PROMISING RESULTS

But Juvenile Justice Needs Assured Funding

Where do big criminals come from? Little criminals.

Virtually no prison inmates were little angels until age 18, then suddenly
turned to a life of crime. Instead, they were abused and neglected kids
from screwed-up families who started getting in trouble and using drugs and
alcohol at an early age, then graduated from petty crimes to major ones.

A terrible cycle of substance abuse, child abuse and crime churns them out.
Over 80 percent of inmates behind bars for all types of crimes are
substance abusers. Substance abuse is the main cause of child abuse and
neglect. Children who are abused and neglected have problems with anger and
violence, and are at increased risk for substance abuse and crime. Children
of criminals (most of whom are substance abusers) are five times more
likely to wind up behind bars as adults.

San Diego County's program to break this cycle, described in today's
Insight section, works very well, and it's only three years old. The drop
in juvenile crime in our county has been significantly greater than in the
rest of the country.

But how long will these reforms continue? San Diego County's new juvenile
justice system is financed year by year through a series of one-time
expenditures, which government finance experts say is the wrong way to fund
ongoing services. The system relies on savvy, skilled grant-writers who
cobble together much of the money to pay for these programs. State
lawmakers have provided funds but, again, it's one-time money.

For example, the Schiff-Cardenas Crime Prevention Act will provide our
juvenile justice programs with $10.3 million, to which the county Board of
Supervisors is expected to add more money. That's great. But this
legislation originally was written to be ongoing funding. That was nixed by
Gov. Gray Davis, and it became one-time money. Now, unless legislators who
understand the importance of progressive juvenile justice programs can
convince the governor to support long-term funding, we'll have to fight for
this money every year.

A half-dozen federal grants from the Justice Department also help pay for
San Diego County programs. And it's all one-time money that must be applied
for year after year.

What happens if there's a recession and state revenues drop, or if an
energy crisis eats into the state surplus that once helped pay for juvenile
justice programs? Or, if the new administration in Washington doesn't
believe in the kind of therapeutic jurisprudence that underlies juvenile
justice reforms?

What happens if county supervisors decide they have other issues they would
rather spend crime prevention dollars on? This amazing new system that
changes the lives of troubled kids actually hangs by a string, threatened
by the vagaries of politics and economic conditions.

San Diego County's juvenile justice system must receive dedicated, ongoing
funding, much like Superior Courts and the District Attorney's Office
receive. As long as these programs remain funded as they are today, their
future is in doubt. This new system must become permanent.