[Senate Hearing 106-372]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 106-372
YOUTH VIOLENCE PREVENTION PROGRAM
=======================================================================
HEARING
before a
SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE
COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED SIXTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
SPECIAL HEARING
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Appropriations
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate
______
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
61-421 cc WASHINGTON : 2000
_______________________________________________________________________
For sale by the U.S. Government Printing Office
Superintendent of Documents, Congressional Sales Office, Washington, DC 20402
ISBN 0-16-060234-3
COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
TED STEVENS, Alaska, Chairman
THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi ROBERT C. BYRD, West Virginia
ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii
PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico ERNEST F. HOLLINGS, South Carolina
CHRISTOPHER S. BOND, Missouri PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont
SLADE GORTON, Washington FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey
MITCH McCONNELL, Kentucky TOM HARKIN, Iowa
CONRAD BURNS, Montana BARBARA A. MIKULSKI, Maryland
RICHARD C. SHELBY, Alabama HARRY REID, Nevada
JUDD GREGG, New Hampshire HERB KOHL, Wisconsin
ROBERT F. BENNETT, Utah PATTY MURRAY, Washington
BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL, Colorado BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota
LARRY CRAIG, Idaho DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California
KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois
JON KYL, Arizona
Steven J. Cortese, Staff Director
Lisa Sutherland, Deputy Staff Director
James H. English, Minority Staff Director
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Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and
Related Agencies
ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania, Chairman
THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi TOM HARKIN, Iowa
SLADE GORTON, Washington ERNEST F. HOLLINGS, South Carolina
JUDD GREGG, New Hampshire DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii
LARRY CRAIG, Idaho HARRY REID, Nevada
KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas HERB KOHL, Wisconsin
TED STEVENS, Alaska PATTY MURRAY, Washington
JON KYL, Arizona DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California
ROBERT C. BYRD, West Virginia
(Ex officio)
Professional Staff
Bettilou Taylor
Mary Dietrich
Jim Sourwine
Aura Dunn
Ellen Murray (Minority)
Administrative Support
Kevin Johnson
Carole Geagley (Minority)
C O N T E N T S
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Page
Opening statement of Senator Arlen Specter....................... 1
Prepared statement........................................... 3
Opening statement of Senator Robert C. Byrd...................... 4
Addressing youth violence in schools............................. 7
Increase interpersonal contact through smaller classes........... 7
Poll shows students want smaller schools/classes................. 7
Increase family support systems and family involvement........... 7
Creating smaller schools from large schools...................... 7
Importance of close interaction in schools....................... 8
Importance of parental involvement............................... 8
Involve young people in finding solutions........................ 8
Symposium for youth involvement.................................. 8
Addressing youth violence in nontraditional ways................. 8
Ed and DOJ guide to school violence prevention................... 9
Opening statement of Senator Tom Harkin.......................... 9
Prepared statement........................................... 10
Opening statement of Senator Patty Murray........................ 10
Statement of Alexis M. Herman, Secretary of Labor, Office of the
Secretary, Department of labor................................. 12
Prepared statement........................................... 14
Coordinated Federal strategy..................................... 15
Department of Labor youth strategy............................... 16
Department of Labor youth programs and initiatives............... 17
Impact of Department of Labor youth programs on youth violence... 19
New activities to help at-risk youth and to address youth
violence....................................................... 19
Statement of Donna E. Shalala, Secretary of Health and Human
Services, Office of the Secretary, Department of Health and
Human Services................................................. 21
Prepared statement........................................... 23
The scope of the youth violence problem.......................... 24
The administration's commitment to prevent youth violence........ 25
What does a public health approach have to offer?................ 26
Partners in violence prevention.................................. 27
Statement of Richard W. Riley, Secretary of Education, Office of
the Secretary, Department of Education......................... 28
Nation's schools remain basically safe........................... 28
Media coverage of youth violence in schools...................... 29
Need to overcome sense of disconnection in youth................. 29
Youth concerns as evidenced in the shell poll.................... 29
Need to end the sense of youth disconnection..................... 29
Education programs extending contact and time for youth.......... 29
21st century learning centers.................................... 30
Safe and drug-free schools program............................... 30
Necessary role of funding in supporting solutions................ 30
Congressional leadership in finding solutions.................... 30
Prepared statement of Richard W. Riley........................... 30
Lessons learned.................................................. 31
Violence prevention activities................................... 32
Future plans..................................................... 33
Subcommittee's draft youth violence prevention initiative........ 34
Additional examples of Department of Education initiatives.......
Statement of Eric Holder, Deputy Attorney General, Office of the
Deptuty Attorney General, Department of Justice................ 36
Youth violence................................................... 37
Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency......... 37
Strategy for juvenile offenders.................................. 38
Prepared statement of Eric Holder................................ 39
Trends in juvenile arrest rates.................................. 39
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention........ 40
Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention..................................................... 40
Research......................................................... 41
The comprehensive strategy for serious, violent, and chronic
juvenile offenders............................................. 43
Prevention programs.............................................. 43
Prevention--child protection programs............................ 44
Prevention--Programs providing positive opportunities for youth.. 45
Intervention..................................................... 47
Coordination and information sharing............................. 48
Youth violence initiative........................................ 48
Creation of the Office of Attorney General....................... 49
Youth Violence Council........................................... 50
YOUTH VIOLENCE PREVENTION PROGRAM
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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1999
U.S. Senate,
Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human
Services, and Education, and Related Agencies,
Committee on Appropriations,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met at 9:35 a.m., in room SD-106, Dirksen
Senate Office Building, Hon. Arlen Specter (chairman)
presiding.
Present: Senators Specter, Harkin, Byrd, and Murray.
opening statement of senator arlen specter
Senator Specter. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. The
Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education
will now proceed. That is the longstanding title of this
subcommittee, but it is an unusual occurrence when we have all
three Departments--Labor, Health and Human Services, and
Education--together with the distinguished Secretaries who are
present today to testify, along with the distinguished Deputy
Attorney General, because the subject matter of today's
testimony comprehends in great depth the three Departments
funded by this subcommittee, or the recommendations initially
made by this subcommittee, and also the Department of Justice.
Today we are going to be looking into a Youth Violence
Prevention Program, which is especially timely now, after the
incidents at Littleton, but this has been a subject which has
been timely for quite a while. This problem of juvenile
violence was characterized by the Surgeon General in the 1980's
as a national health problem. And that is the direction of this
prevention initiative.
We are seeking to reallocate very substantial funding
within the jurisdiction of this subcommittee to be directed to
prevent youth violence. This matter has been worked very
coordinately with the three Departments and the Department of
Justice, and with the President's domestic counselor. So I
think that we are all on the same wavelength in what we are
talking about. But we will have our work cut out for us in
terms of finding adequate funding and getting legislative
agreement on the objectives which we are seeking here.
We are not looking for any quick fixes. We are not pointing
the finger at the movies, television or video games, but there
is funding within this allocation for the Surgeon General to
conduct an exhaustive summary of the existing studies and to
undertake additional studies, because some have questioned the
methodology, where there is a causal factor attributed to
movies or television. So we want to get as much accurate
information on that as possible, wherever the facts lead us, to
work in a coordinated way with the industries involved,
considering the obvious, the very sensitive first amendment
issues, which are involved there.
We have had a series of meetings--three long sessions--
about 1\1/2\ hours in length each, where we have called
together the experts in each of the three Departments. Two of
our meetings were graced with the attendance of the Deputy
Attorney General, where we went through nuts and bolts. After
each meeting, the practitioners, technicians and experts went
back and worked in preparation for the next meeting, and then
the three meeting. Staff has put together, what I would submit
and others are going to have to judge, an 11-page summary for
our markup, which lays out the program in some comprehensive
detail. Which of course I will not go into now.
But we are dealing here with a coordination of education
matters on character education, elementary school counselors,
literacy programs, after-school programs. We are dealing with
health issues on drug-free schools, alcoholism, mental health
services. We are dealing with labor issues, on job training. We
are dealing with Department of Justice issues, on the youth
offender grants. That is only a very, very brief summary.
Just a word or two about where we stand in the budget
process. It has been very, very difficult in the past 2 years
to have a bill on Labor, Health and Human Services, and
Education. We are facing very severe constraints this year
again.
It is my view, and the view of the distinguished ranking
member, and I think the subcommittee generally and beyond that,
where we have to have at least $92 billion just to stay even.
That does not even account for inflation advances. The
allocation is $80.4 billion, which is totally insufficient. The
question is: What do we do?
The ideas have been advanced for some extensive forward
funding. That is not new to this subcommittee. And that is not
new to the Congress.
In my comments, I have been frank to say that there is
smoke and mirrors here. I did not invent them. I have not even
been a very extensive practitioner of them. But that is the way
the funding works, to stay within caps and to stay within
accounting techniques and practices. I am not sure exactly how
we are going to work it out this year, but we are determined to
have adequate funding in Health and Education and the Labor
Departments on all of those very, very important issues.
I think it is just worth a very brief comment on today's
story which appears in the Washington Post, which has a
headline about a 13-month fiscal year. I am actively quoted in
this story on the two statements which are in quotations. The
first says: We all know we engage in a lot of smoke and
mirrors, but we have to fund Education, NIH, worker safety and
other programs. It is a question of how we do it. That is in
quotes and that is accurate.
I am also quoted accurately as saying that: ``If the money
can be pushed off to expenditures in 2001, that would give us
the latitude of using that year's surplus without breaking the
caps.'' That is also accurate.
Underneath this unflattering but accurate picture of me,
however, it says: Arlen Specter believes the 13-month fiscal
year would ensure adequate funding for Labor, Education, Health
programs and social programs. Well, I did not say that.
Frankly, candidly and openly, I have never even heard talk
until this morning's Post about a 13-month budget.
But I do stand by the statements which I made in the
earlier quotes here about smoke and mirrors. If we can do it
without smoke and mirrors, I would be glad to sign up. I am
determined to see that these three Departments are adequately
funded. I am just absolutely, positively determined.
I believe that this initiative will help us get the
funding, because people will realize the importance of it. Much
of my professional life was as a prosecutor, as a district
attorney. You do not need leadership in Congress to be tough on
criminals. That goes naturally with political office holding. I
wrote the Armed Career Criminal bill and tough sentencing and
the death penalty and the rest of it.
But I do believe that when you deal with juveniles, you
have to deal with the web of difficulties to at-risk youth.
When we see the violence and shootings, the enormous problem in
this country, it is my conclusion that categorizing it as a
national health problem is exactly the way to go. These are the
three Departments, in conjunction with the Department of
Justice, to do it.
prepared statement
I have talked a little long, but I wanted to make a couple
of points here. We are honored in the subcommittee to have with
us the distinguished ranking member, ex-chairman of
appropriations, ex-President Pro Tempore, Ex-Majority Leader,
ex almost everything of importance, and still very, very
important, and will probably have all those titles again in the
future, Senator Byrd.
My formal statement will be made part of the record.
[The statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Senator Arlen Specter
Good morning. Today the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human
Services, and Education will discuss the troubling issue of youth
violence and how it can be prevented. To put this issue in perspective,
homicide is the third leading cause of death for young Americans
between the ages of 10 and 14. Our nation's adolescent homicide rate is
8 to 9 times higher than the rest of the world. An estimated 3 million
crimes are committed each year in or near America's 85,000 public
schools. A recent survey shows that 18.3 percent of high school
students carry a weapon to school.
Clearly, youth violence is a public health crisis, demanding a
comprehensive, coordinated national response. Last Friday, I unveiled a
youth violence prevention initiative that Senator Harkin and I plan to
include in the fiscal year 2000 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations
bill. This $850.8 million initiative calls for $330.2 million in new
funding to enhance existing program dollars of $520.6 million. These
funds, together with research dollars at the National Institutes of
Health, will provide a means to combat youth violence through
prevention, education, and treatment strategies.
Among other things, this initiative includes:
--$10 million to establish centers at academic institutions around
the country to set the research agenda on risk and prevention
factors for violent behavior
--$80 million for mental health services
--$20 million for counselors in our nation's schools
--$100 million to promote safe environments for students
--$60 million to recruit, hire, and train school safety coordinators
--$400 million for after-school programs
--$80 million to train teachers to detect and manage signs of
destructive behavior
--$76 million to expand youth offender and neglected and delinquent
programs
I am pleased that Secretary Herman, Secretary Shalala, Secretary
Riley, and Deputy Attorney General Holder have joined us here today to
discuss this important issue. Their presence is a recognition that
youth violence is a national crisis, requiring a multi-pronged,
coordinated effort.
To ensure that we have sufficient time for questions and answers, I
ask that each witness limit their opening remarks. Your statements will
be included in their entirety at the appropriate place in the record.
opening statement of Senator Robert C. Byrd
Senator Byrd. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I compliment you on
conducting this hearing. I also compliment you on assembling
the very distinguished panel of witnesses here today. I will be
very brief.
I thank you for giving me this opportunity to participate.
I agree that you have a very tough job ahead of you, dealing
with the budget. I think it was in the year 46 B.C. that there
was a 15-month calendar. So perhaps 13 months will not be
entirely out of the ordinary.
However, you can be assured that Senator Stevens and I--he
as chairman and I as ranking member--will do all we can to help
you. You do need additional funds. I think we ought to break
the caps, because we have to be realistic. But, one way or
another, I think we are going to find the money to enable you
and the subcommittee to deal with the important problems and
issues that face us.
Thank you for holding this hearing on the fiscal year 2000
Youth Violence Initiative, to be included in the subcommittee's
Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related
Agencies mark for fiscal year 2000. I extend my appreciation to
Chairman Specter and to the subcommittee for all of the hard
work and commitment in making the Youth Violence Initiative an
integral part of this year's bill.
Let me thank those panelists who are here today. They are
very busy people. One wonders how they are able to budget the
time that is in the limited 24-hour day to appear before
various and sundry subcommittees and to respond to all of the
demands that are made upon them by members of Congress and by
the administration itself and by our common constituencies.
Last month, at West Virginia University, I convened a day-
long symposium on school safety, entitled ``Building Safe
Schools and Healthy Communities: The West Virginia Response.''
West Virginia State Police troopers, parents, students, family
resource providers, judges, counselors, church community
leaders, and other men and women with a variety of backgrounds,
examined strategies to reduce youth violence. Keeping our
Nation's schools safe is an effort that requires cooperation
and collaboration. No viewpoint can be summarily dismissed as
we search for ways to protect our Nation's children.
With that in mind, symposium participants sought to
strengthen the collaboration among citizens, elected officials,
community, religious and civic leaders in identifying factors
that place young people at risk of committing violent acts, and
to then mobilize these partnerships to bolster prevention and
intervention efforts.
Mr. Chairman, the subcommittee work seems to go hand in
hand with the West Virginia symposium efforts. One of the
noteworthy ideas shared by participants during the West
Virginia symposium included the notion of expanding after-
school programs to all children, a notion that we discussed
here at some length. I am pleased to see that the subcommittee
has endorsed this important concept of providing children with
fulfilling, wholesome activities, not just between the hours of
8 a.m. and 3 p.m., but after the school bell rings.
In today's two-parent working world, it is increasingly
important to provide these opportunities. And expanding after-
school initiatives, such as the 21st Century Community Learning
Centers Program, is an important step in this direction.
Furthermore, I am encouraged by the attention that the
subcommittee has devoted to bolstering parental involvement,
particularly in the early years of a child's life, and to the
training of teachers on how to detect and manage and monitor
the warning signs of potentially destructive behavior in the
classroom.
The importance of connectivity among families, teachers and
students, and the need to foster healthy relationships cannot
be understated. These connections are integral to building safe
schools and communities.
Often a child may feel that he is just a faceless number,
an automaton, moving through a school. But by engaging students
both inside and out of the classroom, and by taking a true
interest in their lives, both socially and academically,
teachers and parents will lead the way in helping to curb youth
violence in our country.
It is absolutely critical that collaborations between home
and school and community be promoted to bring about lasting
results in preempting youth violence. Efforts at the national,
State and local levels must be designed so that all members of
the team work seamlessly and cooperatively to meet children's
needs and to alleviate more senseless schoolyard tragedies.
The situation today, of course, is much unlike what it was
when I was attending school in a two-room schoolhouse in
southern West Virginia. Boys carried pocketknives, but they did
not settle their disputes with those knives. My wife and I are
grateful that we have reared our two daughters and helped to
rear our grandchildren in an atmosphere that is much different
from that in which she, my wife, and I grew up.
These members of the panel have to deal with those
problems. They too, I am sure, can look backward and see how
things were so different back then. Things were a lot better.
I thank Secretary Riley and Secretary Herman and Secretary
Shalala and Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder for your time
and consideration and efforts, your talents and your energies
and your vision. I thank you for helping the subcommittee.
Now, Mr. Chairman, I have a couple of questions that I
would like the panel to address. At the symposium in West
Virginia, participants seemed to agree that engaging children
is very important. I would like to know what steps the panel
believes can be taken to assist in that effort. Are there
things that we could be doing to better encourage parents to
become involved with their child's education? Are there ways to
get more children involved in their schools and communities?
Many people believe that smaller schools--I am getting into
an additional question now--many people believe, as do I
believe, that smaller schools are part of the answer to giving
students a sense of belonging. You just heard me say that I
attended a two-room school in Mercer County. These give
students a sense of belonging. They get personal attention from
the teachers.
We felt that the teachers knew us and loved us and wanted
us to succeed. We strove to excel to please the teachers, of
course, and also I strove to please my foster father. I knew
that he would want to see that report card at the end of the
month. There was a special category on the report card, titled
``deportment.'' He was always very careful to note how I had
scored in deportment. He saw to it that I well understood that
if I got a whipping in school, I would get one at home that
would be worse.
So we felt that we knew each other in the schoolroom. There
were only 28 in my graduating class. I was valedictorian. Had
there been 29, I might not have been valedictorian. So we had
small classes. Teachers were not paid much in those days. They
were highly dedicated. But we loved our teachers. We strove to
please them. They strove to encourage each of us to excel. So I
believe in this small school setting.
I realize so many things are different today. But there was
a different environment in those small schools. So I think that
smaller schools are part of the answer. I would like to know
what the panel thinks.
In the Sunday edition of the Charleston, WV, Gazette Mail,
an article noted that of the seven most recent deadly school
shootings in the United States, five took place in schools with
enrollments close to or more than 1,000. The average enrollment
for the seven schools is 1,069 students. Yet, especially in
rural areas, it is a challenge to have small schools, replete
with quality teachers and learning equipment. Now how can that
balance be better struck?
Mr. Chairman, I have asked several questions, and I do not
expect each of the panelists to attempt to respond to these
here. I know the subcommittee does not have the time. I would
like for these to be on the record. I would be interested, if
you would allow me, in seeking a response from each of the
panelists on some aspect of the set of questions that I have
addressed.
Senator Specter. Senator Byrd, would it be satisfactory to
you if they would address the answers to your questions when
they begin their regular presentations?
Senator Byrd. Yes, indeed. I am sorry I probably will not
be here for that purpose. I probably misunderstood your
recognition of me at this time.
Senator Specter. Well, if you would like to ask questions
now, you go ahead and do so.
Senator Byrd. Well, thanks. If I have misunderstood, please
forgive me. I quite often make that mistake. So what is your
suggestion?
addressing youth violence in schools
Senator Specter. If you would like to ask questions, go
ahead and do so. We will take your questions now, since you
have other commitments.
Senator Byrd. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman.
May I just get your response on the large schools/small
schools aspect of my question?
increase interpersonal contact through smaller classes
Secretary Riley. Mr. Chairman, Senator, your point is well
taken. We had a conference with the Justice Department, pulling
in all the key security people of the large school districts in
this country, looking at school violence, what should we do. We
looked at metal detectors and all of the other things.
Their answer was the most important thing they thought we
could do was to have smaller schools and smaller classrooms,
where the teacher knows the children, especially young
children. If a child is struggling or having difficulty, either
making friends or bullying or whatever, that teacher would work
with the child. If it was a serious problem, that teacher would
know where to refer the child to.
poll shows students want smaller schools/classes
We recently had a Shell poll, which was a poll of
teenagers, high school students, and they said the same thing.
