Helping America’s Most Vulnerable
WASHINGTON, D.C.,
May 23, 2017
Protecting children from harm and providing vulnerable youth a pathway to success are vital national priorities. And today, the House of Representatives is expected to take two important steps that will advance these priorities for children and families.
Protecting children from harm and providing vulnerable youth a pathway to success are vital national priorities. And today, the House of Representatives is expected to take two important steps that will advance these priorities for children and families. Step one: Strengthen protections for children who are victims of deplorable crimes. No child should live in fear of being taken from his or her family. No child should live in fear of abuse or exploitation. No child should live in fear of becoming the victim of a heinous crime. No child should live in fear. Period. To strengthen a national effort to recover missing children and support youth victims of violent crimes, Reps. Brett Guthrie (R-KY) and Joe Courtney (D-CT) introduced the Improving Support for Missing and Exploited Children Act (H.R. 1808). This bipartisan legislation will help:
More than 1 million children are currently involved in the juvenile justice system. The statistics show a troubling pattern: Youth who have been incarcerated are 26 percent less likely to graduate from high school and 26 percent more likely to engage in other unlawful activity and return to jail as adults. The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act provides federal resources to support state and local leaders who are on the front lines of serving these vulnerable youth. The law helps provide a critical lifeline, yet it hasn’t been updated in more than a decade. To modernize current law, Rep. Jason Lewis (R-MN), along with Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA), introduced the Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 2017 (H.R. 1809). This bipartisan bill will:
Two bills and two important steps. As Chairwoman Foxx noted last month: These bipartisan bills are different in policy but share a similar purpose. One streamlines a law that provides support for missing and exploited children. The other makes reforms to assist at-risk youth and juvenile offenders. But both renew a commitment we have made to help and protect our most vulnerable children. |