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Administration of Justice Bulletin No. 98/03 December 1998 undisciplined and delinquent juveniles as well as to abuse, neglect, and dependency, cases. The new code that becomes effocUve July 1, 1999, however, includes this reqmrement only for abuse, neglect, and depend- ency cases. For cases of undisciplined and delinquent juveniles, it requires only that the adjudicatory hearing be held within a reasonable time. Office of Juvenile Justice Creation Juvenile justice functions have long been carried out by two divisions in two separate departments and branches of state government--the Division of Youth Services of the Department of Health and Human SetMces (Df-IHS) and the Juvenile Services Division of the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) in the Judicial Department. The former is responsible for juvenile detention facilities, training schools, and community-based alternatives. The latter provides screening, intake, probation, and aftercare (supervision follo~ving release from training school) services. The General Assembly considered and rejected, at least for the present, two competing approaches to con- solidating these functions. One would have created a new, cabinet-level Department of Juvenile Justice. The other would have placed the two divisions' functions in the Department of Crime Cnnlxol and Public Safety or another existing department. Instead, S.L. 1998-202 creates in the Office of the Governor an Office of Ju- venile Justice (O J J) and transfers to that office the powers, duties, and responsibilities (as well as related property, personnel, records, and funds) of the two divisions. The OJJ is created by a new Article 3C in G.S, Chapter 147, which the act amends effective July i. 1999, to make its terminology and substantive pro- visions consistent with the new Juvenile Code that takes effect on that date. Powers and Duties The OJJ, and the Governor as its head. have most of the powers and duties of the two consolidated divi- sions as well as additional ones. These include the power or duty to: 1. adopt rules applicable to local human services agencies that provide juvenile court and delinquency prevention services, for purposes of program evaluation, fiscal audits, and col- lection of third-party payments; 2. establish procedures for substance abuse testing for juveniles adjudicated delinquent for substance abuse offenses; 3. plan, develop, and coordinate statewide mu/- tidisciplinary services and programs for delinquency prevention, early intervention, and rehabilitation of juveniles; 4. assist local governments and private service agencies in developing juvenile court and delinquency prevention services; 5. develop a match-based formula for funding juvenile court and delinquency prevention services, based on counties' relative abilities to fund community-based programs: 6. assist the Criminal Justice Information Net- work Governing Board with administering a comprehensive juvenile justice information system; 7. develop a statewide plan for training and pro- fessional development for juvenile justice personnel; 8. where statistics indicate a disproportionate presence of minority youth injuvenlle facili- ties. develop and recommend strategies to ensure fair and equal treatment in the juvenile justice system; 9. develop a comprehensive delinquency and substance abuse prevention plan, coordinate with county Juvenile Crime Prevention Coun- cils (described below) for implementation of a continuum of community.-level services and programs, and report the plan to the State Advisory Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (described below); 10. by April I each year, begmrting in 2000, report to the General Assembly on the effec- tiveness and cost benefit of every program operated and contracted by the OJJ. Funding Mechanism The O/J also is required to develop a funding mechanism for local programs that meet state stan- dards, to fund programs that it determines are effective in preventing delinquency and recidivism and not to fund programs that have proven to be ineffective. It must develop a funding formula that ensures that even the smallest counties will be able to provide basic pre- vention and alternative services. The OJJ is directed to allow and encourage local flexibility to determine how best to allocate prevention and alternatives hinds, and to allow and encourage counties to combine resources and services. It also must ensure that local Juvenile 8