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New Youth PROMISE Act Editorial in the Baltimore Sun!

7/14/2014

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Below is a copy of the article. Click the article title to visit the page directly.

"Breaking a Vicious Cycle" 

Our view: Congress can begin to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline by approving the Youth Promise Act this year

For far too many young people who get caught up in the criminal justice system, an arrest or conviction for even a minor, non-violent offense can become a one-way ticket to a shrunken future that slams the door on opportunities for the rest of their lives. Being arrested as a teen increases a person's chances of being arrested again as an adult, and teenagers sentenced to jail are more likely to be incarcerated later in life as well. Add to that the nation's harsh drug laws and stiff mandatory minimum sentencing policies and it's no wonder America locks up more of its citizens than any other country in the world.

That's why breaking the so-called the school-to-prison pipeline should be an urgent priority for lawmakers seeking to reduce the billions of dollars the nation spends on prosecuting and incarcerating juvenile offenders. But decades of tough-on-crime legislation has failed to make a dent in the problem, and it's clear a different approach is needed. The Youth Promise Act currently being considered by Congress offers an alternative that focuses instead on innovative, community-based interventions that engage and divert at-risk youngsters before they slip into a costly cycle of crime, violence and incarceration.

The bill, which has bipartisan support in both the Senate and House, would fund a range of evidence-based prevention strategies that have been shown to greatly reduce juvenile crime while saving taxpayers much more money than they cost. Among the types of interventions the legislation would support are conflict resolution and gang prevention efforts, youth job training, apprenticeships, mentoring and after-school programs, and substance abuse counseling and treatment. In addition, the act would support alternatives to youth detention and confinement programs.

These interventions are based on the concept of restorative justice, an approach that focuses on the needs of victims and offenders as well the community's stake in reducing the harm caused by juvenile crime. Instead of punishment, the goal of restorative justice is to encourage offenders to take responsibility for their actions by apologizing for the harm they have caused, making restitution and performing community service. It is based on the principle that crime and wrongdoing are offenses against individuals and communities rather than against the state and that conflicts can be resolved through a process in which all stakeholders affected by an injustice have an opportunity to discuss how they have been affected by it and what should be done to repair the harm.

Studies have shown that restorative justice strategies that foster dialogue between victim and offender result in the highest rates of satisfaction for victims and accountability for offenders. In Baltimore, for example, the Community Conferencing Center has mediated disputes involving some 16,000 people since it opened in 1998. In each case referred to it by the police, courts or school system, a trained facilitator leads a group that includes the offender and the victim, their families and community residents. The group sits in a circle and everybody gets a chance to speak and hear what happened and its effect. After that participants are given a chance to see if they can make up with a written agreement about how to repair the harm.

If they do, and if everyone abides by the agreement, the case is closed by the state's attorney's office and no further criminal proceedings are involved. The center, which has an annual budget of about $600,000 and a full-time staff of seven counselors who each handle about 100 referrals a year, say they are able to resolve 95 percent of the disputes that come before them without intervention by the courts. Moreover, the program has resulted in a 60 percent drop in recidivism compared to offenders in the juvenile court system.

That not only spares youthful offenders the prospect of a criminal record that will follow them for years but saves the state millions of dollars in prosecution and incarceration costs. A study by the non-partisan Washington State Institute for Public Policy found that for every dollar spent on county juvenile detention systems, $1.98 in benefits were achieved in terms of reduced crime and its cost to taxpayers. By contrast, the benefits of diversion and restorative justice interventions like the Conferencing Center were between $10 and $13 for every dollar spent.

The Youth Promise Act, which would be funded through grants from the U.S. Justice Department, would enable state and local governments to greatly expand the use of such interventions as a way of dismantling the school to prison pipeline that traps too many young people in dead-end lives. At a time when Congress can hardly agree on anything else, it is something that lawmakers can support regardless of partisan politics not only because it will save the government money but because what we're doing now clearly isn't working. A new, more effective approach to juvenile crime is urgently needed.

