Time - and money - is running out for juvenile justice

Juvenile Law Center,

The U.S. House of Representatives votes this week on H.R. 2578, a proposal that defunds juvenile justice programs.

Despite loud cries to protect juvenile justice funding and bipartisan support for reauthorizing the Juvenile Justice Detention and Prevention Act (JJDPA), H.R. 2578 eliminates funds for the major funding avenues of the JJDPA: Title II, Title V, and the Juvenile Accountability Block Grant Program.

The Coalition for Juvenile Justice has issued an immediate action alert, calling on advocates and citizens in all states to urge their Representatives to support funding for juvenile justice. Scores of advocates and political leaders, including U.S. Senators Grassley and Whitehouse, have repeatedly emphasized the importance of adequate juvenile justice finding.

Earlier this year, leaders in the field issued statement after statement on the negative effects of decreasing federal funding and the potential negative consequences of further funding decreases. Juvenile Law Center Executive Director, Robert Schwartz noted that “anybody who is involved with juvenile justice policy around the country these days knows the importance of increasing these dollars, not decreasing them.”

In another article, CJJ’s executive director, Marie Williams, higlights the larger costs of eliminating juvenile justice funding: passing H.R. 2578 would make reauthorizing a stronger, more effective version of the JJDPA “moot, since there would be no money to fund it.”

And, Washington-based coalition Act for Juvenile Justice (Act4JJ) pointed out that such funding not only protects thousands of kids already in custody but also helps prevent at-risk children from entering the system in the first place.

Time is running out. We urge our supporters to join the Coalition for Juvenile Justice, Act4JJ, and so many others in calling on your House Representatives to support funding for juvenile justice. You can find your representative here.

 

Image credit via flickr:https://www.flickr.com/photos/reubeningber/2917292824/in/photostream/.