HOUSE BILL REPORT

                  HB 2547

             As Reported By House Committee On:

               Criminal Justice & Corrections

Title:  An act relating to deterring juvenile violence.

Brief Description:  Creating a grant program to reduce the number of juvenile offenders.

Sponsors:  Representatives Radcliff, Tokuda, Ballasiotes, Scott, O'Brien, Dickerson, Costa, Cole, Conway, Mason, Chopp, Kessler, Wood and Ogden.

Brief History:

  Committee Activity:

Criminal Justice & Corrections:  1/30/98, 2/5/98 [DPA].

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE & CORRECTIONS

Majority Report:  Do pass as amended.  Signed by 10 members:  Representatives Ballasiotes, Chairman; Benson, Vice Chairman; Koster, Vice Chairman; Quall, Ranking Minority Member; O'Brien, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Cairnes; Dickerson; McCune; Mitchell and Sullivan.

Staff:  Yvonne Walker (786-7841).

Background:  Youth early intervention programs are designed to deter juvenile violence and delinquency and promote development.   Many programs are operated by such organizations as nonprofit, civic and charitable organizations, local governments, tribes, and community networks.  They offer programs that include substance abuse, family and individual counseling, youth parenting, youth advocacy, and family intervention programs, just to name a few.  Youth development and delinquency intervention programs are designed to reduce juvenile violence and make families whole again.

Summary of Amended Bill:

New Chapter.  This act creates a new chapter in Title 13 (Juvenile Courts and Juvenile Offenders) of the RCW (Revised Code of Washington)  to be called the Juvenile Violence Deterrence Act of 1998.  The act will create a grant program to be used by local entities and organizations to deter juvenile violence and delinquency.

Responsibility of the Governor=s Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee.  The Governor's Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee is required to administer the newly created Juvenile Violence Grant Program and, in order to encourage grant applications, the committee shall simplify the grant application process to the greatest extent possible.

All entities applying for one of these grants must specifically:

(a) Identify the program or proposed program;

(b) Identify the entity or organization proposing the program.  Eligible organizations include, but are not limited to, nonprofit, civic and charitable organizations, local governments, tribes, and community networks;

(c) Include a budget for the expenditures of requested grant funds and specify what percentage of the grant will be spent on administration and evaluation costs; and

(d) Include a plan to analyze the effectiveness of the program.

The committee may require that a percentage of the expenditures from a received  grant be spent to evaluate the program's effectiveness.  The committee may also require that the evaluation be conducted by individuals or organizations that are not participating in the program.

Entities Applying for Grants.  A program is eligible for a Juvenile Violence Prevention Grant if the program:

(a) Is designed to reduce conditions associated with the entry of youth into the juvenile justice system;

(b) Is a new program or replicates in another location an existing program that meets the criteria of this chapter;

(c) Is based on research that supports the program's effectiveness in reducing the targeted populations risk for delinquency;

(d) Has community support and is community-based;

(e) Will be used for prevention of juvenile crime and not as a disposition or confinement option for adjudicated or diverted juvenile offenders.  The program is not precluded from serving juveniles who have been adjudicated or diverted prior to participation in the program or who are diverted or adjudicated during participation in the program; and

(f) Is in addition to any other state or locally funded juvenile violence deterrence program. 

Any funding from this grant cannot supplant existing federal, state, or local funds.

Grants.  To encourage local ownership of Juvenile Violence Deterrence Programs, grants awarded by the committee must:

(a) Have a duration of up to two years, with renewal options based on the achievement of outcomes; and

(b) Not exceed more than 75 percent of the total estimated cost of a program.  Entities or organizations applying for grants under this section must demonstrate that at least 25 percent of the cost of the program will be funded from non-state funds.

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Review Team. A review team must be established to make recommendations to the Governor's Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee on the funding of grants.

The review team will consist of a maximum of 15 people appointed by the committee.  Appointees must represent the state's geographic and cultural diversity and have demonstrated an interest in juvenile violence and its prevention.  The review team must include representatives from, but not limited to, Juvenile Court Administration,  the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Office of Crime Victims Advocacy, the Family Policy Council, the Department of Health, the Stop Youth Violence Advisory Committee, the Washington Council for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, and the Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse within the Department of Social and Health Services.

Review team members are eligible for reimbursement of expenses under the per diem allowance system for elective and appointed officials.

Funding.  Funds from the Violence Reduction and Drug Enforcement accounts created in the State Treasury account may be used to fund these grant programs.  The sum of $2.5 million  is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1999 from the Violence Reduction and Drug Enforcement Account to the Governor's Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee for implementation of these grant programs.

Amended Bill Compared to Original Bill:  The review team is expanded to include a representative from Juvenile Court Administration.  In addition, an amendment is made to change an incorrect program implementation and funding date from June 30, 1998 to June 30, 1999.

Appropriation:  None.

Fiscal Note:  Available.

Effective Date of Amended Bill:  Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Testimony For:  Last year we spent over $50 million on the criminal justice system.  Today we must begin to think about how we are going to save our kids, our future, the youth who are not yet in the criminal justice system.  We need to start offering our youth a delinquency deterrence program.  The Juvenile Violence Grant Program will offer such a solution designed to deter juvenile violence and delinquency and promote development.  This program will allow greater coordination among all sectors of government to coordinate activities and programs that will bring youth and their families back together again.

Testimony Against:  None.

Testified:  Glenn Dunnam, Chief of Police, city of Yelm; Mary Ann Murphy, Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee; Nancy First, Friends Committee on Washington State Public Policy; Peter Berliner, Children=s Alliance; Martha Harden, Superior Court Judges Association; and Judy Clibbon, Human Services Roundtable (pro).