Some 80 percent of them were positive about the future; 20
percent were having all kind of difficulties--drugs, family
problems, school problems. But the 80 percent, as positive as
they were, said that they very much craved smaller schools,
smaller classrooms, more personal contact with each other, with
students and with teachers and principals and coaches and
families.
Senator Byrd. Thank you.
increase family support systems and family involvement
Secretary Herman. If I could just respond, Senator Byrd, as
well, to the question of how can we better engage parents. I
think it is so important to recognize that families generally
today are more stressed and more stretched for time. And we
need to do more to recognize how we can help families balance
work and family. We need to have more support systems
available, from child care to elder care to support systems,
the after-school care programs, even preschool programs now, to
help parents to have more time to become more directly engaged,
more hands on today, with their children and with family life.
It is a problem not only for at-risk youth today, but
generally for family life in this country today.
Senator Byrd. Thank you.
creating smaller schools from large schools
Secretary Shalala. I would make two quick points, Senator.
First, to reinforce what my two colleagues have said. Dick
Riley makes the point about people really wanting smaller
schools. There is extensive experience around the country in
taking large schools and breaking them down into smaller units.
So it doesn't necessarily mean that we have to build a new set
of schools that are smaller, but we can take larger schools and
break them down into smaller units--the importance is that more
than just the classroom teacher who interacts with those young
people; principals as well, should not have schools so large
that they do not know every child's name.
importance of close interaction in schools
I remember very well a story, which still haunts me, of a
young man who came to me for a job, and he was illiterate. I
asked him why he was illiterate, why he had not learned in
school, and he told me a terrible story. When he was in the
fourth grade--his mother was an alcoholic--he came to school
with torn jeans and the principal sent him home to get his
jeans fixed or to get another pair of pants. He said he did not
have another pair of pants. His mother was completely
disoriented. So he sewed up the pants himself, went back to
school and the principal said he had not done a good enough
job. So he left school.
I said: Did not anyone notice? He said: No one noticed I
was gone. No one noticed. We need schools in which lots of
people notice and listen to young people.
importance of parental involvement
The final point I would make is about parents' interaction
with their young children. Head Start is an example of a model
program which requires that the parents spend time with the
program and work with their young people. Parents are
integrated into that program, and often are hired as staff. It
has become a model for parental interaction.
involve young people in finding solutions
The final point I would make, which I make in my testimony
but I wanted you to hear in particular, is I think young people
have to be seen as part of the solution. They have to be
integrated into the strategies of the schools. They have to
take on responsibility for themselves. Peer groups are so
important, particularly as kids move to their preteens. If
young people see themselves as part of our educational and our
social and youth development strategies, they will be part of
the solutions, rather than adults just seeing them as something
we manage, with their parents, through a series of
recommendations.
symposium for youth involvement
Senator Byrd. I like that suggestion. And it is my plan,
Mr. Chairman, to follow on in West Virginia with a symposium
made up of young people, so that they will have that
opportunity to participate.
Mr. Holder.
addressing youth violence in nontraditional ways
Mr. Holder. Yes, Senator Byrd, I think you have raised some
very good points, and I think these are points that people in
law enforcement are beginning to recognize. That we cannot
think of ourselves as simply law enforcers, and do things in
the traditional way. That if we want to be really effective in
law enforcement, we have to understand the problems that we see
in law enforcement arise from a whole variety of places. That
if we want to be truly effective, we have to address those
problems in nontraditional ways.
You now have prosecutors and agents and police officers who
are concerned, very concerned, about the way our schools
operate. Because we understand that if you have smaller
classrooms, for instance, if you have good relationships
between students and teachers, all of that can be a very
positive thing, a very helpful thing in preventing the kinds of
incidents that have so troubled the Nation over the past few
months.
Ed and DOJ guide to school violence prevention
Smaller classes allow teachers to recognize warning signs,
so that they identify students who are at risk and who are
having problems. The Department of Education and the Department
of Justice put out an early warning guide that I think, had it
been followed, had it been looked at by people, we might have
been able to prevent the incidents that happened in the schools
over these past few months. A teacher who knows the students
quite well can become a positive role model for so many of our
youth who have many problems that they are dealing with and are
searching for people to model themselves after.
In law enforcement now, we have to not only do the
traditional kinds of things that we are expected to do--
investigate cases, make good prosecutions--but we also have to
be concerned with the social factors that tend to breed crime,
as well.
Senator Byrd. Mr. Chairman, I thank you for allowing me to
interrupt this schedule here. You are so gracious, as is so
characteristic of you, and I really appreciate your friendship
and your scholarship. And I appreciate you as a fellow
colleague in the Senate. I do not see any aisle separating you
and me. And I thank Senator Harkin, as well.
Senator Specter. Well, thank you, Senator Byrd, for those
generous comments. We appreciate your being here. And we are
flexible enough to allow a question or two at any time.
Senator Byrd. Thank you.
Senator Specter. We will get along fine with that schedule.
Senator Byrd. I thank the panelists, again.
Senator Specter. Thank you.
Senator Harkin, our distinguished ranking member.
opening statement of senator tom harkin
Senator Harkin. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Again, I
apologize for being a little late. I had a longstanding
engagement over in Crystal City.
I will just ask that my statement be made a part of the
record.
Senator Specter. Without objection.
Senator Harkin. Again, I want to commend you, Mr. Chairman,
for drawing attention to the issue of school violence, for
taking a strong leadership role in the very bipartisan way that
you have done this. Again, I want to commend you for calling
today's hearings and to thank you for your leadership in this
area.
prepared statement
I will just ask that the rest of my statement be made a
part of the record.
Senator Specter. Thank you very much, Senator Harkin.
[The statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Senator Tom Harkin
I want to commend our Chairman for drawing attention to and taking
the leadership role in the battle against school violence. The
bipartisan initiative he has put forward reflects a comprehensive
prevention-focused response to this major problem. I also want to
commend him for calling today's hearing so that we may discuss with out
skillful and dedicated Secretaries of Education, Health, and Labor, and
the Deputy Attorney General of the Department of Justice how we can
work together to achieve our common goals.
It is truly disturbing that a nation as rich as ours has an
adolescent homicide rate 8 to 9 times higher than the rest of the
world. That is a national disgrace.
Violence in our schools is both unwarranted and intolerable. We all
agree now that this is a multifaceted problem--not just the
responsibility of one particular group. Everyone must pitch in--law
enforcement officers, teachers, parents, students, policymakers,
religious, business, and civic leaders, and the health care community.
This summer, Senator Specter and I met with members of the
entertainment industry to discuss their role in quelling violence in
our society. As I am certain you will all agree, this is no time for
finger-pointing. It is time for coordinated action.
We have all contributed in some way to the problems we face today.
In fact, I would guess that every one of us has sent messages to our
children that, in hindsight, we wish we hadn't--by condoning cliquish
behavior among our children, by turning a blind eye to displays of
intolerance or abuse, or by being too busy to listen and watch more
closely for signs that could indicate the need for intervention in a
child's life.
That is why I believe very strongly that elementary and secondary
school counseling programs are vital to the success of our efforts.
I want to thank Senator Specter for including $20 million in his
Initiative to expand the number of counselors in our nation's
elementary schools.
We know from experience that programs like Smoother Sailing can
make a difference, especially in the early grades. Teaching young
people to manage anger and resolve conflict peaceably in the early
grades can certainly provide many of the tools and skills children will
need throughout their lives. There are times when I think perhaps
Members of Congress could benefit from such skills as well! But that is
for another discussion.
In closing, I must stress the importance of this initiative's focus
on prevention.
Too often we want to have a quick fix that misses the underlying
causes of the problem. We don't look at the children involved and the
circumstances they face. We don't look at what preventive steps could
have been taken.
For example, a child who is facing abuse at home may not have
access to the counseling he needs; a child with a disability that
causes her to act out may not be receiving the behavioral interventions
she needs.
And another child who goes home to a neighborhood controlled by
gangs may not have access to an after-school program that could make
all the difference.
We must do all we can to help students face these and other
problems so they can succeed and so our schools can be safe.
I look forward to hearing the testimony presented today by
Secretary Riley, Secretary Shalala, Secretary Herman, and Deputy
Attorney General Holder.
And I look forward to working with all of you in our collective
efforts to provide safe schools and safe, healthy communities in which
all America's children can learn and grow into healthy adults.
Opening statement of Senator Patty Murray
Senator Specter. Senator Murray, do you have an opening
statement?
Senator Murray. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will not make a
long opening statement. I just want to thank the panelists, all
of them, who have been very involved in this issue and who have
worked very hard to make sure that young people across this
country feel connected.
I think Senator Byrd's opening statement and his questions
really touched on the heart of what is wrong. That is that a
lot of young people do not feel connected today. There is no
simple, single answer. But certainly we need to work at every
level to make sure that more people are involved, pay attention
to our young people, and connect them to the rest of their
community.
I absolutely agree that smaller class sizes are essential.
That is something I have worked very long and hard on. Because
I know that if a teacher knows their kids, they are much less
likely to have incidents like this. I thank Senator Byrd for
his strong support of that.
I think we have to also make sure that parents have the
time to be involved. When you ask parents why are not you
involved with their child, they are at work. They have to be in
today's world. I have introduced legislation to extend the use
of family and medical leave, to allow parents time off to
participate with their child in their school. I think we have
to set those examples and set that tone in this country so that
it is acceptable in our society for parents to participate with
their kids again and not fear losing their job if that is
there. I think jobs are important. We all have one. But we have
to also tell parents it is OK to be a parent, too. So I think
that is extremely important.
I think we have to reconnect our communities, our
businesses, our nonprofit groups with their involvement with
young people today. I hope that each one of us, as adults,
takes the time to smile at a young person in a mall instead of
passing them by and looking away. Because I think it is a very
important part of their lives, and a lot of them do feel that
adults are not connected.
There is a lot of work to be done, and I appreciate Senator
Specter taking this issue on and looking at it in a very broad
perspective, and all the panelists who are involved. I would
just urge all of us to involve students in this, as well. I
have a group I call my Senate Advisory Youth Involvement Team,
my SAYIT group. They are a young group of students in my State
who advise me on policy. I meet with them on a quarterly basis,
and we connect through E-mail and on telephone calls. My goal
is to make them understand that the policy we do here affects
them, but also to be a listener to all of them.
Senator Byrd, I think when you have your forum that you
will find that they have a lot of ideas and are worth listening
to, as I am sure you know, as well.
So I hope, in your legislation, Senator Specter, we were to
involve students in the decisionmaking process and get their
input as we go along, too. Because they are the ones who really
know what the solutions are.
So I thank the panelists and I thank Senator Specter.
Senator Specter. Thank you very much, Senator Murray.
We now turn to our distinguished panel. Considering the
sequence of speakers, I was searching for a way to do this with
appropriate protocol. I found that there was an absolute
answer, that I did not have to reinvent the wheel. The answer
is that secretaries are recognized in the sequence in which
their departments were created. So, that is that.
We turn first to the very distinguished Secretary of Labor,
whose Department was organized in 1913. The question probably
is in some minds when the other Departments were established.
We will let you know when we come to them in the sequence.
STATEMENT OF ALEXIS M. HERMAN, SECRETARY OF LABOR,
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF
LABOR
Secretary Alexis Herman was confirmed in May of 1997. Prior
to that, she served as Assistant to the President as the
Director of White House Public Liaison. Her career in public
service goes back to the Carter administration, where she was
the Director of the Women's Bureau. She is a graduate of Xavier
University, in New Orleans. We welcome you here again, Madam
Secretary, and look forward to your testimony.
Our practice is to have 5-minute intervals. So we will put
the green lights on. But we do not expect you to stop
necessarily at the red, considering your lofty position and the
importance of this subject.
Secretary Herman. Thank you very, very much, Mr. Chairman.
And thank you for convening this most important hearing. To
you, to Senator Harkin, Senator Byrd, Senator Murray, to the
distinguished members of this subcommittee in their absence, we
are very pleased to be with you today. I am very happy to join
my colleagues, Secretary Riley, Secretary Shalala, and Deputy
Attorney General Eric Holder, to describe to you the
administration's wide-ranging approach to this urgent national
problem of youth violence.
In Colorado, Oregon, Arkansas, and too many of our American
States, we have seen great tragedies. All of us have shared in
the grief of the young people and their parents. It is
altogether necessary that we work together to find ways to
solve this problem.
I believe that youth violence, that this problem reflects
the reality, as you have said, that a growing number of our
Nation's young people feel disconnected and disenfranchised.
They feel left out and they are frustrated. Many youth in our
poorest communities are unemployed, undereducated and idle.
Crime rates rise as a result, and they feel no opportunities
exist for them to be successful.
All of us want the best for our children. We want them to
have all of the knowledge, skills and tools that they can have
to achieve and to succeed. We need to provide hope to left-
behind kids in left-behind communities, to make sure that young
people from our rural communities, from our inner cities, have
a real shot to be a part of the inner circles of opportunities.
I have made the issue of working with young people a top
priority for most of my life, and certainly a top priority now
for me as Secretary of Labor. I believe it is important to
provide viable alternatives to life on the streets.
I know, Mr. Chairman, that you have recognized this need
for alternative choices very early on. You certainly have been
at the helm of our efforts to provide leadership to our Youth
Offender projects. When you and I had the opportunity to visit,
in Philadelphia, this past May with you and Mayor Rendell and
the District Attorney, to award one of the Department of
Justice and the Department of Labor Youth Offender grants, we
heard firsthand from young people there about their criminal
records and the fact that they want jobs. We heard in
particular from one young man, Kenneth Dulaney, who told us in
his own words:
I began hanging out with the wrong crowd. I started smoking
weed and selling drugs at age 14. I dropped out at 16 and
started selling drugs and robbing people for a full-time job.
If I could rewind the time, if I could go back, it would all be
good. But I can't.
He was introduced to Ralph Midora, who now runs the TOPS
program in Philadelphia, at Simon Gratz High School. He helped
this young man to realize that there was more to life than
violence. He said to us: Now I'm working full-time and also
attending high school. I will be the first male in my family to
graduate in three generations.
Unfortunately, Kenneth's story is not alone. We know today
that there are nearly 15 million out-of-school youth. Almost 90
percent do not have a college degree; 70 percent of them have a
high school degree or less. That is over 10 million kids.
The Urban Institute estimates that the lost wage potential
of each year's half-million high school dropouts adds up to $88
billion in lost revenue to our economy, and that the added
crime rate for high male dropouts is an additional $33 billion
in costs to society. That is unacceptable.
We cannot comfort ourselves by assuming that these young
people will ultimately make their way out of trouble and into
the work force. Because when we take a hard look at this
population, we know that they live in communities where jobs
have dried up, where support networks have broken down. They
face a new world economy that will literally be unforgiving to
them without the skills to get ahead. When young people cannot
fulfill their potential, America cannot fulfill its promise. We
have to do better.
We must make sure that we help these young people turn
their lives around. We can do this, in part I believe, by
recognizing that the best crime prevention strategy is in fact
a jobs promotion strategy. As a part of this effort, I strongly
urge Congress to support the President's $2.7 billion fiscal
year 2000 request for the Department's investment in at-risk
youth. We have a new delivery system that is a part of the new
bipartisan Work Force Investment Act. We have now Youth
Opportunity grants that go to high poverty areas. We need to
continue funding our longstanding commitments, in particular to
Job Corps.
Funding these investments, I believe, need to be a part of
a three-part strategy. First, we need to engage the whole
person. Second, we need to engage the whole community. Third,
we need models that will actually work.
Engaging the whole person means that we can no longer
simply look at hard skills, but all of the interpersonal skills
that are also necessary today. Engaging whole communities means
exactly that--faith-based communities, community based
organizations, law enforcement communities. We all have a role
to play. Then, we need to look at the model communities and
look at the model efforts that are working.
I am very pleased that we have launched something that is
now called the YO! Movement, the Youth Opportunity Movement,
where we are working very closely with the private sector to do
just that. Since July, we have been able to raise $30 million,
and we have been able to generate an additional 4,000 in jobs
for commitment to our Youth Opportunity Movement.
As we look to the future, I know that you recognize that we
can ill afford to have a generation of young people who may
never know what it is to work. You know the better some of us
do, the better all of us do. We do not have a person to waste
in this new economy. We certainly do not have a generation to
lose.
I look forward to working with you on this most important
effort as we go forward together into the new millennium.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Specter. Thank you very much, Secretary Herman.
[The statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Alexis M. Herman
Mr. Chairman, and distinguished Members of the Subcommittee: I am
pleased to have the opportunity to testify before you today concerning
the Department of Labor's commitment to alleviating the pervasiveness
of youth violence in the United States. Mr. Chairman, I commend your
leadership in holding this hearing on such an important national
problem.
With the 15 shooting deaths at Columbine High School, along with
other shootings in the broader community that we witness all too
frequently through the media, our Nation is quite appropriately shocked
at the severity of youth violence in this country. In 1997, 6,083 young
people between the ages of 15 and 24 were victims of homicide. That is
an average of 17 youth killed in the U.S. every day. And over the past
decade, there was an annual average of nearly 400,000 crimes against
another person committed by young people.
I believe the youth violence problem reflects the reality that a
growing number of our Nation's young people feel disconnected and
disenfranchised from our communities. When our youth feel as if they
have no role in society and no educational or employment opportunities,
the likelihood of becoming involved in delinquent and violent
activities increases. In particular, out-of-school youth in our poorest
communities often lack access to adequate educational and employment
opportunities. In these communities, high unemployment rates and low
educational attainment levels are often inextricably linked to high
crime rates. I believe that these various problems are symptoms of
lowered expectations and the belief among young people in our poorest
neighborhoods that no real opportunities exist for them to be
successful in a career, or to live and work at a level above the
poverty line.
All of us--wherever we are in this world--want the very best for
our children. We want our children to have all the knowledge, skills
and tools that they will need to meet the challenges they will face in
being successful, contributing members of our society in the 21st
Century, including the challenges of next century's workplaces. Our
young people will benefit from early work experiences--they learn
responsibility, punctuality, working productively with others, and many
other important skills that can last a lifetime.
As Secretary of Labor, I have made as one of my top priorities
providing youth with viable alternatives to life on the streets. Our
Department's vision for young people is very clear: that all youth,
particularly those out of-school, acquire the necessary skills and work
experience to successfully transition into adulthood, further education
and training, and careers. If we are to succeed in stemming the youth
violence problem that threatens our communities and families, we must
begin by building opportunities for at-risk young people and out-of-
school youth to acquire skills and gain jobs so that they can become
productive, contributing members of their communities. I firmly believe
that one of the most effective ways to keep young people from turning
to crime is to provide ample opportunities to succeed. That is why it
is imperative that the Department's programs for at-risk youth be fully
funded at the President's request level.
While we want our young people to have opportunities for
instructive and constructive early work experiences, at the same time,
these experiences must enhance, not compete with their education. And,
above all, we want our children's work experiences to be safe.
Mr. Chairman, you recognized the connection between employment,
education and training opportunities for youth and the prevention of
juvenile crime early on. It was under your leadership that Congress
established the Youth Offender projects to increase education levels
and employment and reduce recidivism and gang involvement among youth
offenders.
When I was in Philadelphia this past May with you, Mayor Rendell,
and the District Attorney to award one of the Youth Offender grants
which the Department of Labor jointly carries out with the Department
of Justice, we heard first hand from youth with criminal records that
they want jobs. Their pasts have often been filled with despair and
poor choices, but they desperately want to look to the future and to
believe there is opportunity ahead of them. As Kenneth Dulaney told us
in his own words, ``I began hanging with the wrong crowd. I started
smoking weed and selling drugs at age 14. . . . I dropped out at 16 and
started selling drugs and robbing people as a full time job. If I could
rewind the time to when it was all good, I would, but I can't.'' He was
introduced to Ralph Midora, who runs the TOPS program at Simon Gratz
High School. ``Mr. Midora helps me realize that there's more to life
than violence. Now I'm working a full time job and also attending Simon
Gratz High School. I will be the first male in my family to graduate in
three generations.'' And Adelina Costible, a 17 year-old from South
Philadelphia echoed the need for training and employment opportunities.
