Troubled Kids
High-quality, research-based approaches to helping troubled kids get back on track are proven to save money, prevent crime and save lives. Being tough on criminals is critical. Unfortunately, once a crime has been committed no amount of punishment can undo the resulting damage.
Police and prisons cannot erase the agony felt by a crime victim nor can they repair that victim’s shattered life. Thus, prevention and intervention programs that use research-based techniques to prevent crime are essential to making our schools and our neighborhoods safer - before it is too late.
For more information on our state-specific work, please visit our state pages.
Juvenile Justice Programs and Funding:
The Juvenile Accountability Block Grant (JABG) provides grants to states and localities to implement programs that strengthen the juvenile justice system. JABG was reauthorized in the fall of 2005 as part of the Department of Justice reauthorization (P.L. 109-162). New provisions allow JABG funds to be used on research-based bullying and gang prevention, as well as for reentry purposes. Further, the legislation specifies a new preference for funds to be used for evidence-based approaches, such as Functional Family Therapy, which has been shown to cut rates of re-arrest in half by intervening with families to teach them how to better control their children's behavior.
The Title V Local Delinquency Prevention Program helps finance research-proven programs to prevent crime and keep kids from joining gangs, such as after-school and mentoring. Title II Formula Grants help state and local jurisdictions implement effective interventions for troubled kids.
Despite the fact that these programs are absolutely crucial in helping youth to make responsible decisions and successfully transition to adulthood, JABG, Title V and Title II are seriously under-funded and under constant threat of deep cuts.
For the past several years, drastic cuts in the budget for teen violence prevention programs have been proposed. In FY08, the Administration proposed to eliminate JABG, Title V and other juvenile delinquency prevention funding sources, replacing them with a new "Child Safety and Juvenile Justice" block grant funded at a level that is 25% lower than the total FY07 funding for the programs eliminated.
In the FY09 Omnibus Spending bill, Congress provided $55 million for JABG, $62 million for Title V and $75 million for Title II. This year, the House has proposed level funding for these programs. In the Senate, the Appropriations Subcommitte on Commerce, Justice, and Science has proposed $60 million for JABG, $65 million for Title V and $75 million for Title II. We urge Congress to appropriate the highest funding levels in the House or Senate bills for these programs.
We will also be working with Congress to reauthorize the Juvenile justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, which includes the Title II and Title V. Reauthorization legislation should increase funding authorization and direct federal funds toward proven-effective prevention and intervention approaches. JJDPA reauthorization also provides an important opportunity to substantially strengthen the leadership role of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) in providing funding for more high quality evaluation and research. OJJDP should also provide much-needed dissemination, training and technical assistance so that state and local policy-makers and practitioners may benefit from the best information about what works in prevention and intervention.
Juvenile Justice Funding Chart
Reentry
When young offenders leave juvenile correctional facilities and prisons, they must transition from confinement to "life on the outside." Research-proven offender reentry approaches provide comprehensive support to allow juveniles to successfully make this transition into society. For example, Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) provides services to youth and their families during and after a youth's out-of-home placement, including ongoing supervision by a program case manager, and frequent contact with all adults involved in the youth's life. Compared to juveniles in residential group homes, youth in MTFC averaged half as many new arrests and spent 59% fewer days incarcerated.
On April 9, 2008 the Second Chance Act, P.L. 110-199, was signed into law. This bipartisan legislation provides assistance to states and localities to implement strategic plans for providing and coordinating comprehensive efforts to enable juvenile and adult ex-offenders to successfully reenter their communities. Such efforts include access to supports and services such as: family reunification, job training, education, housing, substance abuse and mental health services. The bill also provides for research on reentry and create a national resource center to collect and disseminate information on best practices in offender reentry.
In his FY10 budget proposal the President requested $100 million in funding for the Second chance act ($75 million above the FY09 funding level). While the Full House has already approved the full $100 million for the Second Chance Act, the Senate Appropriations Committee has only approved $50 million for the measure. Figh Crime: Invest in Kids will work dilegently to esnsure that the Second Chance Act is fully funded in FY10.
Fight Crime: Invest In Kids is also committed ensuring that juveniles in comfinement have access to mental health treatment upon thier release. In some states, juveniles, who are otherwise eligible for Medicaid or CHIP, are terminated from the Medicaid and CHIP programs when they enter confinement. Unfortunately, as a result, many juveniles may have to wait weeks or months to re-apply and obtain eligibility for Medicaid or CHIP benefits upon their release from confinement, thereby inhibiting their ability to quickly access recidivism-reducing programs like MTFC.
As Congress considers ways to reform our health care system, Fight Crime: Invest In Kids will work to make sure that a provision allowing states to suspend, rather than terminate, Medicaid and CHIP benefits is included in final health reform legislation.
