Senate Appropriations Committee Approves Department of
Justice Funding Bill
On June 28th, the Senate Appropriations Committee on Commerce, Justice and Science (CJS) reviewed and approved its FY
2008 funding bill. This funding bill includes a number of programs in the Department of Justice (DOJ) that serve people with drug
and alcohol histories and people with criminal records. Under the Committee-approved bill, these programs would receive the
following funding levels:
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The Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) program, which helps states and localities to develop and implement
residential substance abuse treatment programs in state and local correctional and detention facilities, would receive $10 million under the Senate
Appropriations Committee bill, $2 million more than last year’s funding, and equal to the House Appropriations Subcommittee’s
request. The President had not requested any funding for the RSAT program in his FY 2008 budget.
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The Drug Court program, which provides financial and technical assistance
to state and local governments and courts to develop and implement treatment drug courts, would receive $25 million under the Committee-approved
spending bill, a $15 million increase over last year’s funding amount. The House Appropriations Subcommittee recommended
$40 million for this program. The President’s FY 2008 budget included a proposal to consolidate a number of DOJ programs
into one program, including the Drug Court program and did not include a specific recommendation for its funding level.
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The Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) program, which funds programs
providing a number of different prevention, education, community corrections and drug treatment services, would receive $660 million, a $140 million
increase over last year’s funding. The House Subcommittee recommended that this program receive $600 million.
The JAG program was one of the programs that the President proposed be combined with other DOJ programs in his FY 2008 budget.
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The Mentally Ill Offender Act, which grants resources to
states and local areas to foster collaborations within the criminal and juvenile justice system for nonviolent adults or juveniles who have a mental
illness or co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorder and face criminal charges that are the product of the person's illness, would
receive $10 million, a $5 million increase from last year’s funding, and an amount equal to the House Appropriations Committee
recommendation. This program was one of the programs that the President proposed be combined with other DOJ programs in his FY
2008 budget.
Congress will be in recess for the July 4th holiday until the week of July 9th, when it is expected to continue
the appropriations process. Additional information about the FY 2008 funding process for programs in the Department of Justice can
be found at the Appropriations Committee websites: http://appropriations.senate.gov/
and http://appropriations.house.gov/.
Bi-partisan Group of Senators Introduce Bill to
Count Rehabilitative Activities, Including Addiction Treatment, as Work within TANF Program
On Thursday, June 28th, Senator Gordon H. Smith (R-OR), along with Senators Kent Conrad (D-ND), Debbie
Stabenow (D-MI), Olympia J. Snowe (R-ME) and Susan Collins (R-ME), introduced S. 1730, the Pathways to Independence Act of 2007.
S. 1730 would give states flexibility in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program to help engage persons with disabilities,
including individuals with substance use disorders, to move from welfare to work. The Pathways to Independence Act of 2007 would allow states to
create modified employability plans for people with disabilities and get credit toward their TANF participation rate if recipients comply with the
requirements in those plans. This would encourage states to engage people with disabilities in appropriate employment-focused
activities without fear of facing federal penalties for not meeting their TANF work rates. The bill also would allow states to
exclude people with pending SSI applications and severe temporary disabilities from the work rates. Upon introduction, S. 1730 was
referred to the Senate Finance Committee.
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Senate HELP Committee Approves Legislation to Change Names of Drug and Alcohol Research
Institutes
On June 27th, S.1011, the Recognizing Addiction as a Disease Act, was passed unanimously by the Senate
Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP). The legislation was first introduced on March 28th by Senators Joe Biden (D-DE), Edward
Kennedy (D-MA), and Michael Enzi (R-WY). Under the legislation, the names of two agencies in the National Institutes on Health would be changed. The
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) would change to the National Institute on Diseases of Addiction, and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse
and Alcoholism (NIAAA) would change to the National Institute on Alcohol Disorders and Health. Companion legislation in the House,
H.R. 1348, the “NIDA and NIAAA Name Redesignation Act,” was introduced on March 6, 2007. H.R. 1348 was introduced by Representatives
Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) and John Sullivan (R-OK).
The text and status of both S. 1011 and H.R. 1348 can be found at: http://thomas.loc.gov/.
Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs Unanimously
Approves Two Bills Addressing Health of Returning Veterans
S. 479, the "Joshua Omvig Suicide Prevention Act", introduced by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), seeks to
address suicide and attempted suicide by veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The twenty-nine co-sponsors of
the bill include Senators Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Barack Obama (D-IL), Peter
Domenici (R-NM), Charles Grassley (R-IA), John Rockefeller (D-WV), Olympia Snow (R-ME), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Gordon Smith (R-OR), Frank Lautenberg
(D-NJ), John Thune (R-SD), John Kerry (D-MA), Sam Brownback (R-KS), and Charles Schumer (D-NY).
S.479 would create a program for suicide prevention among veterans within the Department of Veterans'
Affairs. Elements of the program would include the de-stigmatization of mental health, training of employees within the department
to recognize and effectively respond to risk factors for suicide, and creation of a peer support program so that veterans could speak with other
veterans. Additionally, the bill would require improved access for veterans to mental health services, counseling, substance abuse
treatment, 24-hour mental health care, and a telephone hotline. The bill recognizes that families of veterans can play a role in
detecting suicide risks and the need for mental health care, and requires the VA to reach out to families through training, counseling, and
destigmatizing efforts. In order to implement this program, the VA would work closely with SAMHSA, the CDC, and the National
Institute of Mental Health. The Committee on Veterans' Affairs unanimously approved the bill in mark-up on June
28th.
S. 1233, the "Veterans Traumatic Brain Injury Rehabilitation Act", introduced by Senator Daniel Akaka
(D-HI), would provide intervention, rehabilitative treatment, and services to veterans with traumatic brain injuries (TBI). S.
1233 is cosponsored by Senators Larry Craig (R-ID), Arlen Spector (R-PA), John Sununu (R-NH), Tom Harkin (D-IA), and Ted Stevens (R-AK).
The legislation seeks to increase the capacity of the VA to effectively treat veterans with TBI, from medical treatment to rehabilitation and
community reintegration. The bill would require the Secretary of the VA to develop individualized plans for each veteran, which
would include rehabilitation objectives, detailed descriptions of treatments, the name of a specific case manager, and the time frame for the
treatment, including specific dates. Additionally, under S, 1233 each individual entering the VA system from the Department of
Defense hospitals would receive a comprehensive assessment of their physical, cognitive, vocational, and psychosocial impairments.
The Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee unanimously approved the bill on June 28th. The full text and status of both S. 479
and S. 1233 can be found at: http://thomas.loc.gov/.
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House Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Disconnected and
Disadvantaged Youth: Panelists Cite Concerns about Substance Use Among Youth
On June 19th the House Ways
and Means Subcommittee for Income Security and Family Support convened a hearing to discuss the issues facing disconnected and disadvantaged youth.
Subcommittee Chairman McDermott (D) led the hearing and
panelists included: Representative John Yarmuth (D-KY); Representative
Michele Bachmann (R-MN); Recording Artist, Jewel; Deborah Shore, the Executive Director
of Sasha Bruce Youthwork; DeCario Whitfield, a participant of the Sasha Bruce YouthBuild
program; Ronald B. Mincy, Ph.D., Maurice V. Russell Professor of Social Policy and Social
Work Practice, Columbia University School of Social Work; and Martha R. Burt, Ph.D., a
Research Associate at The Urban Institute.
The panelists discussed key issues facing today’s disadvantaged youth, including affordable housing, education,
sexually transmitted diseases, drug and alcohol addiction, and health care. Experts noted that in the United States, for youth between the ages of
12-17 there are approximately 1.6-1.7 million homeless and disconnected youth each year. Many of these young people were more likely to have a higher
chance of experiencing emotional, sexual and physical abuse in their childhood and adolescence, which can further aggravate many of the issues they
may face in homelessness. In general, the panelists urged the Subcommittee to increase federal spending and programming which would allow these young
people the opportunity to move out of the often repetitive cycle of homelessness.