Adelina, who was recently discharged from the Gannondale juvenile
correctional facility and is now enrolled in a GED program, wants to
find a job where she can live with her grandmother, stay off the
streets, and be a productive member of society. She believes that with
meaningful work she can turn her life around. I believe this too.
And Kenneth and Adelina are not alone. I have met with youth from
all parts of the country, and the number one concern they raise is the
need for jobs. Young adults know that in order to succeed in today's
dynamic economy, they need skills and they need someone to show them
the path to opportunity.
While this country has been experiencing an extended period of
economic growth, geographic pockets of extreme poverty still exist in
both urban and rural areas across the country. Young people living in
these poverty areas are simply not afforded the same educational and
employment opportunities as youth in other areas. The employment rate
for young high school dropouts who live in urban poverty areas is 45
percent. The comparable rate for dropouts in rural poverty areas is 49
percent.
We know that unemployment rates are closely linked to educational
attainment. In America's largest urban school districts, less than 50
percent of each year's entering 9th grade class graduate from high
school four years later. This statistic represents many youth who never
complete high school and who are at risk of never having a productive
career. Worse yet, many of those youth become caught up in a culture of
violence and crime.
We also know that persons living in high-poverty neighborhoods are
more likely to be perpetrators or victims of violent crime. A study by
the Vera Institute shows that a disproportionate number of prison
inmates were raised in high-poverty neighborhoods. Children in families
with annual incomes of under $15,000 are 22 times more likely than
children in families with incomes of $30,000 to suffer from abuse and
neglect. Hispanic and other minority youth are disproportionately
affected by crime and violence in this country. Homicide is the leading
cause of death for African-American youth ages 15 to 24. African-
American males in that age group are ten times more likely to be
murdered with a gun than their white peers.
The lack of economic development in poor communities, whether urban
or rural areas, means less after-school or part-time work for young
people. The high levels of unemployment among adults mean that young
people do not have effective networks of job information or the ability
to get jobs through informal means, such as referrals from family and
friends. And economic hardship in their neighborhoods means that the
major social institutions that help in employment, such as schools,
churches, and community organizations, face significantly higher
barriers in their efforts to help young people.
coordinated federal strategy
Given the multiple factors influencing our young peoples' success,
and the multiple public and private entities and programs which can
help youth transition to adulthood, it is imperative that we have a
coordinated youth strategy at the national level in order to maximize
the impact of our Federal resources at the local level. As you know,
the Administration is considering establishment of a youth violence
council that would build on the existing collaboration between the
Departments of Labor, Education, Health and Human Services, Justice and
other Federal agencies, to increase policy coordination and assist in
program integration in ways that benefit local communities.
Mr. Chairman, your leadership in Congress has also brought much
needed attention to the value of a national strategy for addressing
youth violence. My staff has appreciated the opportunity to engage in
the cross-disciplinary discussions about youth violence which you have
chaired. Today's hearing is another important step towards bringing
focused attention to one of the most serious social problems facing our
country. Let me explain in a bit more detail how the Department of
Labor has been working with other Federal agencies, State and local
governments, and private sector partners to address youth issues.
department of labor youth strategy
We know that no community can thrive if large numbers of its youth
and adults are unemployed. To address chronic joblessness in high-
poverty communities, our research and program experience tell us that
we need a combination of efforts to intensify local economic
development, boost employment rates of young adults, and increase the
long- term educational attainment of children growing up in these
areas. Simply put, community resources have to be brought together to
create jobs, and competent, caring adults must work to ensure that our
young people are prepared for and can be placed in them.
At the Department of Labor we are working fervently to do just that
through an all-encompassing strategy called the Youth Opportunity
Movement (YO!). We are working through local communities to build
partnerships among government, community and faith-based organizations
and business and labor leaders--and also with youth to ensure that
young people are prepared for the jobs of the 21st century and can
share in the benefits of our growing economy. The YO! Movement focuses
on the ``whole person'' and engages the whole community to bridge gaps
and break cycles that lead to poverty and despair.
In early July while in the Watts area of Los Angeles for an event
with the President's New Markets tour, the President and I kicked off
the YO! Movement. The New Markets initiative seeks to extend the
economic prosperity enjoyed by so many in this country to those in our
poorest geographic areas. The YO! Movement specifically targets the
youth in these areas for increased job opportunities, as well as
increased academic and skill attainments.
The Los Angeles event has resulted in the commitment of over 4,000
jobs by major employers and over $30 million in private sector funds
for at-risk youth in 11 disadvantaged communities across the country
that are currently receiving Youth Opportunity demonstration funds from
the Department of Labor. My staff is using these national commitments
by employers, foundations, and other organizations to foster the
creation of jobs and training opportunities to improve the
employability prospects for youth living in those local areas.
Too often in the past, we mistakenly assumed that merely providing
Federal money to local areas, particularly impoverished local areas,
would remedy problems that had been building up over many years. The
Federal investment that was provided to these areas was never enough to
serve more than a small fraction of the eligible population--often less
than 10 percent. Now, though, we appreciate that the coordination and
support of multiple organizations, at all levels, is required. Local
communities need the attention and involvement of employers, foundation
leaders, organization directors, and others able to provide the local
opportunities our young people need. That involvement, though, has to
be real. It has to move beyond event strategies and large national
meetings. The Federal Government's role has to become that of helping
to actualize those commitments and connections to make an impact at the
local level and, in some cases, sustain that impact after the cessation
of Federal funds. In the case of Youth Opportunity Grants, for example,
the Federal financial commitment is not a permanent contribution but
rather seed money designed to assist in the development of a permanent
investment in youth at the local level.
The first step towards doing so is to ensure that we--at the
Federal level--strategically coordinate and integrate our programs and
resources. At the Department of Labor we will soon release a ``How-to-
Guide'' for local leaders interested in building their own YO!
Movement. This resource guide shares examples of programs that
exemplify key principles--such as comprehensive services, long-term
follow-up, the involvement of caring adults, and a commitment of
excellence--along with suggestions for how to effectively involve
foundations, employers, and community-based organizations in meeting
the employment and training needs of young adults.
department of labor youth programs and initiatives
There are several ways the Department of Labor adds value to the
resources Congress provides to reduce the incidence of youth violence
in our society. The President's fiscal year 2000 request includes over
$2.7 billion for the Department's investments in at-risk youth. Fully
funding this request, which would serve almost 800,000 youth, is an
important part of addressing the youth violence problem. Our largest
investments come under the new Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA)
that we are now implementing and that becomes fully effective on July
1, 2000. WIA makes a number of reforms and improvements to youth
programs currently operating under the Job Training Partnership Act.
For example, WIA focuses on providing youth assistance in achieving
both academic and occupational learning; acquiring leadership skills
and offering youth development activities; making a commitment to youth
through long-term follow-up services; and preparing young people for
education, training, and eventual employment. The President's fiscal
year 2000 request includes $1 billion for WIA formula-funded youth
programs, an amount that is essential for these improved programs to
succeed.
One of the major reforms of the WIA is the establishment of a youth
council in each local workforce investment area. The youth council is a
subgroup of the local workforce investment board and is responsible for
recommending and coordinating the youth policies and programs within
the specific geographic area. In accord with the legislative intent of
WIA, we are promoting the local youth council as an important tool for
broadening participation in the design and delivery of youth services
in order to enhance coordination and effectiveness at the local level.
For example, we are currently working with the Department of Justice to
encourage the participation of local juvenile justice officials on
local youth councils. Likewise, we expect education representatives
from local school-to-work partnerships and youth health practitioners
to join the youth councils. Ultimately, young people and their parents
will benefit because they will be able to take full advantage of
available youth assistance, regardless of the funding source. In
addition, area service providers that include local workforce,
education, and community- and faith-based organizations, will be better
able to guide our young people to services most suited to meet their
diverse needs.
WIA also authorizes $250 million a year for five years for Youth
Opportunity Grants, and the President's fiscal year 2000 request
includes $250 million for this important initiative. These competitive
grants to highly impoverished areas will provide them with the funds to
improve the employability prospects for their youth. The mission is
simple: that youth in our Nation's poorest areas, particularly those
who are out-of-school, acquire the necessary skills and experiences to
successfully transition into adulthood and viable careers. All too
often the transition to adulthood is made as a member of a gang,
disconnected from any caring and responsible adults. In the worst
cases, they never have a chance to become adults.
This reality truly raises the stakes for our Youth Opportunity
Grant initiative. The Youth Opportunity Grants, building on those 11
initial demonstration projects that I spoke of earlier, offer a chance
to build improved systems for addressing the needs of youth in high
poverty areas. I envision that these grants will be used as a
complement to our formula funds, Youth Offender Grants, Safe Schools/
Healthy Students grants, Department of Education monies, Empowerment
Zone and Enterprise Community funds, and other programs funded at the
Federal, State, and local levels. We have announced the availability of
25-30 Youth Opportunity Grants to high-poverty areas and will receive
grant applications by September 30. We expect to award these grants in
December, 1999.
Staff from across the Department of Labor, as well other
Departments, including Justice, Education, Health and Human Services,
and the Corporation for National Service have been working to connect
our youth programs. We are working to lessen the bureaucratic burdens
at the local level for those communities attempting to coordinate
multiple funding streams by encouraging cross-participation and
linkages with our programs, and through involvement in the One-Stop
system under WIA. For example, we are engaging the Department of
Justice to assist in curbing youth delinquency and dropping-out of
school, as well as preventing gang and gun violence in the Youth
Opportunity target communities. Connectivity for these projects and
others like them is key if we as a Nation are to make any headway in
meeting the needs of youth who lack the necessary skills to succeed in
this society, and who are at risk of becoming perpetrators or victims
of violent crime.
The difficult task we have before us becomes evident when we
consider the multiple problems faced by at-risk or out-of-school youth:
high drop-out rates; learning disabilities; problems at home, such as
lack of parental involvement, improper nutrition, unsafe or unsanitary
conditions, or abuse; gang influence; criminal environment;
responsibilities for younger siblings, children of their own, or
children of their siblings; or drug or alcohol abuse, either on the
part of their parents, or as a personal abuse problem.
Suffice it to say that the needs of an at-risk or out-of-school
youth are so manifold that no single program or single youth funding
stream will be able to address all their complex problems. No one
program can speak to the issues of employability, parenting, crime,
violence, drug abuse, and all of the other potential hurdles that at-
risk youth may need to tackle at the same time. We must do whatever
possible through a variety of programmatic methods and practices that
are truly connected.
One such model that we have been working with for some time to more
effectively connect to schools, community-based organizations, and
other local entities is the Job Corps, for which the President requests
$1,347 million for fiscal year 2000--an increase of $38 million. Job
Corps has succeeded in providing youth with the opportunity to move
from a negative environment to a more positive one by enrolling in
residential Job Corps centers. At these centers, youth are able to
benefit from academic and vocational training, work-based learning,
employability skills development, counseling, and related support
services. Consistently, 80 percent of all youth who participate in Job
Corps are placed in employment or higher education.
Enrollment in a Job Corps center often brings an important aspect
into a youth's life that he or she may not otherwise experience:
responsibility to help create and maintain a safe environment. Job
Corps operates with a policy of zero tolerance for violence and drug
use. This policy, supplemented by Job Corps center rules and behavior
management systems, seeks to make students understand that they are
accountable for their own actions.
The Job Corps model is a successful program structure, and provides
opportunities for nearly 70,000 young people every year. However, the
capacity of Job Corps is finite and its service strategy requires a
substantial investment. Accordingly, the number of youth served each
year represents only a small fraction of Job Corps' target population
of unemployed high school dropouts from families with low income levels
and high welfare dependency. We are working to maximize the reach of
our Federal resources by partnering with other Federal programs. For
example, staff at our Job Corps sites are working with staff at the
Corporation for National Service to enroll our Job Corps participants
in the National Civilian Community Corps so that Job Corps students
gain community service and work experience. We also are working with
the U.S. Army to establish Junior ROTC programs at our largest Job
Corps centers to encourage personal responsibility and expose Job Corps
students to career opportunities in the Army.
The need for additional opportunities for our young people, as well
as their distinct learning and support needs, requires that we continue
to look to a number of varied youth service models.
The School-to-Work opportunities initiative, jointly administered
by the Departments of Labor and Education, also has had positive
results with at-risk and out-of-school youth. The President's fiscal
year 2000 request includes a total of $110 million for this effort ($55
million each in the Departments of Labor and Education). Through
School-to-Work, classroom activities are made more relevant to the work
world by using contextual learning strategies and work-based
activities, such as mentoring, job shadowing, and internships.
School-to-Work has also succeeded in achieving connectivity among
programs funded by different sources. Through School-to-Work efforts,
local workforce activities have become better connected to local
dropout prevention initiatives, community college programs, and
supportive services for young people with learning and other
disabilities. School-to-Work implementers across the country have
concluded that youth programs must be closely linked to both public and
private resources within a given community in order to achieve success.
Such community linkages are also the focus for the $12.5 million in
FY1998 for Youth Offender Demonstration Projects which you authored,
Mr. Chairman. As I mentioned earlier, Mr. Chairman, this spring we
jointly announced the successful fiscal year 1998 grantees, including
the Private Industry Council of Philadelphia. Eleven of these projects
are using a community focus for integrating youth offenders back into
workplace and education settings. Five of these are Model Community
Projects that provide education, job training and placement, individual
and family counseling, and case management services. Six Community-Wide
Coordination Projects are located in high-crime, high-poverty areas.
These projects work with local youth service providers to develop
linkages to coordinate crime prevention and recovery services for youth
already involved in the criminal justice system or in gangs. Our
Department has linked with the Department of Justice in the design of
this service strategy and the coordinated assistance serves as a model
for future projects.
This demonstration project initiative also funds three juvenile
corrections facilities where youth will receive School-to-Work
counseling while at the institution, and extensive case management when
they return to their communities. We expect entities receiving these
Federal grant dollars will fully integrate their services with other
programs and funding streams. All youth served under the Youth Offender
Demonstration are either: institutionalized, at-risk of becoming
involved in criminal activities, or involved or have been involved in
gangs.
The Department of Labor also sponsors a Federal Bonding service to
help ex-offenders--youth and adult--secure and retain jobs. This
service, often combined with other job training and employment
services, can help employers who want to employ ex-offenders--and
others including former substance abusers--but are unable to procure
bonding coverage through normal commercial channels because of their
prior criminal records. The Department of Labor provides each State
with a floor of ten bonds and above that level, States and local
communities can buy additional bonds to use in helping ex-offenders
obtain employment.
In addition, the Department of Labor administers the Work
Opportunity and Welfare-to-Work Tax Credits that provide employers with
a tax incentive to hire specific target groups, including at-risk
youth, welfare recipients, and ex-felons. Last year, tax credit
certifications were issued to employers for approximately 19,000
Empowerment Zone and Enterprise Community residents aged 18-24, and
nearly 10,000 ex-felons.
I also should mention our coordinated funding efforts with the
Department of Justice for the start-up and operation of Career Prep
programs at 40 Boys and Girls Clubs throughout the country. These
programs are located at ``TeenSupreme Centers,'' funded by the Taco
Bell Foundation, and provide job readiness and career guidance to all
youth who reside in the targeted communities. A three-year independent
study conducted by Columbia University confirmed that Boys and Girls
Clubs in public housing communities have reduced juvenile crime in
those areas by 13 percent and drug activity by 22 percent. That is one
of the reasons we chose to partner in this project.
Each of these programs provides opportunities for at-risk youth to
engage in productive activities as an alternative to idleness.
impact of department of labor youth programs on youth violence
Studies have shown how our youth programs can reduce the incidence
of youth violence, and serve to strengthen my belief that the continued
funding of such efforts is indeed the right thing to do. The long-term
evaluation of the Job Corps program completed early in the 1980's
showed the program reduced serious criminal activity among participants
compared to non-participants. Specifically, there were fewer arrests
among Job Corps participants for murder, robbery and larceny. In 1994
we launched a new evaluation of the long-term impacts of Job Corps
including its impacts on social behavior such as crime. Early next
year, first impact results from this study will provide more up-to-date
estimates of Job Corps' impacts on crime.
More recently, an evaluation of JOBSTART--a non-residential
Department of Labor program based on the Job Corps--showed reduced
criminal activity among participants during the in-program period, and
also showed a six percent reduction in crime in the follow-up period
among youth with prior arrest records when they entered the program.
These and other data have furthered my belief in the continued
positive impact of our youth programming efforts, and have resulted in
our proposing additional new initiatives aimed at assisting young
people.
new activities to help at-risk youth and to address youth violence
Building on what we have learned, the Department of Labor is
pleased about the opportunity to participate in the next round of the
Safe Schools/Healthy Students initiative--with linkages to Youth
Opportunity and Youth Offender Grants and to the youth councils being
established around the country. This expanded effort--originally a
collaboration among the Departments of Education, Health and Human
Services, and Justice--awards competitive grants to school districts
and their mental health and law enforcement partners to promote healthy
childhood development and prevent violent behaviors. We will offer
competitive opportunities by supporting business and education
partnerships that will improve the longer-term employability of at-risk
youth and reduce teens' idle time that can contribute to negative
behaviors and lead to criminal activities. These partnerships will
enrich the connections between secondary and postsecondary schools,
alternative schools, out-of-school youth programs, and work-based
learning.
In order to be responsive to the need to more directly address
youth violence problems, the Administration is proposing that the
President's fiscal year 2000 pending $75 million budget request for a
new Right Track Partnership be revised. Right Track originally was a
competitive grants initiative targeted to high poverty communities to
prevent youth from dropping out of school and to encourage those who
have already dropped out to complete their high school education.
Instead, this initiative would be used for a competition that
complements the Safe Schools/Healthy Students grants by supporting
partnerships between local business, community based organizations and
education entities to improve opportunities for at-risk youth,
particularly out-of-school youth. These partnerships would work with
traditional and alternative schools to offer strong academic and career
preparation and would be aimed at ensuring that no youth gets left
behind in a dynamic economy. Partnerships would include local schools
and also build links to other efforts such as the Department of Justice
Safe Streets activity, the Youth Opportunity Grant program, and others
such as the Youth Offender investment. Structured, year-round services
would encourage students--particularly low-income and limited English
proficient youth and recent high school dropouts--to return, complete
their high school education and thus, be able to go on to postsecondary
education, apprenticeship, or good jobs that allow them to take
significant steps toward adulthood and high skill, high demand and high
wage careers.
Attorney General Janet Reno and I will be announcing shortly a
joint agreement that builds on our past and current efforts--including
those I just mentioned--to help young men and women who become involved
with the criminal justice system. We have formally agreed to move
forward with the development of a comprehensive strategy to create job
training, education, and employment opportunities for youth at risk of
or who have been under the supervision of the criminal justice system.
The Department of Labor's participation in efforts designed to
reduce youth violence seeks to achieve three goals. First, with our
State and local partners, we will continue to develop a comprehensive
service system for the at-risk and isolated youth of this country as
such a system does not yet exist. We will develop this system by
implementing the objectives of the Workforce Investment Act in
establishing local youth councils. We also view the local youth
councils as a mechanism for connecting our currently-funded projects to
other resources that will enable our programs, and ultimately our
youth, to succeed.
Second, we will encourage the workforce investment system to focus
on follow-up services, and convince the young people we serve that no
matter what their circumstances, local program operators will stick
with them. If we know anything about serving youth, we know that
sustained and long-term service strategies work, and short-term, stand-
alone interventions do not. While no strategy or intervention can
provide a teenager with the caring influence he or she may have lacked
as a young child, many of us know from personal experiences that the
right intervention at the right time in a young person's life can help
them develop valuable work skills and habits and responsible behavior.
And, finally, we will continue our efforts to link our initiatives
to other public and private sector programs through our YO! Movement.