Gang Prevention:
The rise of gang activity has become a matter of national concern. Gangs are blights on our communities. They threaten our safety and can put children on a path towards crime and violence.
Fortunately, research has identified several effective programs that help kids get a good start in life, thereby preventing them from getting involved in criminal behavior in the first place. Additionally, once juveniles have begun to commit offenses, targeted investments that intervene effectively to redirect offending juveniles onto a different path can help reduce juvenile recidivism and adult crime. Proven crime-prevention investments include quality early childhood education, child abuse and neglect prevention, quality after-school mentoring programs, and effective interventions and therapies.
On February 13, 2009 Representatives Scott (D-VA) and Castle (R-DE) Introduced, H.R. 1064, the “Youth Prison Reduction through Opportunities, Mentoring, Intervention, Support and Education (PROMISE) Act.” S. 435, the Senate version of the Youth PROMISE Act, was introduced by Senators Casey (D-PA) and Snowe (R-ME). This legislation focuses on the use of the afore-mentioned evidence-based prevention and intervention strategies, rather than increased law enforcement, to reduce youth crime and gang activity. It would set up a PROMISE Coordinating Council to coordinate and support the delivery of proven crime-reducing programs. Also, it would establish a National Research Center for Proven Juvenile Justice Practices to provide the public with research on what really works. Fight Crime: Invest in Kids will strive to ensure that Congress enact the Youth PROMISE Act.
Graduation Rates:
In just one year, 5 percent of the nation's high school students dropped out without completing high school-that's one-half million of the nation's ten million high schoolers dropping out in a single year. The consequences of these high dropout rates are dire both for individuals and for the community. Research demonstrates that dropouts are dramatically more likely than high school graduates to engage in criminal activities. High school dropouts are three and one-half times more likely than high-school graduates to be arrested. More than 70% of America's prison population consists of high-school dropouts. A one-year increase in average years of schooling reduces murder and assault by almost 30 percent, motor vehicle theft by 20 percent, arson by 13 percent and burglary and larceny by about 6 percent. Reducing the drop out rate not only reduces crime, it saves money. Since 1990, society has lost between $1,170-$2,100 per year in costs of crime for each male non-graduate from that year.
While the No Child Left Behind Act signed into law in early 2002 technically includes graduation rate accountability as part of "adequate yearly progress," measurement of graduation rates has been inadequate and no meaningful improvement has been required. Without statutory improvements, emphasis on academic testing may exacerbate the dropout problem, since the easiest and fastest way for a school to raise its average test scores is to allow-or even encourage-low-performing students to drop out of school.
We urge Congress to ensure that No Child Left Behind reauthorization legislation this year includes provisions to ensure that graduation rates are calculated consistently and accurately, are disaggregated, and increase annually (including for each subgroup, e.g., racial groups, socio-economically disadvantaged, etc.) as part of adequate yearly progress. We support the recommendations of the coalition of advocates, researchers and practitioners led by the Alliance for Excellent Education, building on the National Governors Association's Graduation Rate Compact, signed in 2005 by all fifty of the nation's governors.
Bullying Prevention:
Many bullies grow up to commit crimes - one study showed that four of every 10 boys who bullied others as kids had three or more convictions by the time they turned 24. A program developed in Norway produced a 50 percent reduction of bullying there and a 20 percent reduction when it was replicated in South Carolina. We are working with key federal policymakers to support efforts for schools to use Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act funds to support bullying and harassment prevention programs. We will continue to work to move this legislation forward, through reauthorization of the Safe and Drug-Free Schools Act in the No Child Left Behind Act education law.
State Child Health Insurance Program:
The State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) was enacted by Congress in 1997 to increase health insurance coverage for low-income children. SCHIP provides health coverage to over six million children in families with incomes just above the eligibility threshold for Medicaid enrollment. But federal funding for SCHIP is limited and 9 million children are still without health coverage. Moreover, without increased federal funding for this program, many currently enrolled kids may lose their coverage due to funding shortfalls.
SCHIP can increase access of children and youth to critical mental health interventions, reducing later crime and violence. For example, SCHIP can help fund evidenced-based, intensive individual and family therapy programs for troubled youth. These interventions work individually with kids to change their behavior, with parents to equip them to better manage their children's behavior and with communities to move kids back into classrooms. For example, Multi-systemic Therapy (MST) works to address multiple factors-in peer, school, neighborhood and especially family environments - that are known to be related to delinquency. One MST study followed juvenile offenders until they were, on average, 29 years old. Individuals who had not received MST were 62 percent more likely to have been arrested for a violent offense.
On February 9, 2009 the President signed the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (P.L. 111-3) into law, notching a landmark victory for chilren and families across the nation. The bill increases funding for the SCHIP by $32.8 billion over 5 years, providing insurance for an extra 4.1 million children who would otherwise be uninsured.
Photos
