, used interchangeably with community-based, “describe[s] a facility that is not surrounded by a security fence and/or that allows the juveniles to have regular, unescorted access to the community” (PS 5216.06 at p. 5).

The First Circuit described the same arrangement from the bench in United States v. A.R., 81 F.4th 13 (1st Cir. 2023), a published decision about a juvenile disposition. The court explained that under § 5039 a juvenile adjudicated delinquent is committed to the custody of the Attorney General, who places the juvenile in an appropriate facility, and it noted the district court’s statement that the designated facility “has got to be one that is under [BOP’s] contract” — an observation the appellate court said appeared to be correct.

What the juvenile delinquents policy means for you

If you are the parent

Start with the two questions that determine everything else: how old is your child, and is this a juvenile proceeding or an adult prosecution? Those two answers select which of the rules above applies, and putting them to the lawyer in those words is a more useful question than any general one.

The lawyer is your channel, not the Bureau. Federal juvenile records are locked down by statute, and the Bureau’s own policy tells staff that “when a request for information is received, no information can be provided until the source of the request can be verified and a legitimate ‘need to know’ has been established” (PS 5216.06 at p. 7). Counsel is entitled to information you may not be able to obtain directly. Route your questions through them, and do it in writing so there is a record of what you asked and when.

Bring the health record early. Two of the nine placement factors are “mental and physical health” and “special needs” (PS 5216.06 at p. 4). If your child has an IEP, a diagnosis, a treatment history, a medication list or a therapist, those documents are relevant to a placement decision that is being made right now, and they will not appear on their own. Get them to counsel.

Understand the home-community rule and its limit. § 5039 says the Attorney General “shall” commit a juvenile to a foster home or community-based facility near the home community — whenever possible. In A.R. the First Circuit noted that this creates particular difficulty for juveniles from Puerto Rico given distance from the mainland. The preference is real and worth invoking. It is also qualified, and the network of contract facilities is finite.

Know what your child is entitled to receive. Food, heat, light, sanitary facilities, bedding, clothing, recreation, counseling, education, training, and medical care including necessary psychiatric and psychological care and treatment — that is the statutory list in § 5039, and its verb is “shall be provided.” If schooling has stopped or treatment is not happening, that is the sentence to put in front of counsel.

If you are the young person

You are in a contract facility, not a federal prison, and the rules that apply to you are not the rules that apply to adults in a Bureau institution.

Some things are permitted with permission and not otherwise. Driving: “Unless approved in advance by the RRM, a juvenile may not drive while in Bureau custody,” and permission requires a valid license, the owner’s permission, a registered vehicle and any insurance state law requires; “Permission from the RRM is required before a juvenile can take a driver’s test or obtain a license” (PS 5216.06 at p. 8). Furloughs, escorted trips and community service: these may be considered, but “the RRM’s review and approval are required for any furlough of a juvenile,” community service “must be unpaid and benefit the community directly,” and the contractor “must contact the appropriate U.S. Probation Office(s) for their comments regarding a furlough” (PS 5216.06 at pp. 7–8). Marriage requires advance approval (PS 5216.06 at p. 8).

If you are working, expect to pay subsistence at approximately 25 percent of gross weekly income — but note the last line of that section: “Costs of incarceration are not charged to juveniles” (PS 5216.06 at p. 8).

And know that your records are protected by law. 18 U.S.C. § 5038 provides that “Unless otherwise authorized by this section, information about the juvenile record may not be released when the request for information is related to an application for employment, license, bonding, or any civil right or privilege.” The Program Statement adds that “Fingerprints and photographs of a juvenile who has not attained his or her 18th birthday, or is sentenced under the JJDPA, may not be used as a method of exchanging arrest information between law enforcement agencies” (PS 5216.06 at p. 7).