As mentioned above, the Administration is considering establishment of
a youth violence council that would expand on the many partnerships
between the Department of Labor, Justice, Education, Health and Human
Services, and others which enable us to maximize the effectiveness of
our Federal investments in our Nation's young people. And with the
involvement of employers, foundations, celebrities, faith-based and
community-based organizations that have joined the YO! Movement, we
will work to truly engage in the whole community in creating productive
opportunities for our young people.
With these goals in mind, I believe that we will be successful in
reducing the numbers of idle young people in the poorest neighborhoods
of this country. I believe that more young people will look forward to
building their careers and earning a living wage, regardless of where
they reside. I believe that all of our efforts will come together to
meet the diverse needs of the disadvantaged, and cause fewer of them to
seek out the company of a gang or otherwise resort to violence.
With all of the opportunities that we currently provide for our
youth, the fact remains that the early stage of our at-risk system does
not yet have enough resources for all those kids who need our help. The
more varied our offerings, the more youth we are able to serve, the
more likely that greater numbers of America's young people will enter
adulthood as neither victims nor perpetrators of violent crime. A youth
violence council would be a valuable tool for realizing these goals.
And Mr. Chairman, your leadership in Congress on this important issue
is a vital contribution to the development of a national strategy to
turn youth away from crime and violence and towards a responsible,
successful future.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the opportunity to appear before you
today. I look forward to working with you and the members of this
Subcommittee. I will be happy to respond to any questions.
STATEMENT OF DONNA E. SHALALA, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY,
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Senator Specter. We turn now to the distinguished Secretary
of the Department of Health and Human Services, the Hon. Donna
Shalala, longest serving Secretary of HHS in U.S. history.
During her career, she has been a scholar and a teacher, as
well as a public administrator. As Chancellor of the University
of Wisconsin, Madison, she was the first woman to head a Big 10
University, and was named by BusinessWeek as one of the five
best managers in higher education. She has a Ph.D. from the
Maxwell School of Citizenship in public affairs.
For those who have been anxiously awaiting to know the year
her Department was organized, it was 1953. I believe at that
time it was Health, Education and Welfare, HEW, and now it is
Health and Human Services.
Secretary Shalala, thank you for joining us, and the floor
is yours.
Secretary Shalala. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman,
Senator Harkin, Senator Byrd, Senator Murray. I am delighted to
have this opportunity to appear with my colleagues to discuss
the complex problem of youth violence.
Before I outline the administration's efforts, I would like
to congratulate you, Mr. Chairman, Senator Harkin, Senator
Stevens, Senator Byrd, Senator Murray, and the other members of
the subcommittee for the leadership and dedication that you
continue to demonstrate on this and so many other issues. Your
initiative to prevent youth violence has much in common with
our own. That is why I am convinced that together we can
promote positive youth development and help make the lives of
America's children safer and more secure.
This process begins by recognizing that adolescent violence
is reflective of a problem that is as large as it is
persistent. While America was stunned by the 15 deaths at
Columbine High School, the fact is that violence claims the
lives of that many children virtually every single day in this
country. Violence is one of many youth risk behaviors that are
preventable. But there are no easy answers or shortcuts or
panaceas. It is an extremely complex, multifaceted issue, that
will depend in large part on our ability to promote the
positive development of children before problems arise and
become entrenched.
While we can and must continue to learn more, we now know
enough to take some important steps. A key point of the 1996
Carnegie Report, ``Great Transitions: Preparing Adolescents for
a New Century,'' was that more than one problem behavior is
likely to occur in the same young person, and that these
problems are likely to have common roots in childhood and in
educational experience.
According to a recent report published by my own
Department, an increasing number of studies show that the same
individual, family, school, and community factors often predict
both positive and negative outcomes for youth. This HHS report,
which summarizes the literature in this field, defines the key
components of effective youth development programs. They do
more than prevent risky behavior. They promote the social,
emotional, cognitive, and moral competence of young people.
Having said this, we must make two things clear. First,
simply adding funds to Federal programs, while an important
first step, cannot do the whole job. Federal agencies must
coordinate their services, using models like Safe Schools/
Healthy Students programs. We must include State and local
governments and community organizations and businesses as our
partners.
An effective long-term strategy requires that communities
themselves develop integrated frameworks of services that
promote healthy development, beginning at birth and continuing
through adolescence. Most importantly, it must include
adolescents themselves, and make them active participants in
the strategies that we develop for their successful futures.
Allow me to share one statistic with you. In 1997, 6,083
young people, between 15 and 24, were victims of homicide. This
is an average of 17 youth homicide victims per day. But public
health researchers remind us that deaths are only the tip of
the iceberg of youth violence. According to CDC's 1997 Youth
Risk Behavior Survey, 37 percent of high school students
reported being in at least one physical fight in the past 12
months; 18 percent reported carrying a weapon at least once in
the previous 30 days; and 6 percent had carried a gun.
The President shares a deep and longstanding commitment to
the prevention of youth violence. That is why last May the
President directed the Surgeon General, Dr. David Satcher, to
conduct a landmark study of the potential causes of youth
violence and to identify successful prevention and intervention
strategies. That report will carefully examine what science
tells us about the role environmental influences play in
normalizing violent behavior.
Through a series of regional conversations, we intend to
engage parents and students as well as educators and community
leaders, including religious leaders, in a wide-ranging
dialogue about the causes of youth violence and the solutions.
But again, Mr. Chairman, youth violence is not a single problem
with a single solution.
For example, we already know we can help stop violence
before it starts by ensuring that every child has a healthy
start and by giving parents the helping hand that they need to
nurture and protect their children. That means investing in
quality child care and early educational services that can help
lay the foundation for positive child development.
Current research on brain development from birth to age 3
shows the importance of children's earliest experiences in
shaping their future development. The connections in the brain
that are formed during this time provide the foundation for
intellectual development and the capacity to form social bonds
and empathize with others--key factors in promoting healthy,
nonviolent development.
Given the character of youth violence in America today, I
am convinced the public health community can help make a
vitally important contribution to its prevention. In public
health, we approach the problem of youth violence by asking
four questions: What is the problem? What are the causes? What
works to help prevent the problem? How does intervention work?
Responding to these questions requires the very best in all
fields of research--the very best we have to offer. That is why
the Department is mobilizing diverse research disciplines to
respond to those questions. By doing so, to translate
scientific research into programs that work.
Let me also underscore the critical role that parents play
in preventing adolescent violence. In fact, the National
Longitudinal Study found that adolescents who report a close
connection with their parents were the least likely to engage
in risky behaviors. That is why efforts to help adults
strengthen their parenting skills are so vitally important.
Mr. Chairman, we know that integrated, positive youth
development is far more effective than trying to prevent a
single problem behavior in working with young people. Any
successful strategy needs to include a long-term commitment of
concerned adults, beginning at the birth of the child. Programs
in schools and communities, in religious institutions or
health-based organizations, that foster the presence of caring,
committed adults in the lives of children have been shown to be
of critical value.
The concern that you and the members of this subcommittee
have demonstrated will help us develop more effective
strategies for promoting positive youth development and more
peaceful communities. We look forward to working with you and
your colleagues on a bipartisan basis to build on these
efforts.
Prepared statement
Mr. Chairman, I have submitted my longer statement for the
record.
Senator Specter. Your full statement will be made a part of
the record. We appreciate your summary and we appreciate your
testimony, Madam Secretary.
[The statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Donna E. Shalala
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the
opportunity to appear with my colleagues from the Departments of
Education, Labor and Justice to discuss the complex problem of youth
violence in the United States. I am pleased to discuss our efforts at
HHS to address youth violence as a public health and youth development
issue and how we have coordinated our activities throughout the
Administration.
Before I discuss the Administration's efforts, I would like to
congratulate you, Mr. Chairman, Senator Harkin, and the members of the
Subcommittee, for the leadership and dedication that you have shown on
this issue. Your initiative to prevent youth violence has much in
common with the Administration's efforts, including an emphasis on
involving a broad array of sectors in reducing youth risk behaviors and
promoting positive youth development. I believe that we can work
together to make the nation's children safer and more secure, as well
as prepared for the future.
Adolescent violence is reflective of a larger, persistent problem.
While it is truly a tragedy that 15 lives were lost at Columbine High
School, the fact is that violence takes a heavy toll on children every
day in communities throughout the country, claiming the lives of far
too many and affecting the lives of children and families in important
and enduring ways.
Violence is one of many youth risk behaviors that are preventable,
but there are no easy answers, shortcuts or panaceas. It is an
extremely complex, multi-faceted issue which will depend significantly
on our society's ability to promote the positive development of
children, before problems arise and become entrenched. While we can and
must continue to learn more, we now know enough to take some important
steps.
In the 1996 Carnegie Report, entitled Great Transitions: Preparing
Adolescents for a New Century, the authors wrote: ``Current
interventions on behalf of young adolescents . . . often do not take
into adequate account two findings from research: that more than one
problem behavior is likely to occur in the same individual; and that
these problems are likely to have common roots in childhood and
educational experience.'' Subsequently, this June, the Department
published a report entitled, Positive Youth Development in the United
States, which revealed that an increasing number of studies show that
the same individual, family, school and community factors often predict
both positive and negative outcomes for youth.
These research findings are leading us to what Karin Pittman calls
a significant ``conceptual shift--from thinking that youth problems are
merely the principal barrier to youth development to thinking that
youth development serves as the most effective strategy for the
prevention of youth problems.'' She has defined youth development as
``an ongoing process in which all young people are engaged and
invested, and through which young people seek ways to meet their basic
physical and social needs and to build competencies and connections
they perceive as necessary for survival and success.''
The Positive Youth Development report defines the types of
characteristics that are embodied in effective positive youth
development programs. These programs do more than prevent risky
behavior. They promote such things as the social, emotional, cognitive
and moral competence of young people.
Having said this, we must also make two things clear. First, simply
adding funds to federal programs, while an important first step, cannot
do the whole job. Federal agencies must coordinate their services,
using models like the Safe Schools/Healthy Students program. We must
include state and local governments and community organizations as
partners. An effective, long-term strategy requires that communities
themselves develop a coordinated and integrated framework of services
that promotes healthy development beginning at birth and continuing
throughout childhood and adolescence into adulthood.
We also must understand that services alone will not achieve the
goal of healthy development. A 1999 report written by James Hyman and
published by the Casey Foundation, entitled Spheres of Influence,
points out that in addition to the broad array of services, a
comprehensive strategy must include ``opportunities for constructive
use of time, meaningful experiences, and the support of caring adults
(family members and mentors, as well as others).'' Most importantly, it
must include adolescents themselves and make them active participants
in the strategies that we develop for their successful futures.
the scope of the youth violence problem
Mr. Chairman, allow me to take a moment to describe some of the
consequences of youth violence for our society. Rates of homicide among
youths 15-19 years of age reached record-high levels in the latter half
of the 1980s and continue to be among the highest ever recorded for
this age group. Between 1985 and 1991, annual homicide rates among
males 15-19 years old increased 154 percent (from 13 to 33 per
100,000). Homicide rates for young males began to decline in 1994 and
dropped 25 percent between 1993 and 1996 (from 34.7 to 26.1 per
100,000). In 1997, the latest year for which we have data available,
the rate of homicide among males 15-19 years of age was 22.6 per
100,000--a continuing decline. Despite this encouraging trend, rates
are still unacceptably high.
--In 1997, 6,083 young people 15-24 years old were victims of
homicide. This amounts to an average of 17 youth homicide
victims per day.
--Homicide is the second leading cause of death for persons 15-24
years of age, and is the leading cause of death for African-
American youths in this age group.
--In each year since 1988, more than 80 percent of homicide victims
15-19 years of age were killed with a firearm. In 1996, 85
percent of homicide victims 15-19 years of age were killed with
a firearm.
--Between July 1992 and June 1994, 105 violent deaths occurred on or
near school grounds or at school-associated events. The
majority (81 percent) were homicides and firearms were used in
most (77 percent) of the deaths. The violent deaths occurred in
communities of all sizes in 25 states.
Public health research tells us that deaths are only the tip of the
iceberg of youth violence. There is an underlying layer of non-fatal
violent behavior that should alarm us, both for its own sake and for
its role as a precursor to lethal violence. We do not have all of the
information we need to quantify the impact of non-fatal violence.
Nonetheless, according to the CDC's 1997 Youth Risk Behavior Survey
(YRBS)--a national survey of high school students--37 percent of high
school students reported being in at least one physical fight in the
past 12 months, 18 percent reported carrying a weapon at least once in
the previous 30 days, and 6 percent had carried a gun. More than 7
percent of the students reported being threatened or injured with a
weapon on school property during the previous 12 months. And one out of
25 students was afraid to go to school at least once in the previous 30
days because of the threat of violence.
These statistics indicate that there are ``early warning signs'' of
potentially lethal violence. Awareness of the overall national
incidence of bullying behavior, threats, weapon carrying, and other
clues to potentially violent behavior is helpful. Responding
effectively to these early warning signs is crucial.
In addition to being victims and perpetrators of violence, young
people also are harmed by being witnesses to violence. The National
Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health found that over one in ten
middle- and high-school youths witness a shooting or stabbing each
year. Among African-American youth, nearly one in four young people
have this experience.
We should also recognize that not all youth violence is directed at
others. Youth suicide is an inseparable component of the problem of
youth violence. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for young
people, ages 15-24, in the United States. The rates have nearly tripled
since 1950 but over the past decade have declined by about 10 percent.
In 1997, according to the YRBS, about 21 percent of students in grades
9 through 12--more than one in five--reported that they seriously
considered taking their own lives during the previous year. And almost
8 percent reported actually attempting suicide. Suicide among American
Indian/Alaskan Native youth is especially high, with rates three to
four times those of the general population.
the administration's commitment to prevent youth violence
President Clinton has a deep and longstanding commitment to
positive youth development and prevention of youth risk behaviors. Last
May, the President directed Surgeon General David Satcher to conduct a
landmark study of the potential causes of youth violence and to
identify successful prevention and intervention strategies. The process
Dr. Satcher will follow in preparing this report will be unique. The
report will look carefully at what the science tells us about the
effect of environmental influences--including exposure to violence in
real life and in contemporary media--in normalizing violent behavior.
Additionally, we intend to engage the American people in a broad
dialogue about the causes of youth violence, and the solutions. Unlike
traditional Surgeon General publications, the youth violence report
also will involve a series of regional conversations with parents,
students, educators, business and community leaders. We expect to
involve other federal departments--like Justice, Education, and Labor--
as active partners in this effort, as well.
As you know, we also are working to establish a White House Council
on Youth Violence, which will be an interagency coordinating body for
federal youth violence services. We would welcome your input as we
shape the Council's structure and responsibilities.
Mr. Chairman, in discussing youth development as a significant
prevention strategy, we understand the importance of starting early in
our approach to healthy child and adolescent development.
For example, we can help to prevent violence if we ensure that
every child has a healthy start and if our policies support parents as
they strive to nurture and protect their children from infancy through
adolescence. Such a strategy includes a commitment to invest in quality
child care and early childhood education services that can help to lay
the foundation for positive child development. Current research on
brain development from birth to age three shows the importance of
children's earliest experiences in shaping their future development.
The connections in the brain that are formed during this time provide
the foundation for intellectual development and the capacity to form
social bonds and empathize with others, which are key factors in
promoting healthy, non-violent development.
In addition, research shows that the quality of child care and
other early childhood programs is integrally linked to the healthy
development of children, preparing them for success in school, and
helping them to establish positive social relationships with adults and
peers. Furthermore, quality early childhood programs can help parents
to strengthen their relationships with their children, improve their
parenting skills and become more actively involved in their children's
ongoing education and development.
The President's fiscal year 2000 budget would expand the Child Care
and Development Block Grant to make child care more affordable for low-
and moderate-income working parents. Our budget includes additional
funds to create an Early Learning Fund to enhance the quality of child
care, with a focus on school readiness. The President's budget requests
$5.3 billion for the Head Start program, a $607 million increase over
the amount appropriated in fiscal year 1999. This funding increase will
continue our bipartisan commitment to expand Head Start, America's
premier early childhood development program, while assuring that
increased investments are made in the quality of Head Start services.
The request will support the expansion of Early Head Start for infants
and toddlers and their parents.
These investments reflect what Surgeon General Satcher described
when he said: ``A crucial part of having a healthy start in life is
communicating a message of hope. Without hope, a mother will not seek
prenatal care. Without hope, a violent young person sees little purpose
in treating their peers with respect and caring.'' That means parents,
families, students, teachers, government officials, public health
experts, nurses, doctors, researchers, and corporate, community and
religious leaders must work together if we are to build a community
foundation that instills hope, provides security and fosters optimism--
all essential conditions for a healthy and safe childhood.
what does a public health approach have to offer?
Mr. Chairman, I would like to discuss in more detail the
contribution that we believe public health can make in preventing youth
violence. Because the problem is so complex, the response needs to draw
on the best that all fields of research have to offer: education,
psychology, psychiatry, social work, criminology, public health,
medicine, research, sociology, and others. This Administration is
providing leadership in mobilizing these diverse disciplines to seek
creative solutions to the problem of violence, and to translate what we
know from science into sound prevention programs. This new approach
begins with the coming together of the fields of youth development and
public health.
For example, one of the priorities for the Surgeon General is to
promote healthy lifestyles. He focuses on physical activity, nutrition,
responsible sexual behavior and avoidance of toxins, because together,
they promote wellness and help us prevent a whole array of negative
health outcomes. Similarly, in youth development, we focus on building
assets--the physical, emotional and cognitive strengths young people
need for survival and success.
But the Surgeon General is also the first to acknowledge that
healthy lifestyles are not just a matter for individuals, but that
families and communities must support them, at every step of the way.
For example, it is one thing to tell people about the value of
exercise, but it is equally important to support them through after
school sports programs, building safe walking paths in communities, or
having workplaces develop exercise programs. Likewise, positive youth
development will require not only the actions of young people
themselves, but also a collaborative, coordinated approach by families
and all segments of our society. And they have to occur in every
community.
Applying a public health approach to the problem of youth violence,
we begin by asking four questions:
1. What is the problem? (Surveillance).--We collect useful data on
the problem to better understand it and to do something about it. We
ask ``to whom, what, where, when, and how did it happen?''
As an example, consider how CDC, in order to improve our monitoring
of school-associated nonfatal injuries as well as violent deaths, is
exploring the use of sentinel schools to report nonfatal injuries from
violence on a routine basis. We hope to provide this kind of
information to communities and schools throughout the country to alert
them to emerging problems and to help them monitor the success of their
responses.
2. What are the causes? (Risk Factor Research).--We seek to
discover what puts people at risk and what protects them from that
risk.
CDC and the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH) are working
together to conduct risk and protective factor research. We hope to
learn more about the risk factors and the protective factors for youth
violence and to disseminate this information to parents, teachers and
public health officials. As we achieve a greater understanding of these
circumstances, we can better assist parents, schools and health care
providers to identify children at risk and help them before another
tragedy occurs. We must also collect information about the existing
individual and community assets that can be brought to bear on a
violence problem.
3. What works to help prevent the problem? (Intervention).--We use
the knowledge we have of the pattern of the problem to develop
interventions that might work to prevent it.
President Clinton announced Saturday the award of the Safe Schools/
Healthy Students grants, which are a good example of an effective
intervention in the problem of youth violence. The Department of
Education, the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and
Human Services collaborate to provide students, schools and communities
with enhanced comprehensive educational, mental health, social service,
law enforcement, and, as appropriate, juvenile justice system services
that can promote healthy childhood development and prevent violence and
alcohol and drug abuse. In the future, we hope to work more closely
with Department of Labor as an additional partner in this initiative.
An important function of this interdepartmental grant program is to
require local communities to coordinate various youth services in order
to access funds from three federal agencies concerned with promoting
healthy child development and preventing violence in schools. Local
education agencies consult with community leaders in law enforcement,
mental health and social services and apply for grants from the
Departments of Health and Human Services, Education, and Justice using
a single application. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration (SAMHSA) component of this initiative will provide
support to 54 local education agencies to implement the mental health
intervention services and early childhood psychological and emotional
development portions of their comprehensive Safe Schools/Healthy
Students Strategic Plan.