Representative John Yarmuth spoke about the need to explore and implement measures that incentivize
careers that provide much needed social and economic services to communities, and the importance of an amendment he introduced to the College Cost
Reduction Act that would incentivize work in such areas with $1,000 in loan forgiveness each year for five years. Rep. Yarmuth
also expressed his support for expanding the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program to include disconnected youth who have children,
utilizing the Social Service Block Grants to fund organizations that help foster children and runaways, and ensuring that children are tapping into
federal welfare services.
Representative Michele Bachmann (R-MN) provided remarks about her experience as a foster parent and its
impact on her belief that Congress should explore creating a federal school choice program for foster children, through which foster parents are
given the option to place children in their care in either a public or private school long-term, depending on their specific needs.
Rep. Bachmann also expressed support for the Chafee Foster Care Independence Program, which among other things, provides vouchers of up to
$5,000 to foster children ages 16 through 18 for education and training. She stated that Congress should consider extending this
voucher program to foster children of all ages and additionally should consider extending the D.C. school choice program aimed at low-income
students.
In her testimony, Jewel, who experienced homelessness at the age of 15, argued that homeless youth and
foster care youth are increasingly disadvantaged and disconnected because of their lack of resources, which many times results in
fatal consequences for them. She stated that “estimates suggest that 5,000 unaccompanied youths die each year as a result of assault, illness,
or suicide; that’s an average of 13 kids dying every day on America’s streets.” As part of her testimony, Jewel expressed support
for the $10 million increase in spending for Runaway and Homeless Youth Act Programs as well as for a $5 million increase for Education of Homeless
Children and Youth Programs.
Ms. Shore, Executive Director of Sasha Bruce Youthwork, Inc., spoke of the many barriers her agency has to
address when trying to provide a support network for runaway, homeless, neglected and at-risk youth in their program. She highlighted the rise in
sexually transmitted diseases, and pregnancy and incidence of violence among the young people they work with. She stated their counselors estimate
that nearly 75% of the youth are sexually active and approximately half report having been sexually assaulted, coupled with the fact that D.C. has
the highest rates of HIV of any major US city, these factors indicate the gravity of the situation. Moreover, Ms. Shore stated that according to
DC’s Pre-Trial services, in February of 2006, 51% of juvenile arrestees tested positive for drugs. And approximately 85% of foster care
placements in the District are reportedly due to substance use, whether by the parent, guardian or child. Ms. Shore urged Congress to increase
investment in the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act to expand housing and supportive services and to intervene and support homeless youth, and to
promote cost-saving programs which emphasize alternatives to juvenile incarceration.
Ronald B. Mincy, Ph.D., Maurice V. Russell Professor of Social Policy and Social Work Practice, Columbia
University School of Social Work, spoke about the fact that many young people between 16 and 24 years old are out-of-school and out-of work, and
therefore are not acquiring the knowledge and skills needed to replace today’s skilled, educated, and experienced adult workers.
Dr. Mincy referred to these youth as disconnected youth and stated that in order to remain competitive in a global economy, it is
imperative that Congress act in order to re-connect these young people to school and work and that doing so would promote an important American
ideal, namely intergenerational social mobility, and save billions of dollars in future welfare, unemployment, and criminal justice expenditures.
Martha R. Burt, Ph.D., Research Associate, Center on Labor, Human Services and Population, The Urban
Institute, discussed the extent of the problem of homeless youth, the factors that predispose youth to become homeless, and the most promising
interventions. Dr. Burt highlighted the evidence that substance abuse and mental health problems contribute to homelessness among
youth; thirty to 40 percent of homeless youth report alcohol problems in their lifetime, and 40 to 50 percent report drug problems. Homeless youth
tend to have started substance use younger, often before age 15, which is predictive of serious adult addiction problems and long-term homelessness.
Additionally, forty-five percent of homeless youth reported mental health problems in the past year, rates that are predictive of becoming homeless
and remaining homeless. Several promising interventions were mentioned by Dr. Burt including the Chafee Foster Care Independence
Program (FCIA) which provides supports to states to ease the transition from foster care and pay for housing for youth between 18 and 21 and two
housing programs in Denver, CO run by Urban Peak that address the needs of youth aging out of foster care and long-term street youth.
Full witness testimony can be found online at: http://waysandmeans.house.gov/hearings.asp?formmode=detail&hearing=569.
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