If you are counsel: juvenile delinquents

The Residential Reentry Manager is the decision channel, and the Management Center Administrator is the escalation. PS 5216.06 assigns the placement request to “A RRM requesting a designation for a juvenile,” who “shall work with the Management Center Administrator and other RRMs to identify the most appropriate facility” (PS 5216.06 at p. 4). The RRM is also the approving official for furloughs (p. 7), for driving (p. 8), for the timeliness of a court-ordered study report (p. 6), and for the six-month reviews under §7 (p. 6). Direct correspondence accordingly; a letter to a warden is a letter to the wrong office.

Build the placement record at disposition. In United States v. Patrick V., 359 F.3d 3 (1st Cir. 2004), quoted and applied in United States v. A.R., 81 F.4th 13 (1st Cir. 2023), the First Circuit held that because “[a] district judge has wide discretion in determining whether any or how much detention . . . should be imposed on a juvenile[,] [a] rational exercise of that decision requires at the minimum a realistic understanding of the location and nature of probable detention facilities available to the government.” A.R. remanded in part so that a placement recommendation could be made on better information from the government. Where the record is bare on which contract facilities exist and what they offer, that is a basis to ask the court to require the government to fill it.

Ask for a recommendation, but know its status. A.R. also held that no statute requires a federal juvenile court to recommend a facility, observing that 18 U.S.C. § 3621 — the adult provision that directs the Bureau to consider a sentencing court’s recommendation — is not incorporated into the juvenile chapter even though other adult provisions are. The court concluded that a judge imposing juvenile detention “may, in its discretion, but is not required to, issue a recommendation as to facility placement.” Ask for one; do not assume it is owed.

Watch the two subsections the Program Statement gets wrong or leaves out. PS 5216.06 §6 cites “18 U.S.C. § 5037(d)” for court-ordered studies of juveniles. In the current statute, the observation-and-study provision is § 5037(e); § 5037(d) is the juvenile-delinquent-supervision provision. And the study rules matter: § 5037(e) requires notice and a hearing at which the juvenile is represented by counsel, directs that “Such observation and study shall be conducted on an out-patient basis, unless the court determines that inpatient observation and study are necessary,” provides that “In the case of an alleged juvenile delinquent, inpatient study may be ordered only with the consent of the juvenile and his attorney,” and requires the results within thirty days of commitment unless the court grants more time. The consent requirement is not in the Program Statement.

Know the ceilings in § 5037(c). For a juvenile under 18, official detention may not extend beyond the lesser of the date the juvenile turns 21, the maximum of the guideline range for an otherwise similarly situated adult defendant absent an aggravating factor, or the maximum adult term. For a juvenile between 18 and 21, the ceiling is the lesser of five years or that guideline maximum where the conduct would be a Class A, B or C felony, and the lesser of three years, that guideline maximum, or the adult statutory maximum in any other case (18 U.S.C. § 5037). These are statutory ceilings, not predictions about any case.

Do not expect the BP-9 route to work from a contract juvenile facility. 28 C.F.R. § 542.10 applies the Administrative Remedy Program “to all inmates in institutions operated by the Bureau of Prisons, to inmates designated to contract Community Corrections Centers (CCCs) under Bureau of Prisons responsibility, and to former inmates for issues that arose during their confinement,” and adds: “This Program does not apply to inmates confined in other non-federal facilities.” A contract juvenile facility is a non-federal facility. The practical consequence is significant — the standard federal grievance ladder most families are told about does not reach into it — and the routes that remain are the contract’s own grievance procedure, the RRM as the contracting agency’s representative, the U.S. Probation Office where supervision is involved, and the sentencing court. Confirm the position on the specific facility before relying on it either way.

Applied Insight — Christopher Zoukis, JD, MBA, Managing Director: In juvenile matters the work that changes outcomes usually happens before disposition, not after. The nine placement factors in PS 5216.06 are not a form anyone fills in for you — they are categories that get populated by whatever documents happen to be in front of the Residential Reentry Manager. When we support counsel on one of these, the file we build is the health and education record: the IEP, the diagnoses, the treatment history, the school transcript, and a specific, named list of the contract facilities that provide what this young person needs. A placement request supported by that record is a different document from one that is not.

