President Barack Obama released a federal budget proposal this week.  Here are some items relevant to young people.

Education:
Despite a proposed freeze on non-defense discretionary spending, President Obama's budget continues to fund programs like Race to the Top, and asks for $77.4 billion for education. Race to the Top is a fund for innovative educational reform. For FY 2012, the proposed funds will be awarded to individual school districts with the best plans for school reform, as opposed to states. This way, even if the state decides not to apply for the money, an individual district could still be eligible.

In addition, Obama would like to increase spending for public schools and maintain the Pell Grant fund at $5,550 per college student. But as a cost savings, the president's proposal limits the grants a student can receive in a year, making many students unable to get summer school aid if they receive a Pell Grant during the school year. The Federal Pell Grant Program provides need-based grants to low-income undergraduates and students applying to higher education programs.

Title X:
President Obama plans to allot $327 million to maintain funding for Title X, the Family Planning program.  According to the department of Health and Human Services, Title X is the only federal grant program dedicated to providing individuals with comprehensive family planning and related health services. The more controversial aspect of Title X provides access to contraceptive services, supplies and information, and especially to low-income families.

Planned Parenthood is an organization that provides family planning to low-income women, and currently receives $75 million from Title X.  Opponents don’t want that money funding abortions.  According to the New York Times, the House of Representatives has proposed cutting the entire Title X budget which would eliminate federal funding for Planned Parenthood.

This weekend, advocates from all over the country traveled to Washington D.C. to show their support for reauthorizing the Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention Act (JJDPA) and passing the Youth PROMISE (Prison Reduction through Opportunities, Mentoring, Intervention, Support, and Education) Act.  The Community Justice Network for Youth held a two-day conference on Saturday and Sunday, and a press conference this morning to urge the Obama administration to change the disciplinary system for young people. 

Youth, parents, and advocates will visit their individual legislators after the press conference and show their support for these issues. The overall message of the weekend is that youth are being mistreated while incarcerated, when incarceration is not the most productive solution. In addition, money is being spent in the wrong places.

The speakers at the conference consisted of people with personal testimonials, policy advocates, and directors of youth support services.  Youth Radio spoke with two of them to get their personal perspective on the issue.  

Believe it or not, youth are next in line for a federal financial bailout.  However, the $1.6 million dollar Youth PROMISE Act is facing major resistance from lawmakers who think it’s too expensive.  

The Children’s Defense Fund says, “The bipartisan Youth PROMISE Act recognizes that steps need to be taken away from ineffective policies that focus on punishment and incarceration and toward policies that focus on evidence-based prevention and intervention to address juvenile delinquency.”  

In other words, this act is combating reliance on “Zero Tolerance,” and “Three Strikes” policies, which are quick to put youth behind bars, but offer no other services. The Associated Press reports, “The Youth PROMISE Act would distribute money to organizations that form a panel and can show their programs are effective. A city official would be on the panel along with law enforcement agencies, which would also be eligible for funding of their own crime prevention and gang intervention programs."

An excerpt from the summary of the bill on the Open Congress website details some things that the bill would focus on:

(1) assessing and developing standards and evidence-based practices to prevent juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity; and
(2) collecting data in designated geographic areas to assess the needs and existing resources for juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity prevention and intervention. Authorizes the Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to award grants to local governments and Indian tribes to:
(1) plan and assess evidence-based and promising practices for juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity prevention and intervention, especially for at-risk youth; and
(2) implement PROMISE plans, developed by local PROMISE Coordinating Councils (PCCs), for coordinating and supporting the delivery of juvenile delinquency and gang prevention and intervention programs in local communities.

The AP describes one organization affected by the recession called Homeboy Industries, that employs ex-gang members.  Their mission statement reads: “Homeboy Industries assists at-risk and formerly gang-involved youth to become positive and contributing members of society through job placement, training and education.”  They run businesses like Homegirl Cafe and Homeboy merchandise.  However, because of a lack of funding, they were forced to lay off 300 of their staff.  The Youth PROMISE Act would give money to groups like this one.  

A new interactive map of juvenile justice disparities across the country has become available to the public. The tool also provides state-by-state statistics, like California's drug arrests between 2003 and 2006, which show that the number of African American youth arrested increased by six over that period, while the number of Latino youth arrested for similar offenses decreased by 21.

The San Francisco based nonprofit W. Haywood Burns Institute (BI)  released the “Racial and Ethnic Disparities Juvenile Justice Data Map” Wednesday. The Institute reports this the first time state-by-state data has been made available to the public. The map contains the following information for each state.

One-Day Count Incarceration Data: Publicly available counts and rates of youth in juvenile residential placement facilities on any given day by state, collected every two years from 1997-2006. The BI has displayed the information by the race/ethnicity of the juveniles.

Annual Juvenile Justice System Data by Decision-Making Point: The rate of involvement of youth in the juvenile justice system by decision-making point (arrest, court referral, secure detention, transfer, etc), where available, at the State and County levels.

Other Information Including: 1) Each State’s Three Year Plan for reducing Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC); 2) Contact information for each State’s Juvenile Justice Specialist and State DMC Coordinator; 3) States’ statutory guidelines for detention and age of juvenile jurisdiction; 4) Information about each State Advisory Group (SAG), which is responsible for monitoring and supporting their state’s compliance with the Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention Act (JJDPA).

(via W. Haywood Burns Institute)

Some notable data from a quick scan of the map's California statistics:

-In 2006, there were 3,024 Latino youth arrested for various offenses—making them the racial group with the highest number of arrests.

-The number of black and Latino youth incarcerated continues to increase.

-In 2007, there were 21,201 secure detentions of Latino youth, almost double the number of cases involving black youth.

When Youth Radio’s Orlando Campbell visited San Quentin State Penitentiary, he connected with 26-year-old Christopher Shurn. They happened to meet just days before Chris’ release. For Orlando, a rapper who performs under the name Roach Gigz, it was natural for him to mix his own lyrics with Chris’reflections on how incarceration has shaped his life. That’s what you’ll hear in this story.