11/18/11
The Justice Center of the Council of State Governments released the following information concerning funding for Second Chance Act programs. The original article follows.
Congress Restores Funding for the Second Chance Act
On Monday, November 14, 2011, House and Senate conferees released the “minibus” appropriations report, which includes Fiscal Year 2012 Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) spending. The conference report, a consolidated appropriations bill for several agencies including the Department of Justice, provides $63 million for the Second Chance Act.
The compromise appropriations bill resolves differences in Second Chance Act funding between the House, which allotted $70 million for the program, and the Senate, which provided no funding. The bill is expected to go to the full House and Senate for consideration this week.
"The Second Chance Act is having a tremendous impact nationally. It has changed the way state and local leaders think about prisoner reentry and it's demonstrating how we can reduce recidivism, which not too long ago many thought was impossible. Continued funding is a victory for every community seeking to increase public safety and to help families and neighborhoods receiving people released from prison and jail," commented Justin Jones, Director of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.
The bill provides $2.2 billion for state and criminal justice programs, including:
· $63 million for Second Chance Act programs;
· $9 million for Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act programs;
· $470 million for Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants;
· $6 million for comprehensive criminal justice reform and recidivism reduction efforts by states, also known as Justice Reinvestment;
· $35 million for drug courts;
· $10 million for residential substance abuse treatment programs;
· $20 million for Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act programs;
· $12.5 million for prison rape prevention and prosecution, and other programs
CURE National reports:
A Senate-House conference committee agreed last night to save major federal criminal justice programs including COPS community policing, the Second Chance law on prisoner re-entry, and juvenile justice aid, but at lower levels than last year. Congress is expected to approve the appropriations this week.
COPS and Second Chance were endangered by votes in one house or the other to eliminate them. Federal aid for state and local anticrime grants under the Byrne JAG "formula" program would be funded at $352 million, down 17 percent from last year. For many programs, the reductions reflect a trend that could get worse as Congress considers debt-reduction plans.
Under the agreement, COPS police hiring would be cut to $166 million this year, compared with $247 million last year. Second Chance funding would drop from $83 million to $63 million, and juvenile justice programs face a cut from $276 million to $263 million. The SCAAP program to subsidize states' incarcerating alleged illegal immigrants would be retained at $240 million, down from $274 million last year.
Source: Cure National
|