What changed from the 1999 juvenile edition

PS 5216.06 rescinded and replaced the 1999 edition. The Bureau’s own Summary of Changes is short, and the change it records is more significant than its length suggests:

a. Summary of Changes.

Policy Rescinded P5216.05 Juvenile Delinquents (9/1/1999)

Since juveniles are housed in contract juvenile facilities and not in Bureau institutions, the previous Program Objective relating to juveniles being housed in BOP facilities was removed.

Reproduced from Program Statement 5216.06 at p. 1.

The 2019 reissue therefore records the formal end of an assumption the 1999 policy still carried: that a juvenile might be housed in a Bureau institution. The current program objectives are these:

– Juveniles under the age of 18 or sentenced under the JJDPA will be placed in institutions or other facilities in accordance with the JJDPA and this Program Statement. – Juveniles will be properly identified and housed while in transit. – Disclosure of information and records of juveniles will be restricted to specified persons and purposes. – Juveniles will be placed only in facilities where adequate specialized programs and services are available to them.

Reproduced from Program Statement 5216.06 at pp. 1–2.

What has changed since 2019, and what has not

PS 5216.06 has had no Change Notice since April 26, 2019. But several of the Program Statements it routes readers to have been reissued, and one of them is central:

Cross-reference in PS 5216.06 (p. 8)	Edition it names	Current edition in the BOP policy set
5100.08 Inmate Security Designation and Custody Classification	9/12/06	March 6, 2025
5270.09 Inmate Discipline Program	7/8/11	7/8/2011, as amended by Change Notice CN-1, November 18, 2020
5270.11 Special Housing Units	11/23/16	Superseded by PS 5270.12, Special Housing Units (March 5, 2024), as amended by CN-1, March 6, 2025
7300.09 Community Corrections Manual	8/1/16	Program Statement dated January 12, 1998, as amended through Change Notice CN-4, March 25, 2025

The first row matters most. PS 5216.06 §3b(1) and §3c(1) both route an 18-to-21-year-old to PS 5100.08 for institution designation, and that statement is now nearly two decades newer than the edition the juvenile policy names. See security designation and custody classification.

One thing the reissue did not fix: the citation to “18 U.S.C. § 5037(d)” for court-ordered studies at PS 5216.06 p. 5. In the current statute the observation-and-study provision is § 5037(e); subsection (d) governs juvenile delinquent supervision. The substance the Program Statement describes is right; the subscript is not.

Where families get stuck getting information about a juvenile

Nobody will tell the family anything

This is the most common and the most painful problem in a federal juvenile case, and it is not staff being difficult. 18 U.S.C. § 5038 begins: “Throughout and upon the completion of the juvenile delinquency proceeding, the records shall be safeguarded from disclosure to unauthorized persons.” It then lists six circumstances in which records “shall be released to the extent necessary”:

(1) inquiries received from another court of law; (2) inquiries from an agency preparing a presentence report for another court; (3) inquiries from law enforcement agencies where the request for information is related to the investigation of a crime or a position within that agency; (4) inquiries, in writing, from the director of a treatment agency or the director of a facility to which the juvenile has been committed by the court; (5) inquiries from an agency considering the person for a position immediately and directly affecting the national security; and (6) inquiries from any victim of such juvenile delinquency, or if the victim is deceased from the immediate family of such victim, related to the final disposition of such juvenile by the court in accordance with section 5037.

Quoted from 18 U.S.C. § 5038.

The juvenile’s own parents are not on that list. The Program Statement’s instruction to staff is more generous — it says that “Normally, the information is to be given only to law enforcement officials and immediate family members” (PS 5216.06 at p. 7) — but that is the Bureau’s internal instruction, not a statutory right you can enforce. Section 5038 also provides that during a proceeding, information obtained by court or government employees “shall not be disclosed directly or indirectly to anyone other than the judge, counsel for the juvenile and the Government, or others entitled under this section to receive juvenile records.”