4. How does intervention work? (Evaluation and Implementation).--We
test those interventions to understand if they succeed better than
current practices and how they actually accomplish their results. And
we look at how we can accelerate the dissemination of research findings
more quickly and effectively. We also explore how we apply the proven
effective interventions broadly in the community. We seek to learn how
to transfer successful interventions from one community to the other.
To help state and local education agencies and schools promote
safety and teach students the skills needed to prevent future injuries
and violence, CDC, in collaboration with other federal and national
non-governmental organizations, has recently begun to develop evidence-
based injury and violence prevention guidelines. The guidelines
development process has been successfully employed to prevent tobacco
use and HIV infection prevention, and to promote good nutrition and
physical activity. It includes an extensive review and synthesis of the
literature on effective program components and the creation of an
expert panel to guide the process.
partners in violence prevention
For many young people, violence begins at home. Research has shown
that over two-thirds (68 percent) of youths who are arrested have a
prior history of abuse and neglect. Moreover, abuse and neglect can
cause significant neurological damage and frequently lead to learning
and emotional problems. The Administration believes that our
communities should invest in child abuse and neglect prevention
efforts, and child welfare programs that protect children, while
helping families address problems that place children at risk.
We should underscore the critical role that parents play in
preventing adolescent violence--and that parents could use some help.
We know from research that violence prevention programs that include
parent training and family intervention have a better chance of
success. It's not hard to understand why.
Last year, the National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health--a
large study of 90,000 students in grades 7 through 12--found that
adolescents who reported a close connection with their parents were the
least likely to engage in risky behaviors. This is consistent with a
National Institute of Mental Health study indicating that the
adolescents most likely to engage in delinquency and violence are those
who spend the most time with peers doing the same thing.
But parents are under enormous stress. They're working longer hours
with less job security. They have less time to spend with their
children. Many cannot afford the child care they need to ensure that
their children are safe while they are at work. And there are fewer
families that feel connected to strong, supportive communities and
extended families.
In this regard, we see great promise in parenting services that
help parents to learn appropriate developmental expectations for their
children at different ages, establish positive relationships with their
children and learn non-violent forms of discipline. Programs such as
Head Start, the Community-Based Family Resource and Support Grant, and
the Promoting Safe and Stable Families program, all support community-
based efforts to help adults strengthen their parenting skills.
conclusion
Mr. Chairman, we know that integrated, positive youth development
is far more effective than a focus on preventing a single problem
behavior when working with young people. Any successful strategy needs
to include the long-term commitment of concerned adults beginning at
the birth of the child and lasting throughout the child's development
to adulthood. Programs in schools, communities, religious institutions,
or health-based organizations that foster the presence of caring,
committed adults in the lives of children have been shown to be of
critical value. All sectors of society must work together to build a
caring community. Our children deserve this.
The concern that you and Senator Harkin and the members of this
Subcommittee have demonstrated will help us to develop more effective
strategies for promoting peaceful communities and communicating a
powerful message of hope and good health. Thank you for the opportunity
to share with you the public health perspective on youth violence and
to highlight some of the initiatives underway in the Department of
Health and Human Services to promote positive development and prevent
violence in the lives of our nation's young people. We look forward to
working with you and your colleagues on a bipartisan basis to build on
these efforts.
STATEMENT OF RICHARD W. RILEY, SECRETARY OF EDUCATION,
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF
EDUCATION
Senator Specter. We turn now to Secretary of Education
Richard Riley, who has had a distinguished career in the
executive and legislative branches. He is a former governor, a
former State Senator, a former State representative. Secretary
Riley is a graduate of Furman and the holder of a law degree
from the University of South Carolina.
The Clinton administration has benefitted by Secretary
Riley's tenure since the administration began. He was sworn in
in January of 1993, as was Secretary Shalala. I think that is
quite a tribute to the administration and to you two
Secretaries. Because that continuity is very helpful and very
important.
Secretary Riley, I thank you for joining us, and the floor
is yours.
Secretary Riley. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The criteria for the order of speakers, if you had based it
on the age of the people instead of the Departments, I would
have fared better. [Laughter.]
I thank you and the other members of the committee for
giving us this chance to appear. It is great to be with my
colleagues. Like my colleagues, I appreciate your strong
leadership in crafting this Youth Violence Prevention
Initiative as a point of departure, a great positive point of
discussion. I appreciate your determination, and that of the
other members of this subcommittee, to have adequate funding
for these three Departments and the Department of Justice.
nation's schools remain basically safe
Let me make just a couple of comments. First, despite the
terrible tragedies of the last 2 years, our Nation's schools
remain basically very safe. Parents have every right to be
concerned after these terrible incidents. We can always do more
to make them safer.
Having said that, let us also remember that while we send
53 million young people off to school every day, less than 1
percent of the homicides among youth aged 12 to 19 occur in and
near schools, though they are there most of the day. I make
this point because there is a tendency to become so focused on
these tragic instances that we can give parents really a
distorted impression about the level of violence in our
schools.
media coverage of youth violence in schools
When the media replays the same graphic image over and over
and over again, it can really give people kind of a false
impression. Yes, we have to do more to reduce youth violence.
We all agree with that. But let us be sensitive to the force of
fear, the power of fear to distort all that our schools are
achieving, and to acknowledge the good things, the safe things
that are happening there generally.
Second, all of these terrible tragedies have been defined
by two common factors: disconnected boys with guns. We have a
culture of violence in this country that is deeper I think than
any of us realize. I find it astonishing that some schools
allow gun shows to take place on their school property. I think
that needs to change. We need to keep sending a very clear
signal that unsupervised gun use and school children simply do
not mix.
need to overcome sense of disconnection in youth
We also have to do a much better job helping young people
overcome their sense of disconnection, Senator, that both you
and Senator Murray have talked about. When we build high
schools the size of shopping malls, we simply lose some of our
young people in the crowd.
youth concerns as evidenced in the shell poll
I released this poll, which I mentioned previously,
Senator, a few weeks ago, the Shell poll, which interviewed
1,000 high school students. The students told us several
things, I think, that are pertinent. While most of our young
people are optimistic about the future and have good values,
they have some real worries. They are worried about drug and
alcohol use among their friends. They are looking for help in
learning how to respect one another. They want more adults
helping them to deal with their emotions. They do not like big
impersonal schools. They want smaller classes and smaller
schools.
need to end the sense of youth disconnection
Now, all of these factors lead me back to the idea that
young people are looking for these connections that we are
talking about. If we want our schools to be safer, we ought to
have the goal of making sure that every single child in
America, every student, feels that there is at least one caring
adult out there for them. To accomplish that, it is going to
take help from the entire community--community-based
organizations, other groups--everybody is going to have to be
concerned. But I think that is a good goal for us to look at.
education programs extending contact and time for youth
I am pleased the chairman's encouraging support is out
there for our 21st Century Learning Centers, our after-school
and summer school programs, our middle school coordinators
effort, the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative, increased
support for more school-based mental health counselors.
21st century learning centers
I urge the chairman to be even more encouraging on his
support for the 21st Century Learning Centers. The President's
request was for $600 million. You have a very significant
increase in your proposal, $400 million. There have been over
$1 billion of applications for those programs. We were able to
fund only $200 million.
safe and drug-free schools program
We continue to work hard to improve the Safe and Drug-Free
Schools Program. We want to target our funding, make it more
research based, and get recipients of funds to put in place
real performance indicators.
necessary role of funding in supporting solutions
All of us at the table have been working closely together.
Eric mentioned the early warning guide and the other efforts
for these agencies to work together, but we will be hard put if
this committee's budget allocation remains billions below the
President's fiscal year 2000 budget request.
If this committee supports holding spending at the current
level, we will have little opportunity to help the many schools
and many communities that are looking for support when it comes
to youth violence prevention initiatives.
congressional leadership in finding solutions
We appreciate, Mr. Chairman and others, your interest in
this major problem, and that you are trying to deal with it.
Prepared statement
Finally, Mr. Chairman, as always, I am very pleased by your
commitment to advancing education and by your leadership on
this important issue. I know you have gone out of your way in
the last few months to meet with experts around the country and
with Federal agency heads, with the goal of crafting this
initiative. We appreciate your leadership very much.
Thank you.
Senator Specter. Thank you very much, Secretary Riley.
[The statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Richard W. Riley
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee: Thank you for the
opportunity to appear before you this morning to talk about the issue
of youth violence. This is a topic of great importance to all of us at
the Department of Education as well as to educators throughout the
country. Tragic events in places such as Conyers, Georgia; Littleton,
Colorado; Springfield, Oregon; Paducah, Kentucky; Pearl, Mississippi;
and Jonesboro, Arkansas have driven home the fact that horrible acts of
violence can strike anywhere, even in communities and school districts
that are generally safe.
We recognize the devastating effects that violence can have on
families, communities, and schools. Children cannot learn and teachers
cannot teach if they are victimized or threatened. If students are to
reach the high academic standards the States have set for them, we must
find ways to create safe, disciplined, and drug-free learning
environments that support academic achievement.
This morning I'd like to talk with you about: (1) some of the
things we have learned as we have worked with parents, students,
teachers, and community members; (2) the actions we have taken to
ensure that all students and teachers go to schools that are safe,
disciplined, and drug-free; and (3) additional actions we are planning
to take.
However, before proceeding I want to urge the Subcommittee to give
very careful consideration to the President's fiscal year 2000 request
for education programs. We believe that the initiatives identified in
that proposal are critically important in creating safe, disciplined,
and drug-free learning environments and preventing youth violence. The
existing proposal includes funding for many initiatives, including Safe
and Drug-Free Schools, class size reduction, 21st Century Community
Learning Centers, and Reading Excellence. Funds for these and other
important programs are necessary to improve the quality of education in
the country and to ensure that students and teachers are safe. Funding
of the programs included in our fiscal year 2000 request, many of which
affect the school environment, is our highest priority.
In particular, I want to encourage the Subcommittee to consider
providing the full $600 million for the 21st Century Community Schools
program requested in the President's fiscal year 2000 budget. This
program has generated tremendous interest from schools and communities
across the country, and combines an important violence prevention
strategy--increased adult supervision of adolescents--with an emphasis
on improving academic skills.
lessons learned
We have been intensively involved in helping schools create safe,
disciplined, and drug-free learning environments for many years. Over
that time we have learned some important things about our schools and
their safety. For example, we know that:
--Despite recent, high-profile cases such as those in Jefferson
County, Colorado and Springfield, Oregon, schools remain safe
places. Less than one percent of homicides among youth aged 12-
19 occur in schools and 90 percent of schools haven't reported
any serious violent crime. I have included a copy of the Annual
Report on School Safety with my remarks for the record.
--There are many examples of schools that are doing a great job of
ensuring that all students and faculty work and learn in an
atmosphere that is safe, disciplined, and drug-free. We also
know that there are numerous programs that, if implemented
appropriately, can be very effective in reducing and preventing
school crime and violence.
--There is a direct link between school reform issues and safe
schools. Safe schools are schools where teachers are adequately
trained; where the ratio between teachers and students is
sufficient to ensure that no children ``fall between the
cracks''; where the instructional program is strong; where
teachers and students treat each other with respect and
civility; and where buildings are not over crowded or decaying.
--The most effective way to address school crime and violence is
through a community-wide approach. While sound discipline
policies and effective violence prevention programming are
important elements in any effort to create safe, disciplined,
and drug-free learning environments, we must also work to
create access to adequate mental health resources; after-school
programming; quality child care; early childhood services; and
family strengthening programs. These services, while necessary
for ensuring that our children and youth remain safe and
healthy, do not necessarily need to be provided for by schools;
however, linkages with medical and public health professionals,
community groups and others that have responsibility for
providing these services are necessary.
--Almost every school in the country is doing something to help
create environments that are conducive to teaching and
learning. For example, every school district in the country has
policies prohibiting the possession of firearms, and almost
every school has policies regarding the use and possession of
illicit drugs. Further, almost every school district in the
country has some sort of programming related to the prevention
of drug use or violent behavior. Unfortunately, not all the
programs being implemented are based upon sound research and
many may have only limited effectiveness.
--Schools have not always been prepared to deal with issues related
to crime, especially serious violent crime. While a growing
number of schools have ``crisis plans'' or ``school safety
plans'', many still do not.
--Schools are not always prepared to deal with the aftereffects of a
serious crime or crisis. Experience with recent shootings in
Springfield, Oregon, and Jefferson County, Colorado has taught
us that there are significant psychological and emotional
consequences of serious and violent crime and that these issues
have to be dealt with if teaching and learning are to resume.
--There are ways to identify students who are experiencing trouble
and the earlier we can provide these students with help the
more likely it is that we will be able to help them resolve
their problems. Unfortunately, in many school systems and
communities resources are simply inadequate to support students
identified with mental health problems.
violence prevention activities
As you know, the Department of Education has been involved in a
variety of activities and programs designed to ensure that every child
has the opportunity to go to a school and every teacher has the
opportunity to teach in a school without being threatened, attacked,
bullied, robbed, or forced to witness the use or exchange of drugs. We
are not alone in these efforts. Working with us every step of the way
are our colleagues within the Department of Justice (DOJ), the
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Labor
(DOL), and the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). Our work
with these agencies reflects a partnership approach to creating safe
environments--an approach that is necessary in every community in this
country so that educators, law enforcement personnel, mental health and
public health providers, youth-serving organizations, businesses,
churches, parents, and youth themselves, come together to craft
workable solutions. Success in creating safe schools is contingent upon
our ability to forge linkages at all levels of government, to share
resources and ideas and work together in a community, for our children
and youth.
Generally, ED activities designed to reduce violence in our schools
are focused on a limited number of strategic goals. We work to
identify, disseminate information about, and support effective,
research-based violence prevention strategies. We also seek to improve
the quality of data available to the public about the issue of school
violence. And finally, we want to encourage communities and
neighborhoods to bring resources to bear in a comprehensive way to
address the issue of school violence.
Our Safe Schools, Healthy Students initiative, which we are
implementing jointly with agencies from the Departments of Justice and
Health and Human Services, emphasizes all of these strategic
priorities. The initiative is designed to provide students, schools,
and their communities with enhanced comprehensive educational, mental
health, social service, law enforcement, and, as appropriate, juvenile
justice system services that promote healthy childhood development and
prevent violence and alcohol and other drug abuse. As part of the
initiative, applicants develop a single application for funds to
support activities that together form a comprehensive, community-wide
approach to promoting healthy childhood development and preventing
violent behavior among youth. Funds from the three Departments to
provide support for these comprehensive activities. In the future, we
hope to work more closely with the Department of Labor as an additional
partner in this initiative.
The initiative requires that applicants use objective data to
demonstrate the nature and magnitude of the problems to be addressed by
the grants. Applicants must also establish performance-based goals for
their program and evaluation activities that measure progress toward
goals. Safe Schools/Healthy Students applicants must also demonstrate
the existence of effective community partnerships, and use of
activities that have a solid base of research demonstrating their
effectiveness.
We are also implementing a number of other important youth violence
prevention initiatives, including:
--In conjunction with the Departments of Justice and Health and Human
Services, we developed and disseminated the ``Early Warning
Guide'' to schools across the country. The guide provides
information to teachers, school personnel, and students about
the warning signs that help identify students who need help and
support to avoid choices that can harm them and their
classmates. We are following up The Early Warning Guide this
fall with a new ``took kit'' that will provide additional
resources to help school personnel recognize and assist
troubled students.
--We established an expert panel to identify exemplary and promising
school-based drug and violence prevention programs, as well as
a recognition program, designed to identify schools that are
implementing research-based drug and violence prevention
programs in comprehensive community-wide contexts.
--We are engaged in a number of activities designed to improve the
nature, quality, and accessibility of data about school
violence to school personnel and the public. For example, in
conjunction with the Department of Justice, we developed and
released the first Annual Report on School Safety released in
1998. This document summarizes data about important indicators
concerning school safety, and also includes information about
research-based strategies. The second Annual Report is
scheduled for release in October. We have also provided grants
to States to help them develop or improve State-level data
collection activities related to youth drug use and violence
and, in conjunction with the National Center for Education
Statistics, developed an agenda for more regular collection of
information about school violence. And, in partnership with the
Centers for Disease Control, we are studying school-associated
violent deaths for the past several school years to improve our
understanding of the circumstances surrounding those deaths.
--We recently awarded grants to support the hiring of school safety
and drug prevention coordinators at middle schools around the
country with the most serious drug and violence prevention
problems. These coordinators will help middle schools assess
the nature and extent of their drug and violence prevention
problem, select and implement research-based prevention
strategies, work with community-based entities to create safe,
disciplined, and drug-free learning environments, and evaluate
progress toward reducing drug use and violence. We will also be
providing training to each of the coordinators hired as part of
this initiative to ensure that they have accurate, up-to-date
information about violence and drug prevention.
--We have established ``Principles of Effectiveness'' to govern the
Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act (SDFSCA) State
Grants program. These principles require local school districts
and other recipients of SDFSCA funds to use objective data to
assess their drug and violence problem; establish measurable
goals for their prevention programming; implement effective,
research-based programs; and evaluate their progress toward
preventing school violence and student drug use.
I have included a more detailed list of current initiatives with my
statement for the record.
future plans
While we plan to continue many of our existing initiatives, we also
look forward to improving the Safe and Drug-Free Schools program to
ensure that school districts develop more comprehensive and effective
responses to school safety, and to providing support in other important
areas.
The President transmitted to Congress has plans for reauthorization
of the Elementary and Secondary Schools Act (ESEA), including Title IV,
the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act (SDFSCA) in the
spring. The proposal for the SDFSCA contains several changes, which if
adopted, will help strengthen the program. Proposed changes include:
--Emphasizing the implementation of high-quality, research based
programs that are consistent with the ``Principles of
Effectiveness.''
--Targeting funds to districts with high need by awarding funds to
school districts that have significant need and are able to
develop high quality programming.
--Strengthening program accountability by requiring State and local
recipients of SDFSCA funds to adopt performance indicators for
their programs, and to develop comprehensive safe schools
plans.
The reauthorized program would also change the way we deal with
students who bring firearms to school. While we believe that students
who bring firearms to schools must be removed from the regular
classroom, we continue to be concerned about what happens to those
troubled students who are expelled from school. Our reauthorization
proposal requires that students who bring firearms to school be
evaluated to determine if they pose an imminent threat of harm to
themselves or others and need appropriate mental health services before
they can be readmitted to schools.
In order to keep those students and others who are suspended or
expelled for serious violations of student conduct codes connected to
school, our reauthorization proposal also requires that States adopt a
discipline policy that requires local educational agencies to adopt
sound discipline policies including providing appropriate supervision,
counseling, and educational services to suspended or expelled students.
We also plan to award grants to local educational agencies to help them
develop and implement alternative schools or placements. This is one
area where we expect that collaboration with the Departments of Labor
and Justice on their efforts to place out-of-school youth and youth
offenders in alternative learning environments will be particularly
useful.
Another provision in the reauthorization proposal would help local
educational agencies (LEAs) respond to violent or traumatic crises by
establishing the ``School Emergency Response to Violence (SERV).'' This
program would authorize the Secretary to provide rapid assistance to
school districts that have experienced violent or traumatic crises.
Assistance would take the form of both short-term and long-term mental
health crisis counseling, added security services, and training. I
would also like to note that we have requested funds ($12 million) for
this initiative in the President's fiscal year 2000 budget request. I
hope you give it serious consideration.
Finally, I would like to note some of the other provisions of the
ESEA proposal would address issues related to school safety and use
violence. These include a requirement that data concerning school
safety be included in annual state report cards and that States provide
information to ED on school-associated violent deaths. Other proposals,
including the high school reform initiative, are likely to impact
school safety concerns by reshaping the learning environments in our
nation's high schools to create smaller, more personal settings.
