Wrap Up: YPA's 1st Congressional Hearing

[John Parker]

Youth PROMISE Act receives first subcommittee hearing in Congress.

July 15, 2009

WASHINGTON DC – The subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security heard testimony for the first time today (July 15) on the Youth PROMISE Act.

There were the standard “soundbytes” in favor of the legislation from the panel, but here is a summary of some of the most memorable quotes:

Leroy Baca, who is the sheriff of Los Angeles county, said that from a criminal justice perspective the Youth PROMISE Act is the most significant legislative act in the history of the Congress (in regards to youth violence/gang prevention). He went on to say that the YPA is not a solution of cost, but a solution that is a prevention of cost.

Marian Wright Edelman (President and Founder of the Children’s Defense Fund) said incarceration is becoming the new American apartheid. And that she could not think of “a dumber policy" than to continue to spend millions more on prisons.

Deborah Prothrow-Stith (MD, Consultant, Spencer Stuart, Boston, MA), argued that “violence is preventable.” And that the United States does have programs that work. She cited CeaseFire (Chicago, IL) as an example and the fact that they have shown 40-70% reduction in homicides.

The questioning from the Republicans on the committee was thoughtful and measured. They often touched base with David Mathisen, from the Heritage Foundation, for his views. Mathisen, however, was not speaking on behalf of the Heritage Foundation, and expressed two major concerns: The first being that it will cost a substantial amount of money and that it is often difficult to duplicate the results of one “proven” evidence based program working in “specialized” conditions.

Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee John Conyers made several impressed nods to the bill's 226 cosponsors (that includes 18 Republicans). He questioned Mathisen on the grounds of making sure that his concerns were taken into consideration in the shaping of the bill.

But later in the testimony, Prothrow-Stith pointed out that punitive strategies do not have the data or evidence based requirements that violence prevention programs are required to have. So it is difficult to determine their effectiveness.

And Tracy Velázquez (Executive Director, Justice Policy Institute, Washington, DC) testified that punitive approaches offer a $2 return on a $1 dollar investment; while violence prevention programs offer a $15 return on a $1 investment.

The Peace Alliance had staff at the hearing, and the press conference that was held before the hearing, and they maintained a live Twitter feed throughout the afternoon.

Links to live video were posted through this website (www.dopeace.ning.com) and a live blog was kept during the hearing.

Updates will be posted to this website as soon as they become available.

[John Parker]

Well, they were either bolstering him up or someone misspoke, but Leroy Baca was introduced at the hearing as the Sheriff of the largest police force in the country.

Hmm...I'll check to verify that. Anyhow, that whole panel was spectacular! I loved listening to all of them!

[Wendy Greene]

Thanks John, it's so helpful to have this wrap up! I feel much more like I was there :).

Interesting point about punitive strategies not being required to have the data or evidenced-based requirements that prevention programs do. Talk about what's wrong with this picture. Without some sort of measurement requirements, how would you ever know if your approach was working? Requiring such metrics of punitive programs would be an interesting step!

Nice too to see my old "friend" Lee Baca was there. He's always been a huge advocate for prevention and understands well it's importance, being head of the second-largest police force in the country (LA County) and suffering greatly from the problem of over-crowded jails. Never got him behind the Dept of Peace legislation, but still consider him an ally to the cause--as he obviously is!

[David Hazen]

I heard that Aaron Voldman made an excellent statement at the press conference, I'd like to see that posted.

[John Parker]

There was no vote. I believe that it is expected to be out of committee before the August recess and that a floor vote for the House will happen in September/October.

[DoPeace Admin]

Thanks for keeping the DoPeace community up-to-date on the YPA legislation, John. I missed the end of the hearing. Did they have any kind of vote? What are the next steps for this bill?