The route. Work through counsel, who is expressly within the statute’s circle. Ask counsel to make the request in writing and to name the recipient the statute contemplates. Where the young person is in a contract facility, the facility director is one of the six enumerated recipients under (4), which is sometimes a faster path than the Bureau. And note the corresponding notice right at the front end: 18 U.S.C. § 5032 requires that “Reasonable notice of the transfer hearing shall be given to the juvenile, his parents, guardian, or custodian and to his counsel.”

The facility is hundreds of miles away

The statutory preference is for a foster home or community-based facility “in or near his home community” — but only “[w]henever possible,” and the network of contract facilities is not evenly distributed. In A.R. the First Circuit observed the specific difficulty for juveniles from Puerto Rico.

The route. Raise it at disposition, on a record, not afterwards. Patrick V. and A.R. both make the availability and nature of probable facilities a matter the district court should understand before imposing detention. Ask counsel to require the government to identify what facilities are actually available and what they offer, and to ask for a placement recommendation — which the court may issue in its discretion. After designation, the request goes to the Residential Reentry Manager, who works with the Management Center Administrator and other RRMs (PS 5216.06 at p. 4). Nothing here predicts whether a transfer will be granted.

The eighteenth or twenty-first birthday is coming

Section 3c is the pivot. On the birthday, the Bureau may designate an institution and treat the young person as an adult, or the young person “may remain in a contract juvenile facility for continuity of program participation” (PS 5216.06 at p. 3).

The route. Make the continuity-of-programming case in writing to the RRM before the date, not after it, and support it with what the young person is actually enrolled in — schooling, a treatment program, a vocational course — and what breaking it would cost. This is a discretionary Bureau decision and nothing on this page says how it will come out. But the argument exists inside the Bureau’s own policy, and it does not make itself.

A mental health finding, and what happens next

If a juvenile is found to have a mental disease or defect under 18 U.S.C. §§ 4243–4246, PS 5216.06 directs that “he or she is to be held in a suitable facility until after his or her 18th birthday,” that suitable facilities “may include juvenile facilities and mental health facilities and hospitals,” and that “The juvenile may not have contact with pre-trial or sentenced adults.” After the eighteenth birthday, “the RRM must review the juvenile’s case at least every six months to determine if a transfer to another facility will provide appropriate treatment,” and a transfer to a Bureau-operated facility “is to be accomplished through the Medical Designator, who must also review possibilities for alternative placements” (PS 5216.06 at p. 6).

The route. Those six-month reviews are a scheduled, documented event. Ask for confirmation that they are happening and what each one concluded. On the evaluation side, see forensic mental health evaluations.

Movement between facilities, and what travels with the file

PS 5216.06 addresses transit directly. “When in transit, a juvenile who has not attained his or her 18th birthday, as well as a juvenile sentenced under the JJDPA who has not yet attained his or her 21st birthday, is to be held in a contract juvenile detention facility whenever one is available. If there is no approved juvenile facility, an adult contract jail with the capability to separate the juvenile from adult inmates may be used” (PS 5216.06 at p. 6). And the paperwork must say who the person is: the file “is to indicate clearly the juvenile’s status as a juvenile, and, if applicable, that the juvenile has an adult sentence” (PS 5216.06 at p. 6).

The route. If a young person turns up in an adult jail during a movement, the questions are whether an approved juvenile facility was available and whether the jail has the capability to separate — those are the two conditions the Bureau’s own policy attaches. Raise it immediately with counsel and with the RRM, in writing, and note the date and facility.

