On December 2, the House Judiciary Committee approved, 17-14, the Youth Prison Reduction through Opportunities, Mentoring, Intervention, Support, and Education (PROMISE) Act (H.R. 1064).
Sponsored by Rep. Booby Scott (D-VA), the bill would authorize $1.3 billion for grant programs in FY2010-2014 to address juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity. Among these provisions, the measure would establish a Promise Advisory Panel that would assess evidence-based and promising practices for juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang prevention and intervention. The panel would be required to submit an annual report to Congress, the attorney general, and state, local, and tribal officials on its findings.
The bill would authorize grant programs to, among other provisions, assist newly established PROMISE coordinating councils with “planning and assessing evidence-based and promising practices relating to juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity prevention and intervention, especially for youth who are involved in, or who are at risk of involvement in, juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity.”
Each PROMISE coordinating council would be required to develop a plan “to provide for the coordination of, and, as appropriate, to support the delivery of services.” Such plans may include evidence-based practices or promising practices in categories, such as early childhood development services, including voluntary home visits and parenting and healthy relationship skills training; child protection and safety, including family violence prevention and family stabilization programs; and training for pregnant and parenting teens.
During consideration of the measure, the committee adopted, by voice vote, an amendment by Rep. Scott to require, among other provisions, programs funded under the measure to address gender-specific needs.
