Californians Call on Congress to Invest in Juvenile Justice Programs and Standards

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ANYWHERE , California, United States of America (Free-Press-Release.com) September 14, 2011 -- (San Francisco, CA) – Youth, parents, juvenile justice organizations and community groups are calling on Senator Feinstein to ensure adequate federal funding for programs under the Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Act and the Juvenile Accountability Block Grant. The three key programs that need Senator Feinstein’s support are:

· $80 million for the JJDPA Title II State Formula Grants Program;

· $65 million for the JJDPA Title V Delinquency Prevention Program with no earmarks; and

· $55 million for Juvenile Accountability Block Grant (JABG) Program.

“This relatively modest federal investment is essential to ensure strong federal protections for children in the justice system,” says James Bell, Executive Director of the W. Haywood Burns Institute in San Francisco. This funding directly supports critical prevention efforts to keep kids out of the criminal justice system and on the right track, improving the safety of children in custody, increasing fairness by reducing disproportionate minority contact, and providing appropriate rehabilitative services through effective community-based alternatives to detention.”

In July, the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies (CJS) proposed dramatic cuts for juvenile justice programs. If approved, the subcommittee’s proposed cuts will slash Title II Formula Grants (JJDPA) to $40 million and eliminate all funding for the Title V Prevention program (JJDPA) and the Juvenile Accountability Block Grant (JABG) program. This could mean a huge drop in federal juvenile justice funding for the entire country from $180 million in FY 2010 to only $40 million in 2012.
In the past California received $4.4 million annually in JABG funding and over $7.5 million annually through Title II funding.
CJS will consider its appropriations bill for the FY 2012 cycle tomorrow Wednesday, September 14 at 2:30pm eastern standard time. These programs are vital to maintaining strong federal protections for children in the system, promoting effective local delinquency prevention efforts, and increasing public safety.

“We urge Senator Feinstein to work with her colleagues on the Senate Appropriations Committee to ensure these cuts are not implemented,” says Bell. “These proposed cuts will devastate California’s ability to implement core protections of the Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA).”
In California, federal dollars are critical in leveraging other state and local funds to improve our justice system and implement effective reforms. Reducing California’s Federal funding will seriously cripple on-going efforts to keep youth out of trouble and communities safe.

Signed into law on September 7, 1974, and most recently re-authorized in 2002 with bipartisan support, the JJDPA is based on a broad consensus that children, youth, and families involved with juvenile and criminal courts deserve federal protection standards for care and custody, while also upholding the interests of community safety and the prevention of victimization. The JJDPA includes four core protections: keeping status offenders out of secure facilities, keeping youth out of adult facilities (with limited exceptions), separating youth who are in adult facilities from adult offenders by both “sight” and “sound,” and assessing and addressing the disproportionate contact that minority youth have with the justice system.
One of the JJDPA’s core protections for children is the Jail Removal provision. It requires states to remove children in adult jails and lockups (with limited exceptions). A federal statute since 1980, when there were an estimated 300,000 children in adult jails and lock ups annually throughout the country, this provision has effectively stopped the placement of hundreds of thousands of children in adult jails and prisons.
###

The letter sent to Senator Feinstein is available at www.BurnsInstitute.org under the resources tab

The W. Haywood Burns Institute (BI) is a San Francisco-based national nonprofit organization. Our mission: To protect and improve the lives of youth of color, poor youth and the well-being of their communities by reducing the adverse impacts of public and private youth-serving systems to ensure fairness and equity throughout the juvenile justice system.

Articles     court     crime     delinquency     Department of     jobs     national center for     texas