Related BOP policy on juveniles in federal custody

• What families should know about federal prison — the closest live companion page, named in the first screen. Orientation for a family new to federal custody.
• Security designation and custody classification (PS 5100.08) — the statement PS 5216.06 §3b(1) and §3c(1) route to for an 18-to-21-year-old.
• Central Inmate Monitoring and separatees (PS 5180.05) — one of the nine placement factors, and a policy PS 5216.06 says “must be followed” in all cases.
• Community Corrections Mission and Responsibilities (PS 7030.01) — makes community corrections staff responsible for contract confinement “including federal juvenile offenders.”
• Community Corrections Manual (PS 7300.09) — the contract-operations manual PS 5216.06 cross-references.
• Furloughs (PS 5280.09) — the adult furlough framework behind the juvenile furlough rules.
• Forensic mental health evaluations — the §§ 4241–4246 evaluation process PS 5216.06 §6 and §7 reference.
• Special Housing Units (PS 5270.12) and the Inmate Discipline Program (PS 5270.09) — two of the statements in PS 5216.06’s reference list, both since reissued or amended.
• FOIA and Privacy Act requests — the general records route, subject to the § 5038 restrictions described above.
• The Administrative Remedy Program — the BP-8 through BP-11 ladder, and the limits of its reach into non-federal facilities.
• What rights do prisoners have — general conditions-of-confinement orientation.

Frequently Asked Questions About Juveniles in Federal Custody

---

Program Statement 5216.06 — full text

The full text below is the Bureau of Prisons’ own language, reproduced from its published PDF without summary or abridgment. Source: Program Statement 5216.06 (PDF).

U.S. Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Prisons

PROGRAM STATEMENT

OPI: RSD/WSP NUMBER: 5216.06 DATE: April 26, 2019

Juvenile Delinquents

/s/ Approved: Hugh J. Hurwitz Acting Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons

1. PURPOSE AND SCOPE

To establish procedures required for juveniles under the age of 18 and those sentenced under the Federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA).

The JJDPA (18 U.S.C. §§ 5031 through 5042) specifies the requirements for a juvenile who has not attained his or her 18th birthday and any juvenile sentenced under the JJDPA as a juvenile delinquent. The requirements are different for each of three groups of juveniles:

• those who have not attained their 18th birthday;
• those who have attained their 18th birthday but have not attained their 21st birthday; and
• those who have attained their 21st birthday.

a. Summary of Changes.

Policy Rescinded

Since juveniles are housed in contract juvenile facilities and not in Bureau institutions, the previous Program Objective relating to juveniles being housed in BOP facilities was removed.

b. Program Objectives. The expected results of this program are:

• Juveniles under the age of 18 or sentenced under the JJDPA will be placed in institutions or other facilities in accordance with the JJDPA and this Program Statement.

P5216.06 4/26/2019 2

• Juveniles will be properly identified and housed while in transit.
• Disclosure of information and records of juveniles will be restricted to specified persons and purposes.
• Juveniles will be placed only in facilities where adequate specialized programs and services are available to them.

c. Institution Supplement. None required. Should local facilities make any changes outside the required changes in the national policy or establish any local procedures to implement the national policy, the local Union may invoke to negotiate procedures or appropriate arrangements.

2. DEFINITION

The term “juvenile” as used in this Program Statement refers to anyone under 21 years old who has been found delinquent under the JJDPA and anyone under 18 who has been convicted of violating the United States Code.

3. PLACE OF CONFINEMENT

a. Confinement of a Juvenile Under 18. Any juvenile who has not attained his or her 18th

birthday shall be confined as follows:

1) Limitation. Any juvenile who has not attained his or her 18th birthday normally is to be placed in a juvenile facility. Title 18 U.S.C. § 5039 states:

“No juvenile committed…to the custody of the Attorney General may be placed or retained in an adult jail or correctional institution in which he has regular contact with adults incarcerated because they have been convicted of a crime or are awaiting trial on criminal charges. ”

Juveniles may be placed in facilities for youthful offenders, such as those operated by the California Youth Authority, where they may have regular contact with youthful offenders who are serving state -imposed adult sentences.

Placement in a Residential Reentry Center (RRC) which also houses adults is to be considered only for those juveniles ordered by the court to reside in a RRC as a condition of probation.

2) Placement Alternatives. A juvenile who has not attained his or her 18th birthday is to be placed in a juvenile facility which has an appropriate level of programming and security.

