Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 1801 - Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Amendments of 1988

(House)
(Kildee (D) Michigan and 65 others)

Although the Administration supports appropriation authorizations for the Runaway and Homeless Youth and Missing Children's Assistance programs — and has proposed appropriations of $26 million and $4 million for them, respectively, for FY 1989 — it opposes any further extension of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, for which S67 million was appropriated in FY 1988.

The goals of the Federal juvenile justice grant program — the deinstitutionalization of status offenders and the separation of juvenile and adult offenders — have been achieved to the extent practicable. For that reason, and in order to make funds available for other, higher priority programs of the Department of Justice, the President's Budget for FY 1989 proposes no budget authority for juvenile justice programs.

Accordingly, the Administration opposes enactment of H.R. 1801 as currently drafted but would support it if it were amended to: (1) delete title I (juvenile justice); (2) amend title III (missing children) to provide a straight four-year reauthorization of the program, without extraneous amendments; and (3) amend title II (runaway and homeless youth) to eliminate various objectionable amendments that would limit both the flexibility of the Department of Health and Human Services in administering the program and the Department's ability to respond to changing program needs, including earmarking appropriations, requiring minimum State allotments of funds, and authorizing a new transitional living grant program.