Illinois to Cut All Alcohol and Drug Treatment Spending – Will Other States Follow?

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Blogger Benjamin Chambers brings up the subject of debilitating state budget cuts, pointing out the depressing news that the state of Illinois plans to zero-out its budget for alcohol and drug prevention and treatment programs and asks, just how bad can it get? As of March 15, the state of Illinois is cutting its $54 million budget for alcohol and drug treatment and prevention services to zero (full disclosure: I wrote the news summary linked to here). That's right: zero. According to providers, that means many of them will shut down. What's left, without state money?

DJJ Announces Second Youth Detention Center Closing

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The Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) announced the closing of the second regional youth detention center (RYDC) in as many days.  The 30-bed Blakely RYDC in Early County will close effective April 1.  The decision to close the facilities came after the DJJ budget was cut by $5.4 million. DJJ Commissioner Amy Howell said the Griffin and Blakely RYDCs were chosen because of their proximity to other facilities and not performance. “The decision was more based on data and not operations,” said Howell.  “The work at both of these facilities was outstanding.”

Last year, the DJJ said up to four facilities, Griffin, Blakely, Claxton and Gwinnett, could be closed. "I'm am totally flabbergasted by this news," said Captain Phillip Law of the Early County Sheriff's Department when reached at his office in Blakely. "We thought we had enough political pull to keep it open, but I guess we were wrong."

House Budget Cuts Juvenile Justice Funding But Doesn’t Say Where

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The U.S. House funding bill passed Friday would cut juvenile justice programs by $191 million. Some $91 million of that is in earmarked programs, but it doesn’t tell the Office of Justice Programs where to trim the remaining $100 million. "It’s weird that they left that out,” said Joe Vignati, the National Juvenile Justice Specialist on the Executive Board of the Coalition for Juvenile Justice. “If—and this is a big if — this becomes law, everybody will be clamoring and saying, ‘Cut this! Cut this!’”

HR 1, the Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act, now moves to the Senate where the bill is expected to change significantly.

Why Juvenile Justice Could be Big Loser In Obama Budget

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The Obama administration is proposing deep cuts in juvenile justice programs while boosting funding for policing and prisons, according to the D.C.-based Justice Policy Institute. These priorities, says the Institute (JPI), go counter to Obama administration public statements urging a reduction in the historically high prison population of some 2.4 million. Additionally, says the JPI, the FY 2012 Budget proposes to spend money on failed polices and has missed an opportunity to fund “smarter investments in proven programs.”

[Click here to look through the proposed FY 2012 Budget]

An Institute factsheet reports the budget would slash some $50 million from juvenile programs, including prevention. These programs are designed to help many of the nearly 100,000 kids currently in detention and correctional facilities across the nation. At the same time, the budget proposes an increase of $116 million from FY 2010 for facilities.

Doing More with Less: What DJJ Budget Cuts Really Mean for Children

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As Georgia faces its greatest budget crisis since the Great Depression, the state Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) has been forced to make drastic budget cuts.  The last three years have seen a reduction of more than 20% in state funding.  And future cuts of up to 10% for FY 2012 are possible. Jeff Minor, long time DJJ Chief Financial Officer, explains these losses in stark terms:

In FY 2009, DJJ’s base budget totaled nearly $343 million.  By 2011, the budget was down to $266 million. The FY 2012 budget faces further cuts, from $15.4 million in a best case scenario to $25.7 million in a worst case scenario. Over a three year period, the cuts could total nearly 30%. In addition, says Minor, the agency lost more than $80 million in one-time budget cuts, largely absorbed through staff furloughs and hiring freezes.

Children’s Programs Need Data to Survive

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Children’s programs funded by the federal government may be cut if evidence based data does not prove they are successful.  Youth Today looks at the dilemma facing well established programs such as Outward Bound and Teach for America because of new funding rules.  Just because a program has a positive public image does not mean it will get money in the 2011 fiscal year budget.  Juvenile justice programs that provide alternatives to prison could be at risk without evidence based data. Non-profit agencies that depend on federal funding are now scrambling for congressional support and some are arguing that evidence based data may not be the most accurate way to evaluate their work.