P5216.06 4/26/2019 3 18 U.S.C. § 5039 specifies that, when possible, a juvenile shall be committed:

“[T]o a foster home or community -based facility located in or near the home community. ”

A Bureau institution may not be designated for a juvenile who has not attained his or her 18th birthday unless that institution can ensure that the juvenile will not have regular contact with adult s. Due to the many requirements for housing them, juveniles are housed in contract juvenile facilities, not in Bureau institutions.

b. Confinement of 18-to-21 Year-Old Juveniles. Confinement of any juvenile who has

attained his or her 18th birthday but has not attained his or her 21st birthday shall be as follows:

1) For a juvenile who is sentenced as an adult pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 5032, an institution must be designated in accordance with the Program Statement Inmate Security Designation and Custody Classification .

2) For a juvenile who has no federal adult sentences and is found delinquent, placement is to be in accordance with the procedures in Section 3 for persons under 18.

3) If all concurrent federal adult sentences are less than the juvenile sentence, the inmate is to be treated as a juvenile for institution designation.

4) If any concurrent federal adult sentence is equal to or greater than the juvenile commitment, the adult sentence must take precedence for designation of an institution, and the Bureau must notify the court which imposed the juvenile sentence that the federal adult sentence is to take precedence regarding institution designation.

5) If there is a consecutive federal adult sentence, the inmate is to continue to be treated as a juvenile for institution designation while serving the juvenile sentence. When the juvenile sentence expires, designation is to be accomplished as described in Section 3.

c. Change in Placement. When a juvenile sentenced as an adult attains his or her 18th

birthday or a juvenile sentenced as a juvenile attains his or her 21st birthday:

1) A Bureau institution may be designated, treating that juvenile as an adult, in accordance with the Program Statement Inmate Security Designation and Custody Classification , or 2) The juvenile may remain in a contract juvenile facility for continuity of program participation.

P5216.06 4/26/2019 4 4. PLACEMENT OF A JUVENILE . Juveniles are a special population with special designation needs. Each should be placed in a facility that provides the appropriate level of programming and security.

The following factors should be considered when making a placement:

• age;
• offense behavior, including violence and weapons involved in the offense;
• length of commitment;
• prior record;
• adjustment during prior commitments;
• mental and physical health;
• special needs;
• Central Inmate Monitoring assignments; and
• the safety of the community.

The Residential Reentry Manager (RRM) who is responsible for a juvenile facility is knowledgeable about that facility and can determine if a particular juvenile will fit that facility’s security and program capabilities.

A RRM requesting a designation for a juvenile shall work with the Management Center Administrator and other RRMs to identify the most appropriate facility to designate for the juvenile.

In all cases the Program Statement Central Inmate Monitoring System must be followed.

5. RESOURCES FOR JUVENILES . A variety of resources are available for juveniles.

a. Foster Homes. A foster home may house one or two delinquents, but no more than two, in

a family home, where there may also be natural or adopted children. The home must be state – licensed as a foster home. The foster parents may be a married couple or a single parent.

Because these homes are state licensed and house no more than two delinquents, a Bureau safety inspection of each home is not required.

The contract for foster care services is with the agency providing the service, not the foster parents.

P5216.06 4/26/2019 5

b. Juvenile Facilities. Juvenile facilities may be operated by private agencies or units of

government and may be secure or not secure.

1) Secure. The facility is surrounded by a security perimeter, and the juveniles do not have regular, unescorted access to the community.

2) Not Secure or Community -Based. These two terms are used interchangeably to describe a facility that is not surrounded by a security fence and/or that allows the juveniles to have regular, unescorted access to the community.

If an Intergovernmental Agreement is used for facilities operated by a unit of government, including a city, county, state, or an Indian Tribe, the RRM, in cooperation with the Residential Reentry Management Branch (RRMB) in the Central Office, must develop the Statement of Work.

Contracts with facilities operated by non -governmental agencies are to be solicited for through established procurement procedures using the Statement of Work for Juvenile Facilities, after it is modified, if needed, to apply it to the particular procurement requirements. After determining the need for services, the RRM should contact the RRMB to discuss the appropriate SOW to use. In turn, the RRMB must work with the Privatization and Special Projects Branch to coordinate the procurement process.