Originial Article: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/editorial/bs-ed-youth-promise-20140713,0,445106.story#ixzz37SfBOyIl
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"The Hill" blog publishes article on the Youth PROMISE Act!

7/2/2014

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Below is a copy of the article. Click the article title to visit the page directly.
Juvenile justice reform should focus on our communities
By Jerry Madden

In the United States today, we have a problem with our prisons. We incarcerate our people at nearly six times the rate of most other industrialized nations, and yet we have higher rates of crime. 

While our crime rate has dropped substantially over the past 20 years, crime and our high level of incarceration continue to have massive social and economic costs to our nation.  According to the Pew Center on the States, state and federal spending on corrections has grown 400 percent over the past 20 years, from about $12 billion to about $60 billion.  Corrections spending is currently among the fastest growing line items in state budgets, and 1 in 8 full-time state government employees works in corrections.  Clearly we have a long way to go still, but there are methods we can use to make our communities safer while reducing incarceration, with its massive associated costs.

The cheapest way to reduce crime is to prevent it. Evidence based prevention and intervention programs targeted at youth can stop the cycle of crime and violence before it begins. Providing youth with opportunities and hope will prevent crime, give them a much better future, and allow them to grow to their full potential in life. A bill that would support such evidence-based approaches, the bi-partisan Youth PROMISE Act, is currently before Congress as H.R. 1318, and S. 1307. This is a truly bi-partisan issue and one which evidence shows most Americans of all political persuasions support.  Considerable scientific evidence shows that approaches like those included in the Youth PROMISE Act are able to reduce crime, create fewer criminals and provide much needed opportunity. The Youth PROMISE Act works by engaging community stakeholders at the local level. Local elected leaders and local law enforcement will sit and work together with local teachers, students, parents, religious and nonprofit leaders, and representatives of the local health community, to choose a set of evidence based programs that are most appropriate for their community. Instead of one federally dictated program, the Youth PROMISE Act allows for a bottom up approach where local community leaders, who know their local needs and resources, would be able to determine what gets funded in their community. Local communities should use evidence-based programs and make sure they get and monitor results to show if the program is meeting its promises. They also should be able to change directions if their chosen programs are not getting the desired results. By engaging community leaders in the process and achieving buy-in before the programs ever start, those programs will be better integrated into the community as a whole and be much more effective.

The Youth PROMISE Act also creates a means to help communities track the effectiveness of their programs and the savings they yield, as well as a national structure to help other communities draw on innovative and effective ideas. It provides a resource, not a mandate.

Similar reforms have already been happening at the state level. As the Chair of the House Corrections Committee in the Texas Legislature, I led an effort to overhaul Texas’s Adult and Juvenile Corrections Systems. Between 2005 and 2010, we reduced the number of incarcerated youth from 4,700 to 1,500, saving the state about $200 Million. We did this with approaches like our Services To At-Risk Youth, or STAR, program, which provides family crisis intervention services, and our Community Youth Development program, which provides, mentoring, youth-employment, and career preparation programs. These programs can show tremendous returns. A Life Skills Training program, for example, has been calculated to yield $25.61 in benefits for every $1 invested.

And it’s not just Texas. Other state governments of every political stripe have engaged in similar efforts, including Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Nevada, Pennsylvania, New York, and both Carolinas. We know that a prevention and early intervention approach can work to prevent crime. We know that a prevention and early intervention approach can save money. We know that we can put at-risk youth on a path to a better life. I call on Congress to pass the Youth PROMISE Act. 

Madden is a former Texas legislator and was instrumental in revamping the states criminal and juvenile justice systems.

Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/judicial/210990-juvenile-justice-reform-should-focus-on-our-communities#ixzz36Jq1Swer 
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1616 P. Street, NW, Suite 100, Washington, DC 20036
StudentPeaceAlliance.org      SPA@peacealliance.org     tel: 202-684-2553
Copyright 2014