The $750,000 grant will provide training and technical help from the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention for improving services to young offenders. The three-year program will be administered by the Iowa Department of Human Rights' Division of Criminal and Juvenile Justice Planning....

The grant and the education process surrounding it come as juvenile justice has become a hot topic, particularly in Polk County. New CJJP data show big increases in detentions and delinquency charges for minority youths. The advocacy group A Mid-Iowa Organizing Strategy has accused the county attorney's office of abandoning best practices for addressing juvenile misconduct, prompting County Attorney John Sarcone to dispute the CJJP data and accuse AMOS of 'intentional misstatements' and 'slander.'

Grant to Iowa Will Aid Juvenile Justice Efforts, Des Moines Register