6. STUDY CASES . Courts may order studies of juveniles under the provisions of 18 U.S.C. § 5037(d) to provide more information or under 18 U.S.C. §§ 4241 through 4246 to determine mental competency, sanity, or whether a mental disease or defect is present.

If the study is ordered to be conducted on an outpatient basis, it is to be arranged for and conducted under the supervision of the local U.S. Probation Office.

If the study is to be conducted in a contract facility, the Court will provide the Bureau with a list of the questions to be answered by the study. If such questions are not provided initially, Bureau staff must contact the Court, normally through U.S. Probation, to request them. The study will be conducted at a juvenile contract facility capable of providing the service.

In addition to answering specific questions from the Court , the study report will augment the Presentence Investigation Report that U.S. Probation prepares. It is expected to include the results of:

• a physical examination,
• psychological and educational testing, and
• a psychological and/or psychiatric examination.

P5216.06 4/26/2019 6 The RRM is to assure the study report ’s timely completion .

7. A JUVENILE WITH A MENTAL DISEASE OR DEFECT . If a juvenile is found to have a mental disease or defect under any of the provisions of 18 U.S.C. §§ 4243 through 4246, he or she is to be held in a suitable facility until after his or her 18th birthday.

Suitable facilities may include juvenile facilities and mental health facilities and hospitals. The juvenile may not have contact with pre -trial or sentenced adults.

After the 18th birthday, the RRM must review the juvenile ’s case at least every six months to determine if a transfer to another facility will provide appropriate treatment for the mental disease or defect. When such a transfer is determined to be appropriate and the transfer is to a Bureau-operated facility, it is to be accomplished through the Medical Designator, who must also review possibilities for alternative placements.

8. JUVENILE HOLDOVERS . When in transit, a juvenile who has not attained his or her 18th birthday, as well as a juvenile sentenced under the JJDPA who has not yet attained his or her 21st birthday, is to be held in a contract juvenile detention facility whenever one is available. If there is no approved juvenile facility, an adult contract jail with the capability to separate the juvenile from adult inmates may be used .

9. IDENTIFICATION IN TRANSIT . The file or document accompanying a juvenile in transit who has not attained his or her 18th birthday, or is sentenced under the JJDPA and has not attained his or her 21st birthday, is to indicate clearly the juvenile ’s status as a juvenile, and, if applicable, that the juvenile has an adult sentence.

10. PHOTOGRAPHS AND FINGERPRINTS . Photographs and fingerprints of a juvenile who has not attained his or her 18th birthday, or is sentenced under the JJDPA, may be taken without the Court ’s permission to assure adequate identification and accountability of committed delinquents and to alert federal law enforcement authorities in the event of an unauthorized absence from custody. Distribution of photographs within the facility is authorized to satisfy ordinary security and custodial requirements.

a. Information Submission to the FBI. Contract facility staff must submit a juvenile ’s

fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on a Fingerprint Card (FD -249), upon admission to the facility with a notation in the “additional information ” block that “the subject has been adjudicated a juvenile delinquent under 18 U.S.C. 5037 ” or “the subject has not attained his/her 18th birthday but was sentenced as an adult. ” The FBI will furnish the FBI number and the arrest history, if one exists, and return the Fingerprint Card.

P5216.06 4/26/2019 7 b. Disclosure Limitation. Fingerprints and photographs of a juvenile who has not attained his or her 18th birthday, or is sentenced under the JJDPA, may not be used as a method of exchanging arrest information between law enforcement agencies.

11. DISCLOSURE OF JUVENILE RECORDS . 18 U.S.C. § 5038 limits the release of information about juveniles. Therefore, when a request for information is received, no information can be provided until the source of the request can be verified and a legitimate “need to know ” has been established. Normally, the information is to be given only to law enforcement officials and immediate family members.

Information generated at juvenile court proceedings is sealed, and the release of these records is restricted generally to courts, law enforcement agencies, victims, and treatment agency administrators. Juvenile records can be released only to meet the circumstances set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 5038.

Persons, such as juvenile facility administrators, who receive information about a juvenile sentenced under the JJDPA, may not disclose that information to anyone else, except staff at the facility directly involved with the juvenile.

