NCJ Number
83808
Date Published
1982
Length
45 pages
Annotation
This hearing focuses on conflicts between the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Congress over funding for the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) for fiscal year 1982 and contains testimony from professionals involved in juvenile justice programs as well as the DOJ.
Abstract
The committee chairman first reviewed the DOJ decision to eliminate juvenile justice programs and subsequent Congressional action to restore these programs to the budget. A DOJ representative described the Department's efforts to have the juvenile justice programs transferred to a Health and Human Services block grant and answered critical questions about the current funding policies. The director of the Minnesota Crime Control Planning Board summarized Minnesota's activities to combat juvenile crime and discussed the impact of the negative DOJ attitude on their projects. The effect of the funding cut for OJJDP programs on local governments was also addressed by a witness from the National Association of Counties, with attention to the importance of these grants in providing seed money for innovative projects. Professionals from an emergency foster care program in Virginia and the National Youth Work Alliance related how funding cutoffs would seriously harm successful programs and negatively affect efforts to secure additional private and public funding. The chairman concluded the hearing by reaffirming his commitment to keeping $70 million for the OJJDP in the proposed budget. Formal statements from all witnesses are included.