Obama Budget Calls for Cuts in Juvenile Justice Programs and Revamps Funding Formulas for States
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Juvenile Justice Programs across the nation could face $50 million in cuts outlined in the White House budget proposal. The Obama budget calls for “tough choices,” including a revamp of the way states must qualify for funding, based on how well they meet federal standards. Title II formula grants would come out of a $120 million fund called the Juvenile Justice System Incentive Grants. States would have to compete for rewards, based on how well they use evidence-based strategies, diversion programs and whether they reduce disproportionate minority contact (DMC). Youth Today digs into this new concept and how it might work. The President’s budget is a mix of cuts paired with some increases that could affect communities in different ways, according to thecrimereport.org. On the plus side, the Justice Department may get a 2% increase over all, including more money for the FBI, and $600 million for communities to hire first responder police officers.
Deal to Create Bipartisan Special Council on Criminal Justice Reform in Georgia
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Governor Deal is set to announce the formation of a Special Council on Criminal Justice Reform on Wednesday. An unusual coalition of state leaders will join him, including Supreme Court Chief Justice Carol Hunstein, House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, Lt. Governor Casey Cagle and House Speaker David Ralston. The Council will spend the next year studying what to do about Georgia’s packed prisons and juvenile detention centers, how to reduce the bill of more than $1.4 billion, and alternatives to incarceration. Recommendations are due in January 2012. The event takes place at 1:45pm at the Capitol.
Cobb Targets Adults in Crackdown on Underage and Teen Binge Drinking
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Police, school and public service groups across Cobb County are joining forces to fight underage drinking. They’re taking aim at parents and other adults who provide alcohol to teens in stores, at neighborhood parties, and inside homes across the area. Ten police, school and government agencies, plus MADD are working with the Cobb Alcohol Taskforce to investigate those who are selling and giving beer, alcopos and other alcoholic beverages to children. “This is not a youth problem, it’s an adult problem,” said Pat Giuliani, who chairs the Youth Services Committee of the Georgia PTA. Police chiefs from Acworth, Austell, Kennesaw, Marietta, Smyrna, Cobb Police, the Sheriff’s Office, the public schools, Kennesaw State, and Southern Polytechnic stood with representatives from MADD, the PTA, the Department of Revenue, the County Solicitor’s Office and the Cobb Alcohol Task Force at a news conference Thursday inside Kennesaw City Hall.
Got a Minute? Watch this Video on Prisons that Really Goes Beyond Scared Straight!
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It's not Scared Straight, but it will make you think. Here’s an intriguing way to start a discussion about prison reform. It’s a clever one-minute video from Good Magazine, which asks the question: What should be the goal of the U.S. prison system? Thanks to Benjamin Chambers at ReclaimingFutures.org for the tip.
Judge Steve Teske: In Defense of Self-Defense – Are Schools Safer with Zero Tolerance?
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Zero tolerance is not only zero intelligence when it comes to understanding adolescent behavior, it ignores the law of justification, or self-defense.
DJJ’s Howell Promises New Direction at Troubled Eastman YDC
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After two incidents at the Eastman Youth Development Campus last week, director Todd Weeks is out. Department of Juvenile Justice Commissioner Amy Howell took action on Friday, tapping George Smith to fill the job on an interim basis. A statement from DJJ says, “The Commissioner is actively moving the Eastman YDC in a new direction with new leadership. “
Smith will be coming out of retirement to run Eastman. Until last November he was Deputy Director of Facilities Operations at the Georgia Department of Corrections. He spent 34 years with the agency. Eastman houses some of the toughest young offenders in the state – older teens who have committed serious crimes. Disturbances there are not new. Last May, an uprising led to an escape. In the latest incident on February 2nd, a correctional officer was injured and treated at a local hospital, according to DJJ spokesperson Scheree Moore. On January 30, about 60 inmates acted out and refused to follow orders. Five of them beat a guard with a broom handle, and several set small fires in a dorm. Someone at Eastman called for help and six police agencies rushed to the campus. It took about an hour to get the inmates back in their cells. Last week’s incidents remain under investigation. The statement from DJJ adds, “Commissioner Howell is taking these incidents that are occurring at Eastman very seriously and is committed to providing a safe and secure environment to the youth that are housed and the employees that work at the facility.”