DOCUMENT RESUME ED 338 951 CG 023 762 TITLE Hearings on the Reauthorization of Title 3(b) of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988: Drug Abuse Education and Prevention Programs for Runaway and Homeless Youth and Youth Gangs. Hearings before the Subcommittee on Human Resources of the Committee on Education and Labor. House of Representatives, One Hundred Second Congress, First Session (Washington, D.C., July 18, 1991; Downey, California, August 1991). INSTITUTION Congress of the U.S., Washington, D.C. Houcle Committee on Education and Labor. REPORT NO ISBN-0-16-035631-8 PUB DATE 91 NOTE 210p.; Serial No. 102-32. AVAILABLE FROM Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Congressional Sales Office, Washington, DC 20402. PUB TYPE Legal/Legislative/Regulatory Materials (090) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC09 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Adolescents; Children; Drug Abuse; *Drug Education; *Federal Legislation; Hearings; *Homeless People; Prevention; *Runaways; *Youth Programs IDENTIFIERS *Anti Drug Abuse Act 1988; Congress 102nd; *Gangs; Reauthorization Legislation ABSTRACT This document contains witness testimonies from two Congressional hearings examining the reauthorization of Title 3(h) of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 relating to the drug abuse education and prevention for runaway and homeless youth and youth gangs. Opening statements are included from Representatives Martinez and 1.'awell. Witnesses proiding testimony include: (1) Donna Arey, Aftercare Program, Patchwork; (2) Eddie Banks, Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Boys and Girls Clubs, and Clifton Johnson, program participant; (3) Jo Anne Barnhart, Administratitm for Children and Families, Department of Health and Human Services; (4) Jeanne Breunig, Los Angeles County Board of Education; (5) Barbara Broesamle, SaYes, Michigan Sanctuary, Inc., and Tara, program peer counselor; (6) Gary Clark, Gary Clark "Why Say No" Sports Camp and Youth Leadership Program, and Anthony Jones, who works with the program; (7) Bruce Coplen, Los Angeles County Interagency Gang Task Force; (8) Farley Cotton and Jim Nelson, At-Risk Youth Services City, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota; (0) David Dawley, National Center for Gang Policy of Washington, D.C.; (10) Nexus Nichols, National Network of Runaway and Youth Services; (11) John Peel, Los Angeles Youth Network, and Lynn Miller, program peer counselor; (12) James Smoot, graduate, Good Choices Program, Patchwork; (13) Steve Valdivia, Community Gang Services, Los Angeles, California and Mary Ann Diaz, former gang member; (14) Jamaal Wilkes, Smooth As Silk Inc., Los Angeles, California; and (15) Gary Yates, Division of Adolescent Medicine, Children's Hospital, Los Angeles, California. Prepared statements, letters, and supplemental materials are included throughout the document. (NB) HEARINGS ON THE REAUTHORIZATION OF TITLE 3(b) OF THE ANTI-DRUG ABUSE ACT OF 1988: DRUG ABUSE EDUCATION AND PREVENTION m PROGRAMS FOR RUNAWAY AND HOMELESS cn YOUTH AND YOUTH GANGS . cez ChtaZ HEARINGS BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON HUMAN RESOURCES OF THE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED SECOND CONGRESS FIRST SESSION HEARINGS HELD IN WASHINGTON, DC, JULY 18 AND DOWNEY, CA, AUGUST 2, 1991 Serial No. 102-32 Printed for the use of the Committee on Education and Labor a U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION olIn e ol F ducfilionai Research and improvement EDUCATIONAL RE SOURCES INFORMATION CI NTER IERICI f-vn' L/' this document haS been reproduced as received from fhe person or organization ginating P Minor hanges have been made to improve reproduction quality _ U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE Pointy 01 vipv. of Opimans stated ti this docu merit do riot necessarily represent official WASHINGTON : 1991 46-402 n4 OE RI position or policy For