We also look forward to expanding related activities implemented
jointly with other agencies. In conjunction with the Department of
Justice, we plan to award grants to support mentoring programs. And we
will be joining with the Department of Justice in disseminating a
publication that provides technical assistance to schools about
removing weapons from school settings.
subcommittee's draft youth violence prevention initiative
I applaud the Subcommittee for its interest in this very important
topic, and look forward to working with the members of the Subcommittee
to provide our schools and communities with the resources they need to
create safe, disciplined, and drug-free learning environments where
students and teachers can focus on achieving academic success.
As you know, your interest in this important topic is shared by the
Administration. The Administration is considering ways for agencies to
come together and improve the Federal response to youth violence, and
we are looking to elevate this critical function to the White House. I
think this mechanism would be an excellent way to build on the
significant progress we have made in collaboration on this issue
throughout the Executive Branch, and I look forward to participating
fully. Given your interest and leadership on issues of youth violence,
I hope that you and other interested members of Congress will provide
us with your input and suggestions as we proceed.
I appreciate your including me in your hearing this morning, and
look forward to working with members of the Subcommittee on this and
other important education issues. I will be happy to answer any
questions that you may have.
Additional Examples of Department of Education Initiatives Supporting
Safe and Drug-Free Learning Environments
publications
MTV Fight for Your Rights: Take a Stand Against Violence
Interactive CD-ROM and guide for adolescents on violence prevention
and conflict resolution.
Early Warning, Timely Response: Tool Kit
Practical information for schools on how to develop policies and
implement effective violence intervention programs.
Revised National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) Guide on
Protecting Students from Hate Crime and Harassment
Revised to reflect Supreme Court decision in Davis v. Monroe County
Board of Education.
Publication on relevant laws/court precedents related to harassment
Companion piece to the NAAG guide. Will provide a brief overview of
relevant civil rights laws and court precedents and explain how they
impact school policies.
training/technical assistance
Focus Group Meeting with Secretary Riley on Youth Suicide Prevention
To educate on the extent and nature, as well as risk factors, of
youth suicide and suicide ideation and to begin a dialogue on the role
of the Federal Government, and specifically the U.S. Department of
Education, in suicide prevention efforts.
Conflict Resolution Training (ED, OJJDP)
To provide schools and community groups with training and technical
assistance on how to develop and implement effective conflict
resolution programs.
Hate Crimes (ED, OJJDP)
To support training and technical assistance to schools and
community groups interested in developing and implementing hate crime
prevention programs.
National Resource Center for Safe Schools (ED, OJJDP)
The National Resource Center for Safe Schools provides training and
technical assistance to schools on how to develop and implement safe
school strategies.
teleconferences
White House Conference on Mental Health
Safe Schools, Safe Students: What Parents Can Do
Special discussion for parents about keeping their children safe.
Produced with support from the Pfizer Foundation.
Satellite Town Hall Meetings
Series of meetings will emphasize school safety theme.
Safe and Effective Schools for All Students and All Communities: What
Works (ED, HHS, DOJ)
Teleconference for SEAs and LEAs on how to foster collaboration.
Building Bridges: Strengthening Schools and Communities.--
Partnerships for Preventing Violence, Harvard School of Public Health,
ED.
NEA/EchoStar/ED/HHS/DOJ Teleconference Series
Series of three events, first will provide training consistent with
``Toolkit'' publication.
conferences/meetings
Educational Implications for Children Exposed to Prenatal Drug Use (ED)
An interactive workshop session for local superintendents and
federal staff on education policy and risk factors and interventions
for children exposed to prenatal drug use.
Education and Leadership for Safe Schools Conference (OJJDP)
The 14th Annual Conflict Resolution Education Network (CREnet)
Conference will focus on supportive teaching and learning environments,
and teaching conflict resolution and leadership skills.
National Youth Gang Symposium (OJJDP)
Addresses practitioner's needs on gang-related programs geared
toward school personnel, community organizations, law enforcement,
researchers, and elected officials.
Weed and Seed National Conference (OJJDP)
Conference will feature insights into effective community
partnerships and interactive workshops focusing on community
revitalization.
Safe and Effective Schools for All Students and All Communities: What
Works (ED, HHS, DOJ)
Sponsored by 11 Federal Agencies across three Departments (U.S.
Department of Education, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
U.S. Department of Justice) and key national associations. Invitational
working meeting focusing on the exchange of knowledge and strategies
for establishing safe and effective schools. Six-person teams from
every state will, with the assistance of facilitators, engage in
analysis of state data, strategic planning, collaboration, and
networking that emphasizes improving student behavior and discipline
and preventing violence in schools.
School Security Officers Meeting (ED, COPS)
Meeting of school security chiefs from large urban districts to
discuss trends in the field, emerging issues, and information sharing.
IASA Conferences (ED)
Three regional conferences regarding education priorities and
initiatives, recent research and model programs, and funding
opportunities.
grants
Middle School Coordinators (ED)
Hiring grants for LEAs to recruit, hire, and train middle school
coordinators to assist schools with implementing and evaluating
effective drug/violence prevention programs and strategies.
Safe Schools/Healthy Students (SDFS, OJJDP, SAMHSA, COPS)
LEA grants to provide students, schools and communities with
enhanced comprehensive educational, law enforcement, mental health, and
juvenile justice services. Services and activities will focus on
development of improved youth social skills and emotional resiliency to
prevent violence and drug abuse.
Safe Start Demonstration Project and Evaluation (OJJDP)
Cooperative agreements for communities that have formed strong
collaborative relationships with key partners to prevent and address
the impact that exposure to violence has on young children.
State and Local SDFS Formula Grants (ED)
Formula grants to States to support research-based drug and
violence prevention programming at the school and community level.
reports
Gun Free-Schools Act Implementation Report (ED)
Data from the 1997-98 school year.
School-Associated Violent Deaths Survey Report (ED, CDC)
Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey (CDC)
Weapon carrying, drug use, etc. for students in alternative
schools.
1999 Annual Report on School Safety (ED, DOJ)
Will provide an overview of nature and scope of school crime, as
well as model programs, profiles of successful Safe Schools/Healthy
Students grantees.
other
Improved Data Collection (SDFS, NCES)
SDFS and NCES collaboration to regularly collect and analyze data
related to school crime and violence.
Safe and Drug-Free School Recognition Program (ED)
Identify schools that have effective drug and violence prevention
programming.
Expert Panel on Safe, Disciplined and Drug-Free Schools (ED)
The panel will review and examine drug and violence prevention
programs. Programs recommended as ``promising'' or ``exemplary,'' based
upon objective criteria, will be forwarded to the Secretary for
recognition.
STATEMENT OF ERIC HOLDER, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL,
OFFICE OF THE DEPTUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL,
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Senator Specter. We turn now to the Deputy Attorney
General, Eric Holder, who has had a very distinguished career.
He was educated at Columbia College and Columbia Law School. He
served as an associate judge of the Superior Court of the
District of Columbia. He was U.S. Attorney for the District,
and now holds the number two position in the Department of
Justice. We especially appreciated, General Holder, your
joining us at the working session, and we look forward to your
testimony.
Mr. Holder. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
If I might be so bold, I was kind of sitting on the edge of
my seat. I did not hear you discuss when the Department of
Education was formed. I am not sure, I might have missed that.
Senator Specter. I was wondering if anybody had noticed.
[Laughter.]
In 1979. Not only was it formed in 1979, it has withstood
repeated attacks for its abolition, without my support. I have
always been an irrelevant footnote, for which this body is
famous. When I ran for President, I was the only respective
candidate who wanted to keep the Department of Education. It
did not sell too well, either.
Mr. Holder, we will start your time again.
Mr. Holder. I guess I am from the oldest Cabinet
Department, but I am the lowest ranking person here. So this
explains why I am where I am.
Mr. Chairman, Senator Harkin, Senator Byrd, Senator Murray,
it is my pleasure to discuss with you today the problem of
youth violence. First, I want to thank you for including the
Justice Department in the development of your youth violence
plan. Your work has bridged agencies, disciplines,
perspectives, and appropriation streams to reach consensus on
this issue of deep concern to all of us.
Youth violence is a justice issue. It is a school issue. It
is a social service issue. It is also a labor issue. Addressing
it requires a team effort, one that cannot be done in
isolation.
I was pleased to participate in a series of youth violence
meetings, chaired by Senator Specter, earlier this summer. I
was also glad to see that you differentiated between me and the
experts who were there.
I also want to express the appreciation of the Justice
Department to Chairman Specter, ranking member Harkin and other
members of the subcommittee with whom we worked closely for
your commitment to working with the Department to find
solutions to the youth violence problem. I look forward to
continuing to work with all of you in this important effort.
youth violence
Now, we have heard a lot about youth violence in the news
recently, and, to some extent, we have all looked to the start
of this new school year as a new beginning, putting last year's
tragedies behind us. No doubt we want this year to be
different. It is tempting to want to start fresh, thinking that
the problems have been solved, with metal detectors, student
I.D.'s and uniformed security officers, and that the recent
improvements in the juvenile arrest rates, particularly for
violent offenses, are cause for celebration. But, to my mind,
there is clearly more work that needs to be done. Delinquency
is not just a crime issue, it is a public health issue--one
that must be approached from a variety of directions to effect
positive and lasting change. This makes our work both
complicated and challenging.
coordinating council on juvenile justice and delinquency
The Department's activities to prevent and respond to these
issues are centered in our Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention, what we call OJJDP. In addition to
administering a variety of programs and initiatives to address
juvenile delinquency, victimization and the problem of missing
and exploited children, OJJDP staffs the Coordinating Council
on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. That is a
statutorily-established body, chaired by the Attorney General.
The Council coordinates all Federal juvenile delinquency
prevention programs, all programs and activities that detain or
care for unaccompanied juveniles, and all programs relating to
missing and exploited children.
The Council has spearheaded many projects that the field
has positively received. In February, following the Council's
suggestion, the administration announced the Safe Schools/
Healthy Students Initiative, a major new collaboration by the
Departments of Education, HHS, and Justice. Through a
consolidated application process, this program provides
students with enhanced mental health, law enforcement and
juvenile justice system services to reduce drug use and violent
behavior, and also to ensure the creation of safe, disciplined
and drug-free schools. Importantly, the agencies are
collaborating on both funding and oversight in order to ensure
continued cooperative management of this unprecedented multi-
agency initiative.
We are proud of the Coordinating Council's accomplishments,
and believe it is critical to a comprehensive, streamlined and
coordinated Federal juvenile justice program. Let me be very
honest with you. We are disappointed that the recently-passed
juvenile justice reauthorization bills now in conference
committee do not continue the Council. We urge you to retain
the Council as a statutorily established entity. I believe it
has served us well for the last 25 years, and is a very sound
investment.
Effective delinquency prevention and control is built upon
solid empirical research findings. In sum, the research shows
that if you catch delinquency early and address the source of
the problem, you are much less likely to be dealing with a
crime, and possibly a violent criminal, later. Achieving this
formula, however, requires a comprehensive, coordinated effort
at critical times in a child's life with a range of services,
supports and opportunities--what we call a continuum of care.
strategy for juvenile offenders
To that end, OJJDP developed the Comprehensive Strategy for
Serious Violent and Chronic Juvenile Offenders, which has,
since 1993, served as the foundation for our programming. The
strategy promotes a systematic approach to crime reduction that
draws on the public health model, and includes strategies for
prevention and intervention.
Programs like OJJDP's ``Community Prevention Grants
Program,'' the only Federal funding source solely dedicated to
delinquency prevention, and the Nurse Home Visitation Program
are just two of the programs that we support that are designed
to prevent youth from starting down the pathway of delinquency.
It is also critically important that the juvenile justice
system hold youth accountable for their behavior, while
providing appropriate rehabilitation services for youth who can
benefit from them.
I believe the impact of our activities is enhanced by our
commitment to sharing information with the people who need it
most. OJJDP funds the National Training and Technical
Assistance Center, the Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse, and a
Web site--visited over 90,000 times in 1998.
I agree that youth violence is a public health problem that
requires a coordinated interagency approach. Continuing to pool
the talents and the resources of Justice with those of Labor,
Health and Human Services, and Education, as well as other
interested parties, will permit us to expand our endeavors to
more communities and to ultimately help more juveniles at risk
of delinquency and victimization. For those youth who have
already entered the system, we can provide more effective
treatment and interventions to turn their lives around. Only
through coordination at the Federal level can we make the most
efficient use of our increasingly limited resources. It is
critical, therefore, that your initiative complements, supports
and coordinates with those programs already in place, and
builds on what the research tells us works.
prepared statement
I appreciate your commitment to this issue and look forward
to strengthened partnership between the Federal agencies that
share the mission of improving the lives of this Nation's
youth. I am confident that we can work together to build on
what we have accomplished so far, and expand the possibilities
about what we can achieve in the future.
Thank you.
Senator Specter. Thank you very much, General Holder.
[The statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Eric H. Holder, Jr.
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee: It is my pleasure to
be here today to discuss the problem of youth violence and how the
Department of Justice is working to address the issue through a
comprehensive, collaborative approach. I will begin by briefly
describing the overall trends we are observing in recent rates of
juvenile crime and victimization. Then, I will talk about several of
the programs the Department is sponsoring to combat juvenile violence
and delinquency and to improve the lives of our Nation's youth,
especially those programs that focus on prevention and early
intervention. I'll close by commenting on the youth violence prevention
initiative currently under consideration by this subcommittee, linking
our current work with that which is proposed.
Before I begin, I want to express the appreciation of the
Department of Justice to Chairman Specter, Ranking Member Harkin, and
the other Members of the Subcommittee with whom we work closely,
particularly Senators Stevens, Byrd, Gregg, and Hollings, for your
commitment to working with the Department to find solutions to the
problem of youth violence. I look forward to continuing to work with
all of you in this important effort.
trends in juvenile arrest rates
Youth crime remains a serious problem for this country. However,
recent data show that we are moving in the right direction. After
steady increases from 1989 to 1994, the juvenile arrest rate for Part I
violent crimes has dropped for three straight years, falling 23 percent
from 1994 to 1997. We have also seen significant declines in every type
of violent crime index offense, including a 43 percent drop in the
juvenile murder arrest rate from 1993 to 1997. It is important to note
that in 1997, as has been true for the previous twenty years, less than
one-half of one percent of juveniles age 10 to 17 were arrested for a
violent crime.
Although juvenile arrest rates are falling, we cannot rest because
the rate is still 23 percent above the 1988 level. Arrest rates for
many violent and nonviolent offenses remain at unacceptably high
levels. Drug abuse and weapons offenses arrests, for example, are up
125 percent and 44 percent, respectively. Also the trends for female
juvenile violent crime arrest rates, which have risen faster and fallen
slower than for males, are cause for concern, as are the
disproportionately high arrest rates for minorities.
We are also concerned about the alarming rates of juvenile
victimization. According to the National Crime Victimization Survey,
juveniles were twice as likely as adults to be victims of serious
violent crime and three times as likely to be victims of sexual assault
in 1995 and 1996. Many of these children were victimized by people they
trusted the most--their caretakers. The number of children identified
as abused or neglected almost doubled between 1986 and 1993. In 1993,
92 percent of those victims were victimized by a parent.
In addition to being victimized by crime and child abuse and
neglect, many children struggle with a host of other problems which put
them at risk of becoming delinquent. The social transformation of inner
cities in recent decades has resulted in the concentration of the most
disadvantaged segments of society, particularly in urban African-
American communities. Recent research indicates that the
disproportionate level of violence many urban areas are experiencing
stems from a combination of macro risk factors, such as poverty and
joblessness, and individual level risk factors, particularly family
disruption. The studies have also taught us that many of the children
about whom we have the greatest concern have multiple risk factors in
multiple domains (for example, family, school, community, peers) in
their lives. This makes our work even more complicated and challenging.
the office of juvenile justice and delinquency prevention
The Department of Justice's activities to prevent and respond
appropriately to youth crime, violence, and victimization are centered
in the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).
OJJDP is a component of the Department's Office of Justice Programs and
is the Federal agency responsible for addressing the issues of juvenile
delinquency, victimization, and the problem of missing and exploited
children. OJJDP achieves its mission by providing national leadership,
coordination, and resources to help States and local communities
develop, implement, and support programs tailored to their specific
problems and needs. OJJDP also funds research and demonstration
programs; provides technical assistance and training to help
communities and practitioners implement promising and effective
programs and practices; produces and distributes publications and other
materials that contain the most up-to-date juvenile justice-related
information available; and provides funds to States to help improve
their juvenile justice systems.
coordinating council on juvenile justice and delinquency prevention
In addition, OJJDP is responsible for staffing the Coordinating
Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (Coordinating
Council), an independent body within the Executive Branch of the
Federal Government established by the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention Act of 1974. The Council's primary functions are to
coordinate all Federal juvenile delinquency prevention programs, all
programs and activities that detain or care for unaccompanied
juveniles, and all programs relating to missing and exploited children.
Since 1992, the Coordinating Council has been chaired by the
Attorney General and includes four other cabinet secretaries, the
Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), and
three sub-Cabinet officials. Nine non-Federal juvenile justice
practitioners appointed by the President, the President of the Senate,
and the Speaker of the House also sit on the Council.
In 1996, the Coordinating Council published Combating Violence and
Delinquency: The National Juvenile Justice Action Plan (Action Plan),
an eight-point statement of objectives and corresponding strategies
designed to strengthen State and local initiatives to address and
reduce the impact of juvenile violence and delinquency. These
objectives are as follows:
--provide immediate intervention and appropriate sanctions and
treatment for delinquent juveniles;
--prosecute certain serious, violent, and chronic juvenile offenders
in criminal court;
--reduce youth involvement with guns, drugs, and gangs;
--provide opportunities for children and youth;
--break the cycle of violence by addressing youth victimization,
abuse, and neglect;
--strengthen and mobilize communities around these issues;
--support the development of innovative approaches to research and
evaluation; and
--implement an aggressive public outreach and education campaign on
effective strategies to combat juvenile violence.
The Action Plan is regularly used by Federal agencies and States in
shaping their programmatic responses to juvenile delinquency and
violence.
In addition, in an ambitious effort to coordinate one of the
Federal government's most valuable contributions to community safety--
research about what works--the Council facilitated joint funding by
several agencies for ``Early Alliance,'' a research study designed to
promote positive development and reduce risk for adverse outcomes in
children attending schools located in at-risk neighborhoods. Other
interdepartmental collaborations spurred by the Coordinating Council
are addressing such critical efforts as nurse home visitation programs;
career enrichment for inner city youth; mental health needs of at-risk
youth; treatment for children with learning disabilities; drug
awareness, education, and prevention; a national replication of the
Child Development--Community Policing program; the multiple needs of
families with substance abuse problems; and international child
abduction. I will describe many of these programs later in my testimony
today.
In February 1999, following the approach advocated by the Council,
the Administration announced a major new collaboration by the
Departments of Education (through its Safe and Drug-Free Schools
Program), Health and Human Services (through its Center for Mental
Health Services), and Justice (through OJJDP and the COPS Office) to
commit at least $100 million dollars to the Safe Schools/Healthy
Students Initiative. Accessed through a consolidated application
process, this grant program will provide students with enhanced
comprehensive mental health, law enforcement, and, as appropriate,
juvenile justice system services designed to reduce drug use and
violent behavior and to ensure the creation of safe, disciplined, and
drug-free schools. Awards for up to three years are being made to
successful applicants, with grants up to $3 million annually for urban
school districts, $2 million for suburban districts, and $1 million for
rural districts and tribal schools designated as local education
agencies. Importantly, the agencies are collaborating on both funding
and oversight, in order to ensure continued cooperative management of
this unprecedented multi-agency initiative, which will be expanded to
include the Department of Labor.
We are proud of the Coordinating Council's accomplishments and
believe its work is critical to creating and implementing a
comprehensive, streamlined, and coordinated Federal juvenile justice
program under the Attorney General's leadership. We were, therefore,
disappointed to learn that the two juvenile justice reauthorization
bills recently passed by the Senate and the House and now in conference
committee, S. 254 and H.R. 1501, do not provide for a Coordinating
Council. We were surprised by this omission, given the abundance of new
funding streams, initiatives, and programs that the two bills propose.
