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Juvenile Justice hit with $11M budget cut
Legislature slices proposed $33M increase
By Stephen D. Price
CAPITOL BUREAU
Children's advocates said they were blindsided
by a $11 million cut legislators made Monday afternoon to the
Department of Juvenile Justice budget, an agency they said had not
had a significant raise since 1994.
"This decision came as a complete shock to us
because the allocations were agreed to by the conferees that have
oversight over the juvenile-justice system," Roy Miller, president
of the Children's Campaign, said at a news conference Tuesday. "The
programs are in emergency mode."
The DJJ was to get a $33 million raise from its
current budget, but the cut will make the increase about $22
million.
DJJ spokesman Tara Collins said, "We would like
our providers to receive as much monetary resources as possible.
(But) We are certain the Legislature has done the best job they can
with the resources they have."
Many providers have said that, for several
years, funding rates for services contracted through DJJ have fallen
far behind the rate of inflation and the need. DJJ contracts with
private providers to operate juvenile detention centers, runaway
shelters, residential programs and after-care programs.
The agency's budget has come under scrutiny
this year with the death of 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson, who
died Jan. 6, a day after he was restrained, hit and kneed by guards
at the Bay County juvenile boot camp. No one has been charged in
Anderson's death.
The Legislature decided to do away with boot
camps and form a new system, similar to the highly-regarded boot
camp in Martin County that focuses on education and after-care
counseling. But even that boot camp is scheduled to fold this summer
due to lack of funding.
"We needed $33 million to get off the cliff,"
said Mark Fontaine, executive director of the Florida Juvenile
Justice Association. "Programs are going to have to see if they can
stay afloat. Providers are concerned and they don't want to be the
next headline because they don't have the resources to do the job."
Contact Democrat senior writer Stephen D. Price
at (850) 671-6548 or sprice@tallahassee.com
Originally published May 3, 2006
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