If the juvenile was found delinquent and adjudicated pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 5031 et. seq., state and local law enforcement, victims, and witnesses are not notified of the juvenile ’s furlough, escape, or release. However, release of information about the final disposition of the juvenile proceeding is permitted to the victim or, if the victim is deceased, to the victim ’s immediate family. Those waived to adult court are considered adults and treated accordingly.

Retirement and disposal of juvenile files shall be in accordance with the Program Statement Correctional Systems Manual .

12. JUVENILE PROGRAMS AND SERVICES

a. Contract Agency Policies. The Statements of Work for Secure Juvenile Facilities and

Community-Based Juvenile Facilities establish the types of programs and services required for juveniles.

Consequently, it is important that the RRM ensure that each juvenile contract agency ’s policies are consistent with Bureau directives and reflect sound correctional practices. The RRM must review these policies and practices during monitoring ’s to ensure compliance.

b. Furloughs, Escorted Trips, and Community Service. Juveniles may be considered for

furloughs, escorted trips, and community service. Good professional judgement must be used by both the contractor and the RRM when considering whether to allow a juvenile such privileges. To ensure that appropriate guidelines and procedures are followed, the RRM ’s

P5216.06 4/26/2019 8 review and approval are required for any furlough of a juvenile. Community service work must be unpaid and benefit the community directly.

When determining whether to request a furlough, escorted trip, or community service, contractors, whether govern mental correctional agencies or private juvenile contractors, are to follow their policies which are reviewed and approved during contract negotiations.

In all cases, the Program Statement on Central Inmate Monitoring must be followed, and the contractor must contact the appropriate U.S. Probation Office(s) for their comments regarding a furlough.

c. Financial Responsibility. Employed juveniles are expected to pay subsistence. The

amount should approximate 25% of the juvenile ’s gross weekly income.

Juveniles are expected to meet all legitimate financial obligations. Staff are to assist juveniles to develop a plan to meet these obligations.

Costs of incarceration are not charged to juveniles.

d. Marriage. If a juvenile desires to marry, advance approval is required, following the

procedures described in the Program Statement Marriage of Inmates if the juvenile is in Bureau custody and from U.S. Probation if the juvenile is in the facility as a condition of probation.

e. Driving. Unless approved in advance by the RRM, a juvenile may not drive while in

Bureau custody. Permission to drive may not be granted unless the juvenile has a valid driver ’s license and permission from the owner of the car to drive the vehicle. The vehicle must be registered and have any insurance required by state law.

Permission from the RRM is required before a juvenile can take a driver ’s test or obtain a license.

REFERENCES

Program Statements 5100.08 Inmate Security Designation and Custody Classification (9/12/06) 5180.05 Central Inmate Monitoring System (12/31/07) 5270.09 Inmate Discipline Program (7/8/11) 5270.11 Special Housing Units (11/23/16) 5280.09 Inmate Furloughs (1/20/11) 5326.05 Marriages of Inmates (9/22/11) 5800.15 Correctional Systems Manual (9/23/16)

P5216.06 4/26/2019 9 5800.16 Mail Management Manual (4/5/11) 7300.09 Community Corrections Manual (8/1/16)

BOP Forms None.

ACA Standards

• American Correctional Association Third Edition Standards for Adult Correctional Institutions: 4-4306
• American Correctional Association Third Edition Standards for Adult Local Detention Facilities: 4-ALDF-2A-32, 4-ALDF-2A-37
• American Correctional Association Second Edition Standards for Administration of Correctional Agencies: 2-CO-4B-05,2-CO-4B-06
• American Correctional Association Standards for Adult Correctional Boot Camp Programs: None

American Correctional Association Standards are maintained at each institution and will be made available for all staff to review.

Records Retention Requirements Requirements and retention guidance for records and information applicable to this program are available in the Records and Information Disposition Schedule (RIDS) on Sallyport.

Reviewed for legal accuracy by Elizabeth Franklin-Best, Esq., Principal Attorney·September 2026