Blog: us congress

Documenting Congress' further cuts to juvenile justice funding

The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate appropriations leaders finalized a “minibus” spending package that further reduces the relevance of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and possibly jeopardizes the office’s connection with state governments.
The bill – which funds the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, and Housing and Urban Development – trims the allocation from an already-reduced $275 million in fiscal 2011 to $262.5 million for fiscal 2012.
The minibus package contains another continuing resolution allowing the government to operate through December 16.
The structure of the juvenile justice funding comes from the Senate Appropriations Committee’s bill, which drastically reduced funding but kept some for each program of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act.
Under the agreement reached by appropriations confereees, the funding levels for OJJDP’s biggest programs, which include state formula grants, mentoring and missing and exploited children, more closely mirror what was proposed by the House appropriators.
These are the funding levels, by fiscal year, for the office’s major programs:
Title II Formula Grants to States

Reclaiming Futures' Susan Richardson meets with Oregon lawmakers Wyden, Merkley, Blumenauer

Susan Richardson, national executive director for Reclaiming Futures, met with members of the Oregon congressional delegation this past September in Washington, D.C.
Richardson met with Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley as well as Representative Earl Blumenauer to discuss the accomplishments Reclaiming Futures has achieved in the past year. She spoke specifically with Rep. Blumenauer regarding Reclaiming Futures work with its federal partners, The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (samhsa.org) and The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).
Here's a photo of Susan from her meeting with Senator Merkley: