Today, on Capitol Hill, Senator Murphy Introduces the Better Options for Kids Act with a discussion of how stakeholders, states, and the federal government can help more children succeed through policies that improve school success and limit juvenile court involvement.  All are invited to a briefing as follows:

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

2:30 pm – 3:30 pm

Senate Dirksen Building Room 608

Speakers:

The Honorable Judge Steven Teske

Chief Judge of the Juvenile Court of Clayton County, Georgia

Jim St. Germain

Founder of Preparing Leaders of Tomorrow (PLOT) and former court-involved youth

Leigh Mahoney

Director of National Education & Program Development

Robert F. Kennedy Children’s Action Corps

Melissa Borofsky

Association of Prosecuting Attorneys

With an introduction by Senator Chris Murphy.

Summary of Better Options for Kids:

This legislation will leverage existing federal funding streams already directed towards at-risk youth and reward states that have adopted policies to improve youth outcomes.  It will also incentivize other states to adopt the same reforms.  Through this legislation, community-based organizations that collaborate with state and local agencies would receive funding priority for certain Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grants if they demonstrate that their state has either achieved implementation of, or will use the funds at issue to achieve implementation of, the following evidence-based policies:

· Limiting court referrals for school-based non-criminal status offenses (truancy, curfew violations, for instance);

· Incentivizing school district to have clear guidelines regarding the arrest powers of school resource officers on school grounds;

· Providing training or funds training for school districts to use non-exclusionary discipline;

· Shifting funding formerly dedicated to secure detention for minors into community-based alternatives for incarceration; and

· Adopts a reentry policy for youth leaving correctional facilities that ensures educational continuity and success.

Why we need this legislation:

Despite the huge costs to incarcerate a child for one year – in Connecticut, for example, it costs about $134,000, and in Ohio, it cost $123,000 – studies have shown that longer incarceration of youth simply does not work.  Once they are locked up, youth are less likely to graduate from high school, their income earning capacity is lower, and they are more likely to grow up and become entangled with the adult criminal justice system or reliant on government social programs. Worse, most of the youth referred to court system or incarcerated have not committed serious or violent crimes. In 2010, 63% of young people were incarcerated for committing nonviolent offenses, technical probation violations, and status offenses.  Overly harsh school discipline for typical misconduct also leads to school failure and juvenile court involvement. 

Instead of unnecessary suspensions, expulsions, and court referrals, schools and states can use alternative options that help students succeed. Today, the juvenile crime rate is at a low point, and several states and counties such as Connecticut, Ohio, Texas, and Clayton County, Georgia have made huge strides in changing their policies to cut youth incarceration and law enforcement referrals and replaced them with evidence-based solutions that have saved their states money while improving public safety and youth outcomes in the process.