The Senate has passed a spending bill for 2013 that includes some increases in juvenile justice-related funding from 2012.
The bill would fund the government through the end of September, the close of fiscal 2013, and factors in cuts forced by the Sequestration. It includes the following spending lines for key youth-related programs at the Department of Justice:
2013 Justice Spending
- Title II: Grants to States for Federal Juvenile Justice Compliance: $44 million
- Block Grants to States: $25 million
- Mentoring: $90 million
- Offender Reentry (Adult and Juvenile): $68 million
- Programs for Missing and Exploited Children: $67 million
- Children Exposed to Violence: $13 million
- Community-Based Violence Prevention: $11 million
- National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention: $2 million
- Victims of Child Abuse Programs: $19 million
- Victims of Trafficking: $13 million
- Sex Offender Registry Implementation: $20 million
- Tribal Youth: $10 million
- Gang and Youth Education and Prevention: $5 million
- Alcohol Prevention: $5 million
- Training for Judicial Personnel: $1.5 million
- Court Appointed Special Advocates: $6 million
Those amounts mostly include modest increases from fiscal 2012, when a continuing resolution for the year included the lowest totals for juvenile justice in recent history. The 2012 bill funded Title II grants at $40 million, mentoring at $78 million, and community-based violence prevention at $8 million.
The 2013 bill does include $5 million less than last year for juvenile justice block grants to states.
The Senate version is now in the hands of the House of Representatives, which is expected to pass the bill by the March 27 deadline, at which point the federal government would shut down.
President Barack Obama, who along with House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said publicly that there would be no brinksmanship on a continuing resolution, is expected to sign the spending bill into law.
–John Kelly is the editor-in-chief of The Imprint