As conference proceeds on the bills and they return to the Senate and
House floors for a vote, we urge you to retain the Council as a
statutorily established entity. The Coordinating Council has served us
well for the last twenty-five years and, at a cost of $200,000
annually, we believe its continuation is a sound investment. We are
confident that, if reauthorized, the Council will continue to play an
essential role in the effective coordination of a broad-based and
comprehensive Federal juvenile justice strategy.
research
The foundation of effective delinquency prevention and control
practice is built upon solid empirical research findings. To that end,
OJJDP collaborates with a number of other Federal agencies to co-fund
and oversee research related to juvenile delinquency and victimization.
This enables the office to use its funds most effectively and to ensure
that efforts are not duplicated across agencies. For example, OJJDP is
currently working on interagency efforts with the Office of National
Drug Control Policy and the U.S. Departments of Education, Commerce
(Bureau of the Census), Labor, and Health and Human Services
(Administration for Children and Families, National Institute of Mental
Health, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development,
National Institute on Drug Abuse, and Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention). Partners within the Department of Justice include the
National Institute of Justice, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the
Office for Victims of Crime, the Violence Against Women Office, the
Executive Office for Weed and Seed, and the Office of Community
Oriented Policing Services.
The research projects we have supported have significantly
contributed to what is known about juvenile crime and delinquency and
the effective approaches to prevent it. Of note, OJJDP is funding three
on-going research efforts that are providing ground-breaking knowledge
and understanding about the developmental pathways to juvenile crime
and delinquency and that are helping to bridge the gap between research
and practice, by providing information that has direct implications for
prevention programming. They are:
--the Program of Research on the Causes and Correlates of
Delinquency.
--the Study Group on Serious and Violent Juvenile Offenders (SVJ).
--the Study Group on the Very Young Offender.
Since 1986, the Program of Research on the Causes and Correlates of
Juvenile Delinquency--which includes three coordinated, longitudinal
research projects that constitute the largest shared-measurement
approach ever achieved in delinquency research--has produced important
findings about the factors that predict juvenile delinquency and the
developmental pathways that juvenile offenders follow in becoming
delinquents and career criminals. Among the many important and relevant
findings of this program of research, we have learned that:
--most chronic juvenile offenders start their criminal career prior
to age 12;
--for some youth, involvement in serious violent behavior begins as
early as 10 years of age; and
--early indicators of juvenile delinquency may be apparent among boys
as young as ages 1 to 5 years.
These and other research findings have a number of important
implications for delinquency prevention programming. Most importantly,
we know that preventing delinquency requires early identification of
the risk and protective factors that affect youth development. Because
prevention efforts are more successful and cost-effective if the child
has not already persistently performed a negative behavior or
penetrated the more serious stages of a pathway to delinquency, we must
identify and address the early warning signs of problem behaviors as
they emerge, from birth to adulthood.
For example, the researchers recommend that intervention programs
begin as early as elementary school, since by the time many serious
offenders reach high school their characters are well established and
since older youth are resistant to changing their delinquent behaviors.
Also, because delinquency progresses along a pathway from less serious
to more serious forms of behavior, if we can identify a juvenile's
position on a given pathway, we can attempt to short-circuit the
progression. The focus should be on preventing young people from
entering pathways in the first place. Failing this, we should intercept
them from a negative pathway before the delinquent behavior becomes
ingrained.
The second example I mentioned of our commitment to the importance
of research-based prevention programming is the Study Group on Serious
and Violent Juvenile (SVJ) Offenders. This Study Group conducted
ground-breaking research that links risk-factors for serious and
violent juvenile crime to successful prevention and intervention
programs. Its goal was to provide up-to-date, detailed information
about:
--the risk and protective factors for serous and violent juvenile
offending, and the
--the effectiveness of SVJ crime prevention and intervention
strategies.
The Study Group was made up of 29 leading juvenile justice and
criminology scholars, including lead researchers from the Program of
Research on the Causes and Correlates of Delinquency. Under the
direction of Doctors Rolf Loeber and David Farrington, the research
team spent nearly two years synthesizing 1decades of research on
factors that affect SVJ crime rates and strategies that aim to prevent
and/or reduce SVJ offending. The Study Group published its findings in
a report that integrates the growing body of knowledge about risk and
protective factors and the developmental pathways that lead to SVJ
crime with knowledge about effective delinquency prevention and
intervention programs.
From its analysis of SVJ crime data, the Study Group concluded
that:
--serious and violent juvenile offenders are a distinct group of
offenders who tend to start early and continue late in their
offending, and who are responsible for a disproportionate
amount of all juvenile crime. By targeting effective early
delinquency prevention and intervention programs at this
population, communities can achieve dramatic reductions in
their overall juvenile crime rates.
--many potential SVJ offenders below the age of 12 are not routinely
processed in juvenile court, and services in the community for
such offenders appear unnecessarily fragmented, leading to a
lack of public accountability for young potential SVJ
offenders. Communities must integrate their juvenile justice,
child welfare, mental health, and public health services in
order to identify, track, and redirect potential SVJ offenders.
Otherwise, these youth will continue to slip through the
cracks.
--it is never to early to engage at-risk youth and their families in
delinquency prevention programs, and there are programs that
are effective in accomplishing these goals.
An outgrowth of the Study Group on Serious and Violent Juvenile
Offenders is the Study Group on the Very Young Offender. Its creation
was prompted by concern about how well the juvenile justice system, in
its current form, is suited to deal with the youngest serious violent
juvenile offenders. Since a very large proportion of the eventual
serious violent juvenile offenders start offending as children under
age 10, the SVJ Study Group felt that a 1much closer look was needed at
the very young serious offender. This second Study Group was
constituted as a result. Specific areas being examined include whether
such offending predicts future delinquent or criminal careers, how
these juveniles are handled by various systems (juvenile justice,
mental health, social services), and what the best methods are for
preventing very young offending and persistence of offending. A report
will be issued in 2000.
Together, the ``Causes and Correlates'' and ``SVJ Study Group''
research projects have greatly increased our understanding of the
factors associated with juvenile delinquency and violence, the
characteristics and developmental pathways of serious and violent
juvenile offenders, and effective and promising approaches for
preventing and intervening in juvenile delinquency. In sum, the
research shows that if you catch delinquency early and address the
source of the problem, you are much less likely to be dealing with a
crime--and possibly a violent criminal--later. Achieving this formula,
however, requires a comprehensive coordinated effort at critical times
in a child's life with a range of services, supports, and
opportunities--a continuum of care. It means we must get the right
service to the right youth at the right time.
the comprehensive strategy for serious, violent, and chronic juvenile
offenders
Based on the research on what causes juvenile delinquency and what
works to address it, OJJDP developed the Comprehensive Strategy for
Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Offenders (the Comprehensive
Strategy). Since 1993, the Comprehensive Strategy has served as the
foundation for OJJDP's programming. Based on three decades of research
in the fields of criminal justice, public health, and related
disciplines, the strategy emphasizes six key principles:
--Strengthening families.
--Supporting core social institutions such as schools, religious
institutions, and community organizations.
--Promoting prevention as the most cost-effective approach to
reducing delinquency.
--Intervening immediately and effectively at the first sign of high-
risk behaviors that can lead to delinquency.
--Establishing a system of graduated sanctions designed to hold every
offender accountable while providing appropriate rehabilitation
services.
--Identifying and controlling the small group of serious, violent,
and chronic juvenile offenders who account for the great
majority of serious and violent juvenile crime.
The Comprehensive Strategy promotes a systematic approach to crime
reduction that draws on the basic principles of the public health
model. According to this model, we must first identify the root causes
of juvenile crime and then implement a range of programs and services
designed to prevent delinquency from occurring in the first place.
However, when offending behavior does occur, it needs to be met with
immediate interventions designed to deal with the causes while sending
a message that law violating behavior will not be tolerated. This is
the first tier in a system of graduated sanctions designed to respond
appropriately to each offense and offender based on the risks the
offender presents to the community and the needs of the offender. By
coming at the problem of juvenile crime and delinquency from the
perspectives of public safety, accountability, and care and concern for
every child--through both prevention and delinquency control--we can
achieve the greatest success in enhancing positive youth development
and reducing juvenile crime.
The Department is currently providing training and technical
assistance to six States to implement the Comprehensive Strategy--
Florida, Iowa, Maryland, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Texas--with each site
implementing the strategy in up to six jurisdictions. In addition,
three pilot sites--Jacksonville (Duval County) and Fort Myers (Lee
County), Florida and San Diego, California--are engaged in implementing
the Comprehensive Strategy.
prevention programs
As noted previously, the principles of the Comprehensive Strategy
are the basis for many of our programmatic efforts. For example, we
know that the best way to combat juvenile crime is to prevent it from
happening. In 1992, Congress enacted a new Title V of the Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention (JJDP) Act of 1974 and established
the ``Incentive Grants for Local Delinquency Prevention Programs,''
more commonly known as the ``Community Prevention Grants Program.''
This program is the only Federal funding source solely dedicated to
delinquency prevention. It uses a community-initiated planning process
that leads to implementation funding for communities nationwide.
The Community Prevention Grants Program is founded on a research-
based framework that focuses on reducing risks and enhancing protective
factors to prevent youth from entering the juvenile justice system. It
offers a funding incentive to encourage community leaders across
disciplines, bridging public health and community justice approaches,
to engage in multi-disciplinary assessments of risks and resources
specific to their communities and to develop comprehensive and
collaborative plans to prevent delinquency. Such programs maximize the
chances of preventing juvenile crime, delinquency, and other related
problems.
To enhance the capacity of communities to formulate, implement, and
evaluate comprehensive delinquency prevention plans, OJJDP sponsors
orientation training for community leaders and training on developing
risk and resource assessment while providing technical assistance at no
cost to the recipients. Since 1994, OJJDP has provided training to
nearly 6,000 community leaders.
With training and technical assistance to develop local plans and
seed funding to begin to implement plans over a 3-year period,
communities are empowered to develop and implement delinquency
prevention programs that best suit their unique needs and
circumstances. In the past five years, 620 communities have received
subgrants to mobilize resources and implement delinquency prevention
programs. Over $40 million in matching funds have been leveraged from
State and local resources.
As a consequence of OJJDP's support, we are seeing some encouraging
results. For example, the Clinton, Iowa Families and Schools Together
program has produced a 37 percent decrease in school behavior problems
in the first program year and a 31 percent decrease in the second year.
The Clark County, Washington School Reentry program showed a 39 percent
decline in gang involvement in participating students from 1995 to
1998.
prevention--child protection programs
In addition to the Community Prevention Grants Program, we support
the Strengthening America's Families Project. Through this program,
OJJDP provides free training and technical assistance to family
services organizations and administrators to enable them to improve or
establish effective family strengthening programs nationwide by
disseminating information on 34 model family strengthening approaches,
providing training and technical assistance on implementation barriers
and issues, and helping communities to select and evaluate family
programs. With OJJDP's commitment, dozens of these promising or
effective models are being implemented in more than 150 communities. As
a result, we have seen programs improve the quality of parents'
relationships with their children and achieve significant and sustained
reductions in delinquency and dependency.
Recognizing that minority children are over represented in the
dependency system, we have also provided funds to support the national
Parents Anonymous organizations' comprehensive model of neighborhood-
based, shared leadership with families in low-income, high-crime areas.
Through this effort, parents are given the opportunity to observe,
practice, and learn skills in parenting, communication, conflict
resolution, and other related life skills.
Another family strengthening program we support, the Nurse Home
Visitation Program, sends nurses to visit low-income, first-time
mothers during their pregnancies and until their babies reach two years
of age. The nurses help women improve their health, making it more
likely that their children will be born free of neurological problems.
Parents also learn to care for their children and to provide a positive
home environment. Recent reports indicate that the Nurse Home
Visitation program reduced State-verified cases of child abuse and
neglect by 79 percent among mothers who were poor and unmarried and
resulted in 44 percent fewer behavioral problems because of their use
of drugs or alcohol. Adolescents whose mothers received nurse home
visitation services over a decade earlier were 60 percent less likely
than adolescents whose mothers had not received such services to have
run away, 55 percent less likely to have been arrested, and 80 percent
less likely to have been convicted of a crime.
To help break the cycle of violence, OJJDP supports the Child
Development--Community Policing program, developed in 1993 by Yale
University in partnership with the New Haven Police Department. The
program model trains police officers and mental health professionals to
work in collaboration to provide direct intervention and treatment to
youth who are victims or witnesses of violent crime. The partnership
assists children, families, and the community in dealing with the
psychological effects of community violence by ensuring that children
receive appropriate mental health services. Building on the success of
the Yale-New Haven project, the Department, in an initiative called
Safe Start, is providing financial and technical assistance to
approximately 12 additional communities to implement similar
partnerships that reach into schools, courts, and child protection
services.
In December, the Department took the lead on the President's
Children Exposed to Violence Initiative, which focuses public attention
on the abuse and violence that affects the lives of too many children,
and challenges Federal, State, and local law enforcement--in
partnership with families, communities, social service agencies, child
protective services, mental and physical health care providers,
schools, courts, the private sector, and Federal, State, and local
government leaders--to improve prevention, intervention, and
accountability efforts addressing children exposed to violence.
As part of the initiative and with support from the Department, the
Yale Child Study Center will serve as a national center on children
exposed to violence and on law enforcement partnerships. The center
will provide training and technical assistance, devoting special
attention to the link between early victimization and later juvenile
and adult criminality. This new center will serve as an important
resource for all communities that are in need of assistance and support
in developing programs focusing on children exposed to violence.
Our child protection efforts also include activities to combat
child abduction and exploitation. OJJDP has worked with the National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) since 1984 and has
recently expanded its joint efforts to protect children from Internet
exploitation. With support from OJJDP, NCMEC has provided training and
technical assistance to law enforcement to address Internet crimes
against children and is conducting a national survey on Internet
pornography. NCMEC also operates a Cyber Tipline that collects
information from citizens regarding computer-related sexual
exploitation of children and forwards it to appropriate law enforcement
agencies. In addition, OJJDP has provided assistance to 10 State and
local law enforcement agencies through its Internet Crimes Against
Children program to establish ``cyber units'' to investigate these
crimes.
prevention--programs providing positive opportunities for youth
OJJDP also supports a number of programs that provide more positive
opportunities for youth, such as mentoring, after-school activities,
and conflict resolution programs. Among the goals of such programs are
to help children develop positive life skills, give them support and
direction, and create opportunities for community involvement and
service, all of which are believed to provide a good defense against
involvement in delinquent behavior.
For example, the Juvenile Mentoring Program (called JUMP) is
designed to provide one-to-one mentoring for youth at risk of
delinquency, gang involvement, educational failure, or dropping out of
school. Mentors provide youth with personal connectedness, supervision,
and guidance; skills training; career or cultural enrichment
opportunities; a sense of self-worth; and goals and hope for the
future. Since 1995, OJJDP has awarded more than $39 million to support
local mentoring efforts through JUMP and currently funds 166 JUMP sites
in over 40 States.
Probably the best known mentoring program in the United States is
Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America. An extensive evaluation of this
program by Public/Private Ventures and OJJDP's 2-year experience with
JUMP show that mentoring programs improve school performance and reduce
antisocial behavior, including alcohol and drug abuse. Youth involved
in the Big Brothers/Big Sisters mentoring programs were 46 percent less
likely to experiment with drugs, 27 percent less likely to experiment
with alcohol, and almost 33 percent less likely to hit someone than
youth not participating in the program. Participating youth also
skipped school less often than youth not participating in the program
and showed a modest grade improvement in academic performance.
To strengthen local mentoring projects, OJJDP is establishing a
National Mentoring Center. The center will develop and field-test a
core curriculum for training mentoring project staff and volunteers in
specified program areas; design and conduct a set of interrelated
training events that help mentoring projects to improve; and develop
and disseminate technical assistance packages, publications, and other
resource materials and facilitate the sharing of information across
sites.
The National Youth Network, funded by OJJDP, provides opportunities
for youth leadership. The Network serves as a catalyst for youth across
the country to prevent crime and victimization and make a difference in
their communities by collaborating among youth-focused national, State,
and community organizations; distributing information on successful
programs and strategies; advocating youth perspectives to policy
makers; promoting the need for positive youth activities through the
media; and reaching out to non-affiliated youth, especially those in
the juvenile justice system.
OJJDP funds after-school activities at Boys and Girls Clubs that
provide young people with appealing alternatives to drug use, drug
dealing, violence, and crime. Funds were also provided by OJJDP for
Boys and Girls Clubs to expand in public housing to keep youth from
becoming involved with gangs or to intervene with those in the early
stages of gang involvement. Boys and Girls Clubs have reached out to
6,000 youth at risk of gang involvement in 93 sites. The Department of
Labor is working with us on this effort and is providing additional
funding for workforce development activities. Portland University
studied the program and found that 90 percent of potential gang members
have maintained regular contact with the club, 48 percent improved
their school behavior, more than 33 percent improved their grades, and
as many as 33 percent improved their school attendance. According to a
Columbia University outcome study, the OJJDP supported Boys and Girls
Clubs in public housing programs reduced the juvenile crime rate by 13
percent, increased rates of school attendance, and improved academic
performance.
OJJDP is also working with the Department of Labor (DOL) to
increase job training and employment opportunities for high-risk youth.
Specifically, we have been actively engaged in the development and
implementation of the Concentrated Services for Youth Offenders
Demonstration program (which Senator Specter supported and we will be
evaluating for DOL), providing technical assistance for the Youth
Opportunity Grants program, and evaluating the Quantum Opportunities
program and the TEEN Supreme life skills program. We soon expect to
finalize an agreement with DOL to build on our current efforts to
create a comprehensive strategy to serve youth who are at risk or who
have been under the supervision of the criminal justice system.
In the area of drug abuse prevention, one of the most promising
approaches we have observed is the Life Skills Training (LST) program
developed by Dr. Gilbert Botvin at the Institute for Prevention
Research at Cornell University Medical College. The LST program targets
the psycho-social factors associated with the onset of drug
involvement, providing general life skills training and social
resistance skills training to junior high school students.
One promising approach for reducing conflict and violence in the
schools is bullying prevention. For example, a program to reduce
bullying among school children was launched in Norway in the early
1980's. This program involves interventions at multiple levels (e.g.,
school-wide, classroom, and individual) designed to establish norms
within the school environment that support pro-social and inclusive
behavior among children and that discourage bullying and other
antisocial behavior. Reductions in bullying, victimization, and
antisocial behavior were observed as a result of a bullying prevention
program implemented in Norwegian schools. Specifically, there were
strong reductions in self-reports of vandalism, fighting, theft,
alcohol use, and truancy.
Until recently, there have been few attempts to establish
antibullying initiative in American schools. The South Carolina
Bullying Prevention study, funded by OJJDP, evaluated a bullying
prevention program implemented in the State's middle schools.
Preliminary findings indicate that the program reduced self-reported
delinquency after 1 year.
Conflict resolution training has also proven to be effective in
resolving the schoolyard problems of bullying, teasing, and fighting.
However, in addition to improving children's behavior in the classroom,
the culture of the school must be changed. OJJDP and the Safe and Drug-
Free Schools Program of the U.S. Department of Education have recently
tripled their commitment to increase the number of conflict resolution
programs available through schools, juvenile facilities, and community-
based organizations. To support this work, OJJDP provides funding to
the National Center for Conflict Resolution Education. The Center's
mission is to build partnerships with national, State, and local
organizations to develop conflict resolution programs, including those
in school districts and local communities.
School violence, truancy, drugs, and gangs are problems confronting
many communities. To address these issues, OJJDP funded the development
of the Hamilton Fish National Institute on School and Community
Violence at George Washington University to test the effectiveness of
violence prevention methods and to develop more effective strategies. A
consortium of seven universities work directly with local school
systems to implement and test school-wide interventions that promote
safety by reducing fighting and bullying, truancy, and drug use and by
enhancing positive student interaction. The Institute is identifying
programs that can be replicated to reduce violence in America's schools
and their immediate communities.
