Ohio County Sheriff Urges Congress to Invest in Programs Proven to Reduce Juvenile Crime
Apr 2nd 2008
Washington, D.C. -- Ohio County Sheriff Tom Burgoyne testified before a congressional subcommittee today suggesting that Congress must invest in programs proven to prevent and reduce juvenile crime.
Burgoyne told the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies that simply arresting violent young criminal offenders will not reduce crime, saying the vast majority of these kids will be released back into the community with their "prime crime years" ahead of them.
"Law enforcement leaders like myself know better than anyone that we cannot arrest and imprison our way out of the crime problem," said Burgoyne, a member of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids. "Fortunately, research-and our experiences-show that targeted investments that help kids get a good start in life and that intervene effectively to redirect offending juveniles onto a different path can prevent crime, and can make our communities safer."
Burgoyne cited research examined by the bipartisan, nonprofit, anti-crime organization Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, showing that mentoring and intervention programs for juveniles can reduce recidivism, cut crime and save lives.
The Administration's 2009 budget has proposed eliminating all of the Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) and Juvenile Accountability Block Grant (JABG) funding sources to create a new "Child Safety and Juvenile" block grant. This block grant would be funded at a much lower level than JJDPA and JABG, ultimately resulting in the elimination of programs proven to reduce crime.
JJDPA and JABG funding helps states and communities to improve their juvenile justice systems, and can be used to implement after-school programs like Boys and Girls Clubs and interventions like the Multi-Systemic Therapy program -- approaches with proven crime-prevention results.
In a study of Boys & Girls Clubs, for example, five housing projects without Boys & Girls Clubs were compared to five housing projects receiving new clubs. At the beginning, drug activity and vandalism were the same. But by the time the study ended, the projects without the programs had 50 percent more vandalism and scored 37 percent worse on drug activity.
"When we know that programs like the Boys & Girls Clubs that connect kids with caring adults and constructive activities can dramatically reduce juvenile crime, it's just common sense to invest in them," Burgoyne said.
Burgoyne urged members of the congressional subcommittee to reject the Administration's proposed cuts and instead restore JJDPA and JABG funding back to their 2002 service levels.
Burgoyne met with Rep. Alan Mollohan following his testimony before Congress. As Chair of the Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations subcommittee, Rep. Mollohan will play a central role in deciding funding levels for juvenile delinquency prevention and intervention programs.
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