Budget cuts and their impact on juvenile justice programs in Kansas

Funding Juvenile Justice Programs

Juvenile Justice Budget Cuts

The State of Funding for Juvenile Justice Programs

States facing budget crises have been forced to cut back on a variety of social programs, including those designed to help juvenile offenders get the help they need to become positive contributors to society. A quick search on the internet for news stories about cuts at the state level reveals widespread concern about what impact this trend will have on future society. At the federal level, the Obama administration has proposed a cut in federally-funded youth mentoring program and increases for prevention programs (Youth Today, 2012). This essay will examine whether leaving juvenile offender to fend for themselves is good public policy.

Kansas Juvenile Justice Programs

Kansas Governor Brownback ordered all state agencies to trim 10% from their budgets, including the Kansas Juvenile Justice Authority (JJA) (Marso, 2012). This budgeting target would eliminate another $5.1 million from programs intended to prevent and treat juvenile behavioral problems that would otherwise lead to incarceration. The JJA budget has been trimmed repeatedly over the years and the most recent cut will probably eliminate prevention programs completely in some Kansas municipalities.

Kansas offers offenders a number of intervention programs. Within the state juvenile correctional facilities, residents may have access to a variety of services including psychiatric assessment and treatment, drug and alcohol rehabilitation, anger management, cognitive-behavioral training, violent offender and sex offender groups, living skills training, parenting classes, and academic classes (JJA, 2013). There are two state juvenile correctional facilities that are gender-specific, but the Larned Juvenile Correctional Facility is not.

The Juvenile Justice Foster Care (JJFC) home provides a place to stay for offenders who need to be separated from their families for safety and health reasons, and who are not dangerous enough to require commitment to a correctional or psychiatric treatment facility (JJA, 2012). These homes are required to provide access to cognitive-behavioral training, vocational skills training, academic skills training, and other support services. In addition, case managers may enroll offenders in mental health/substance abuse treatment programs. Up to three offenders can stay at a single home and room assignments are based on a number of factors, including recidivism risk, mental health status, gender, age, vulnerability, and sex offender status. While foster parents are required to have training in recognizing gang activity, no information on how to respond seems to be provided by the JJA.