The work of Hamilton Fish in school violence is complemented by the
activities of the National Resource Center for Safe Schools. This
center, funded jointly by the Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program and
OJJDP, provides training and technical assistance to help schools and
communities to create safe school environments.
intervention
Prevention programs and positive opportunities for at-risk youth
represent just one part of the Comprehensive Strategy. It is also
critically important that the juvenile justice system hold youth
accountable for their behavior while, at the same time, providing
appropriate rehabilitation services for youth who can benefit from
them--services involving both social control and treatment. The system
must have the capacity to appropriately assess a child's needs when
they first enter or become known to the system. Delinquents who come
into the juvenile justice system have often had previous contact with
the system, for example as victims of child abuse or runaways. It is
important to assess the needs of children and provide appropriate
interventions as early as possible.
OJJDP is encouraging the type intervention activities that are
necessary through a new Community Assessment Center (CAC) project.
CAC's, which ideally will provide a 24-hour centralized point of intake
and assessment, are designed to improve the assessment of children on a
variety of needs the first time they come into contact with the
juvenile justice system--as dependents, status offenders, or
delinquents. Juvenile justice and community-based youth service
providers co-locate at the CAC to make both basic and in-depth
assessments of the juvenile's circumstances and treatment needs,
arrange for detention or release to a safe and appropriate setting,
develop recommendations, facilitate access to services, and manage or
monitor appropriate treatment services.
Once the justice system has completed an assessment, it must have
in place a range of programs to successfully deal with the issues that
have been identified. This requires implementing programs that have
proven to be effective. Two examples of effective programs that we are
supporting include the Multisystemic Therapy program and Treatment
Foster Care.
Multisystemic Therapy (MST) is a non-residential delinquency
treatment/family strengthening program developed by Dr. Scott Henggeler
of the Medical University of South Carolina. This program views
individuals as being ``nested'' within a complex of interconnected
systems, including the family, community, school, and peers. MST
targets problems in any of these systems for change and builds the
capacity of the family and individual to work within these systems to
effect that change. Several evaluations of the programs have
demonstrated that juveniles receiving MST have substantially lower
recidivism rates than those receiving traditional services.
Treatment Foster Care (TFC) was developed by the Oregon Social
Learning Center in 1983 as an alternative to residential and group care
placement for serious and chronic juvenile offenders. Four studies have
been conducted on the effectiveness of the TFC approach and overall,
the results showed that, compared with alternative residential
treatment models, TFC was cost effective and led to better outcomes for
children and families.
Although the prevalence of mental health and substance abuse
disorders among youth in the juvenile justice system is largely
unknown, recent research suggests that these problems are significantly
greater for juvenile delinquents than for other youth. To effectively
rehabilitate juveniles, there needs to be an increase in the number and
quality of treatment programs in the community and in juvenile
institutions. OJJDP is currently working with other Federal agencies to
provide increased levels of funding for mental health and substance
abuse treatment programs both in the community and in juvenile
institutions. For example, OJJDP is contributing to a multi-year
National Institute of Mental Health study on substance abuse,
antisocial behavior, and the long-term efficacy of medication and
behavioral and educational treatment for children with attention
deficit/hyperactivity disorder. OJJDP funds will permit the study to
focus on delinquent behavior and juvenile justice system interaction.
OJJDP is also contributing to the National Institute of Corrections'
training and technical assistance initiative with the GAINS Center. The
Center helps court and juvenile justice leaders improve treatment and
services for juvenile offenders with co-occurring disorders.
A strong system of intervention also requires effective
partnerships between courts, services, and law enforcement. OJJDP is
funding and evaluating the demonstration of this approach in three
communities: Oakland, California; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and Syracuse,
New York. These communities are forming partnerships among community
residents, faith organizations, law enforcement agencies, the media,
schools, and families to reduce juvenile gun violence --focusing on
strategies related to the access, possession, and use of guns by
juveniles as three critical aspects to the problem.
Juvenile gang violence poses the same challenges and requires the
same comprehensive approach as gun violence. There is general
recognition among gang experts that the most effective strategies to
deter gang involvement are likely to be comprehensive, multi-pronged
approaches that incorporate prevention, intervention, and suppression
activities while encouraging collaboration among various community
agencies. The Comprehensive Community-Wide Approach to Gang Prevention,
Intervention, and Suppression Program is an OJJDP demonstration
initiative that is currently being implemented in five jurisdictions.
This is a multi-year effort to implement and test a comprehensive model
developed by Dr. Irving Spergel at the University of Chicago. The
strategies in this model consist of a combination of community
mobilization, social intervention and outreach, provision of social and
economic opportunities for youth, suppression, and organizational
change and development. The demonstrations are currently being
evaluated.
OJJDP is committed to the support of all States that are focusing
on the needs of at-risk girls and young females in the juvenile justice
system. The Office recently published Guiding Principles for Promising
Female Programming: An Inventory of Best Practices which highlights
exemplary and effective gender-specific program practices that State
and local jurisdictions can use immediately. Gender-specific programs
encourage healthy attitudes, behaviors, and lifestyles, and promote
social competence in girls. Elements which have proven vital to the
development of promising gender- specific programming include:
relationship building, responding to victimization, non-traditional
vocational training, staff training, life skills development, parental
skills training, and prenatal-postpartum care.
coordination and information sharing
The impact of all of these activities--from research and evaluation
to effective prevention and intervention programming--is enhanced by
our concerted commitment to sharing information with the people who
need it most. To that end, OJJDP funds a National Training and
Technical Assistance center which coordinates our various training and
technical assistance resources. We also support the Juvenile Justice
Clearinghouse (the Clearinghouse), a component of the National Criminal
Justice Reference Service (NCJRS). NCJRS is one of the most extensive
sources of information on criminal and juvenile justice in the world,
providing services to an international community of policymakers and
professionals. In 1998, the Clearinghouse distributed over 3.5 million
copies of OJJDP's publications, a 45 percent increase from 1997;
received over 44,000 requests for information, a 14 percent increase
from 1997; and provided support to 136 national and local conferences.
The OJJDP website was visited over 90,000 times in 1998. In addition,
we sponsored six national satellite conferences, broadcasting to an
average of over 450 viewing sites and over 13,000 people. Topics
included serious and violent juvenile offenders, school safety, youth
courts, and Internet crimes against children.
OJJDP is also supporting public education through the ``Investing
in Youth for a Safer Future'' media campaign. This partnership with the
National Crime Prevention Council and the Ad Council is broadcasting
through radio, print, and billboards public service advertisements on
proven actions and programs that prevent and reduce crime by and
against youth and tested interventions that help young people turn
their lives around when they have gotten into trouble. We have also
joined with the Department of Education and MTV to reach out to young
people through MTV's Fight for Your Rights: Take a Stand Against
Violence initiative. Through this initiative, the Department of Justice
is distributing: an interactive CD-ROM that walks viewers through a
number of videotaped real-life situations and gives them the skills
they need to resolve conflicts peacefully; and an Action Guide that
provides young people with ways to reduce violence in their
communities.
youth violence initiative
I have described to you our comprehensive approach and just a few
of our current activities designed to prevent juvenile crime and
violence, improve the juvenile justice system, and address juvenile
victimization. It is obvious that I am proud of this Department's
accomplishments in juvenile justice. And, I believe that the positive
trend we have observed in recent juvenile arrest rates is due, at least
in part, to the balanced approach we have adopted in juvenile justice--
one that combines prevention programs for at-risk youth with early
intervention and sanctions that hold offenders accountable at every
stage of the juvenile justice system. As a result of this approach, we
have seen entire communities coming together--law enforcement, schools,
businesses, youth services, and the faith community--to protect our
children and steer them away from crime and drug abuse.
I am, therefore, pleased to appear before you today to discuss how
the Department of Justice can work with you as you deliberate the next
steps of a youth violence prevention initiative. I am in agreement with
your analysis that youth violence has become a public health problem
that requires a coordinated interagency approach to combat it.
Continuing to pool the talents and resources of Justice with those of
the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and
other interested parties will permit us to expand our endeavors to more
communities and, ultimately, to help more juveniles at-risk of
delinquency and victimization. For those youth who have already entered
the system, we can provide more effective treatment and interventions
to turn their lives around.
But, the key to achieving success is coordination. Only through
coordination at the Federal level can we make the most efficient use of
our increasingly limited resources. And you may be sure that we are
working with other agencies and the White House to determine the most
effective way to achieve this coordination. That is why it is critical
that the programs you propose complement, support, and coordinate with
those programs already in place and build on what the research tells us
works. In general, I think we are in agreement on this, based on the
outline of your youth violence initiative. It is, however, very
difficult for us to respond to your proposals without knowing the
overall level and content of the Subcommittee's Labor/Health and Human
Services/Education appropriations bill. We need to work together to
ensure that all the bill's priority programs are sufficiently funded.
I appreciate your commitment to this issue, and look forward to a
strengthened and renewed partnership between the Federal agencies that
share the mission of improving the lives of this Nation's youth by
eliminating juvenile violence and delinquency. Let us work together to
build on what we have accomplished so far and to expand the
possibilities about what we can achieve in the future. Let's do it for
the children, and reap the rewards of a better society for all. I would
be pleased now to respond to any questions you may have.
creation of the office of attorney general
Senator Specter. I have had a determination made as to the
Department of Justice, and this I think is worth a footnote.
The Office of Attorney General was created on September 24,
1789. That is 2 years after the Constitution was signed, and
then of course it was ratified. But the Department of Justice
was not established until June 22, 1870. So that goes to show
you the efficiency of having a one-person office for almost a
century. [Laughter.]
A vote has been scheduled, but I am going to proceed here
for another 10 minutes or so, to move along as far as we can.
The central problem at our task force, or meetings, involved
the question of where we should have coordination of this
program. Turf is always an issue in Washington, notwithstanding
the cooperative nature of our Secretaries and Departments here
today.
I have talked with Mr. Bruce Reed, the Chief of Domestic
Policy for the President, and it is going to be coordinated out
of the White House. But there is going to be a need for the
day-to-day coordination. Our best judgment has been, as you
know, to put it under the Surgeon General.
The question I have for you, Secretary Shalala, is what
personnel are now available within the Surgeon General's unit,
which has never been an expansive administrative unit? What are
your plans for expanding it, beefing it up? What kind of
funding do you need? We are prepared to work with you to make
that office the cornerstone because of the consideration of
this being a national health problem. Where do you plan to take
it, by way of personnel and organization?
Secretary Shalala. Well, Senator, as you know from your
conversation with Mr. Reed, we are working on ways to, as
agencies, develop a new policy coordinating mechanism. I think
we are actually talking about the development of a Youth
Violence Council. But you point out that the management of the
programs will be the responsibility of the agencies. The
Department will manage its programs, working with the other
agencies, through the Surgeon General's office.
As you rightly point out, the Office of the Surgeon
General, even though it is combined with the Office of the
Assistant Secretary for Health, has limited resources. But it
is our plan, as both part of the proposal as well as in terms
of our internal organization, to beef up the Surgeon General's
office to play what appropriate management role it's designated
to play.
Senator Specter. Do you anticipate a council to be
established out of the White House to coordinate all this?
Secretary Shalala. Yes. We are working on that. We would
deeply appreciate your advice on that and your participation as
we develop it. It is not finally done, as Mr. Reed indicated to
you. We are working on the development of a coordination
council out of the White House, which is not unusual in terms
of how we coordinate across departments.
That would not substitute, though, for the ongoing
management of the programs themselves by the appropriate
departments or management coordination across the departments.
Senator Specter. Well, we just finished the work of a
Commission on Weapons of Mass Destruction, where we found 96
separate agencies touching that very vital role. And after a
lot of study and after talking to a lot of secretaries and ex-
secretaries and administration people, we came to the
conclusion that we needed a central person. And it would be my
hope that that individual would be identified. And if you have
a better candidate than the Surgeon General, I am open.
Legislatively, this subcommittee is open to the idea.
But from all we have seen and the history of the
identification as a health problem, and, really, to take it
away from an enforcement and going after the incorrigibles, we
think the Surgeon General is a good person to head it. We took
a look at his unit, and it is not equipped. You have some very
good people in there, but there are very few. So we want to
work with you as you move across on that.
youth violence council
On a related issue, we had an extraordinary group which met
on our three working sessions. Mr. Holder, I would like you to
make a comment, because you were there. We had, at one or more
of the meetings, the Surgeon General, the head of the National
Institute of Mental Health, the Director of the Office of
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the Assistant
Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education, the
President-elect of the National Association of School
Psychologists, the Centers for Disease Control, a division of
Violence Prevention, and about three times that number, really
a very interesting collection of practical technicians sitting
down.
The comment was expressed, and I say this in a very
constructive way, that they had not seen each other, to talk
across departmental lines. It is certainly a truism that
everybody in this town is so busy, it is very hard to get the
kind of interpollination.
Mr. Holder, I would be interested in your evaluation, for
the record, of the utility of pulling together that kind of a
cross-sectional group and, since you were there, your thinking
as to how we might promote that, keep it going.
Mr. Holder. Well, I certainly think the group that you
convened, you had the right players there. I think that is the
way in which we are going to get a handle on this problem--to
think of it in a way that we have not in the past, to think of
it as a health issue, a public health issue, to address it that
way, to use the kinds of techniques that have been used
successfully in dealing with other public health issues.
I think the proposal of the Youth Violence Council is a
good one. Coordination really is the key here, to get people
together in the way that you did, so that you have people who,
through the course of a day and the press of business, do not
have a chance to meet, to get together, and to come up with
coordinated strategies.
Ultimately, I think whatever we put together, the question
is going to be one of leadership and making sure that there is,
either in a council or an individual, a leadership
responsibility to bring those people together on a consistent
basis, to make sure that all of our efforts are coordinated,
that we are all looking for the same kinds of things, to make
sure that there are not turf fights, which inevitably tend to
crop up.
I think the possibility exists that we can make some
meaningful progress here if we will keep our eyes on the prize.
I think the Youth Violence Council, from my perspective, is a
very promising idea.
Senator Specter. Well, I would like to see you take a look
at that model, to keep it going, as we start to move through
it. We have only scratched the surface as best we could do it
in a relatively short period of time. We would urge that all
the departments take a look beyond what we have identified
here, as to what touches on youth violence. Again, you have a
lot of important projects and a lot of important things to do.
But I think there is a consensus in America about this being a
priority, as to how more efforts can be targeted at this issue.
The idea of bringing in young people, I think, is a very
good idea. I think that ought to be structured in.
Let me ask, Secretary Herman, what your thinking would be
as to how we could bring the young people into these
activities. Your Department probably touches more of them in
the regular course of activities, through the Job Corps and
through the job training programs. Although, Secretary Riley,
they are all subject to education. But what suggestion would
you have on how to bring these young people in, so that we have
the benefit of their inputs, and also they have the feeling of
being parties?
Secretary Herman. I think we should do it on at least two
levels, Senator. First, formally, I think we can do more to
organize what we are calling youth councils at the local level.
So that as we execute programs and strategies, that we create a
place for young people as a part of that process, so that they
can be formally in the dialog. I think that all of our systems
need to be cognizant of that and reach out to bring young
people in--the young people that we met and talked with. Those
are the kinds of individuals who have been through the
programs. We need to have the continuity of networks, so that
we do not lose track of them, so that we can bring them back to
the table.
But, second, I think that as a part of engaging the whole
community, that we need other avenues where young people are
today, be it faith-based communities, in the churches, in the
neighborhood centers, through the school systems, engaging more
athletes, celebrities, as we are trying to do through the YO!
Movement. Those individuals who have the ears of our young
people today also need to be brought into this process.
Senator Specter. I will come back to you in a minute,
Secretary Shalala.
Secretary Riley, your idea for at least one caring adult is
a bull's eye. We talk a lot about mentoring. There are a lot of
agencies out there, Take a Brother, Big Brother, et cetera. You
may want to supplement this with some additional reflection.
But how can we target--no better place than through the
schools--to identify a named adult? If a child has a parents or
a parent or a grandparent, it is not too hard. But so many,
especially in the inner city, do not--or, really, across
America--do not.
How can we structure a program to identify a national
registry, to make sure every student has a caring adult?
Secretary Riley. Well, I think the question certainly
points out the complication of it. I really think it has to be
done more or less on a community basis. You cannot make it so
big that it does not reach people.
The parent information resource centers, which you
recognize in your proposal--and we have those in all the
States--information for parents as to what they can obtain in
terms of resources or connections with them I think is very
helpful, contacting the community based organizations. It is
amazing--if this concept really caught on in a community--and
some communities are really involved in it in different ways--
it is amazing how many people would really welcome the
opportunity to connect up with a child.
I have a son who is a lawyer in Columbia. He has a mentee.
He has had him for 3 years. It is a very close relationship.
The kid has a single-parent family. They have a wonderful
relationship. And they discuss problems and the future and
college.
If there are ways that we can develop that, community by
community, I think that is a wonderful goal for us all to seek.
Senator Specter. Thank you, Secretary Riley.
I have to be on the floor in 6\1/2\ minutes, when the vote
is going to close. I have made an executive decision--unusual
for a legislator--not to keep you here during the interim,
because it takes a bit of time, and I do not want to deprive
four Departments of their heads. We have really covered 90
percent. There are a lot of other questions I would like to
ask. We will be talking more on an informal basis.
You had wanted to make a comment, Madam Secretary Shalala.
I want to ask you a question, which you integrate into your
comment. That is, the program does not really focus as much on
adolescents. We have birth to 3 and 5. I would be interested in
your response on adolescents and how we might beef up the
program more.
Another facet is I like the study that the Surgeon General
is going to do. I have talked to Mr. Valenti, for example, on
TV and movies. I have gone through the guidelines they have. It
is really a complex matter to try to make any modifications
within the first amendment. We have studiously avoided blaming
them. But we would like to know what the facts are.
I want to see the methodology which works with the
industry, so that we do not come back after a long expensive
study and say, well, the methodology is not right. Whatever is
done is going to have to be done collegially and coordinately.
Would you address those questions and also the comment that you
had wanted to make, Madam Secretary?
Secretary Shalala. I agree with that, Mr. Chairman, that we
need to do that collegially. There are a number of media
studies going on. As you know, there is limited research in
this area, but there is some consensus on the effects of the
media on desensitizing young people and what effects it has on
children who are the most at risk.
I do want to make a point about adolescents. That was also
related to my point about young people that I wanted to
reinforce. I think it is time that we wrote young people into
the legislation, and said to all of us that we really have to
consult with young people. During the summer, I talked with two
or three intern groups a week. It drives my scheduler crazy.
But I learned more from them as they come in and ask me
questions than I do often from others. They are not represented
by interest groups who get themselves written into
consultations. But we ought to be talking to them. They ought
to feel like they are part of the solution.
As for adolescents, we have spent much of the last decade
focused on younger kids, because that is where our research
led. Yet the Carnegie Report tells us very clearly that when we
stopped using baby sitters for young people, we hand them over
to their larger peer group. We need to work with adolescents
and we need separate strategies and different kinds of
strategies, though all of this has to be seamless.
So I think focusing on adolescents, not giving up on them,
that there are some things to do. This positive youth
development strategy that the public health people and the
wider community are increasingly talking about is a much more
sophisticated way to go with young people. I would be pleased
to have further conversations with you and work of course with
my colleagues as we have been doing.
Senator Specter. Well, thank you all very much. I think
this has been a very productive session. I would like to
continue the dialog, but I do not want to keep you waiting.
Because sometimes these votes are just longer than you expect.
And when you get there, somebody has to talk to you, including
the Majority Leader, et cetera, et cetera. So we will conserve
your time and we will follow up on an informal basis.
conclusion of hearing
Thank you all very much for being here, that concludes our
hearing. The subcommittee will stand in recess subject to the
call of the Chair.
[Whereupon, at 10:55 a.m., Tuesday, September 14, the
hearing was concluded, and the subcommittee was recessed, to
reconvene subject to the call of the Chair.]