sale hy the U.S. (iovemment PrintinF Office Superintendent of Documents, Congressional Sales Office, Washington, DC 20402 ISBN 0-16-035631-8 BEST COPY AVAILABLE d? ComurrEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR WILLIAM D. FORD, Michigan, Chairman WILLIAM F. GOODLING, Pennsylvania JOSEPH M. GAN >OS, Pennsylvania E. THOMAS COLEMAN, Missouri WILLIAM (BILL) CLAY, Missouri THOMAS E. PETRI, Wisconsin GEORGE MILLER, California MARGE ROUKEMA, New Jerriey AUSTIN J. MURPHY, Pennsylvania STEVE GUNDERSON, Wisconsin DALE E. KILDEE, Michigan RICHARD K. ARMEY, Texas PAT WILLIAMS, Montana HARRIS W. FA WELL, Illinois MATTHEW G. MARTINEZ, California PAUL B. HENRY, Michigan MAJOR R, OWENS, New York CASS BALLENGER, North Carolina CHARLES A. HAYES, Illinois SUSAN MOLINARI, New York CARL C. PERKINS, Kentucky BILL BARRETT, Nebraska THOMAS C. SAWYER, Ohio JOHN A. BOEHNER, Ohio DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey scow L. KLUG, Wisconsin NITA M. LOWEY, New York MICKEY EDWARDS, Oklahoma JOLENE UNSOELD, Washington CRAIG A. WASHINGTON, Texas JOSE E. SERRANO, New York PATSY T. MINK, Hawaii ROBERT E. ANDREWS, New Jersey WILLIAM J. JEFFERSON, Louisiana JOHN F. REED, Rhode Island TIM ROEMER, Indiana JOHN W. OLVER, Massachusetts RON DE LUGO, Virgin Islands JAIME B. FUSTER, Puerto Rico PATRICIA F. RISRLER, Staff Director ANDREW F. HARTMAN, Minority Staff Director SuncommIrrim ON HUMAN RESOURCES MATTHEW G. MARTINEZ, California, Chairman HARRIS W. FAWELL, Illinois DALE E. KILDEE, Michigan E. THOMAS COLEMAN, Missouri NITA M. LOWEY, New York BILL BARRETI', Nebraska RON DE LUGO, Virgin Islands a WILLIAM I). FORD, Michigan (Ex Officio) CONTENTS Page Hearings held in: Washington, DC, July 18, 1991 1 Downey, CA, Angust 2, 1991 145 Statement of: Arey, Donna, Coordinator, Aftercare Program, Patchwork 95 Banks, Eddie, Administrator, Metropolitan Police Boys and Girls Club, Washington, DC 133 Barnhart, Jo Anne B., Assistant Secretary, Administration for Children and Families, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC 3 Breunig, Jeanne, Member, Los Angeles County Board of Education 145 Broesamle, Barbara, Coordinator, SaYes, Michigan Sanctuary, Inc., Royal Oak, MI 84 Clark, Gary, Founder, Gary Clark "Why Say No" Sports Camp and Youth Leadership Program, Washington, DC 18 Coplen, Bruce, Chair, Los Angeles County Interagency Gang Task Force, Los Angeles, CA 152 Cotton, Farley, Assistant Outreach Coordinator, At-Risk Youth Services City, Inc., Minneapolis, MN 126 Dawley, David, Founder and Chair of the National Center for Gang Policy of Washington, DC 45 Johnson, Clifton, Participant, Metropolitan Police Boys and Girls Club, Washington, DC 141 Jones, Anthony, Gary Clark "Why Say No" Sports Camp and Youth Leadership Program, Washington, DC 35 Nelson, Jim, Executive Director, At-Risk Services City, Inc., Minneapolis, MN 108 Nichols, Nexus, Director of Public Policy, National Network of Runaway and Youth Services, Washington, DC 67 Peel, John, Los Angeles Youth Network, Los Angeles, CA; accompanied by Lynn Miller 191 Smoot, James, Graduate, Good Choices Program, Patchwork, Charleston, WV 103 Tara, Peer Counselor, Michigan Sanctuary, Inc., Royal Oak, MI 90 Valdivia, Steve, Community Gang Services, Los Angeles, CA; accompa- nied by Mary Ann Diaz 183 Wilkes, Jamaal, Smooth As Silk Inc., Los Angeles, CA 148 Yates, Gary, Associate Director, Division of Adolescent Medicine, Chil- dren's Hospital, Los Angeles, CA 161 Prepared statements, letters, supplemental materials, et cetera: Arey, Donna, Coordinator, Aftercare Program, Patchwork, prepared statement of 97 Banks, Eddie, Administrator, Metropolitan Police, Boys and Girls Club, Washington, DC, prepared statement of 137 Barnhart, Jo Anne B., Assistant Secretary, Administration for Children and Families, Department of Health ancl Human Services, Washington, DC, prepared statement of 7 Breunig, Jeanne, Member, Los Angeles County Board of Education, pre- pared statement of 141; Broesamle, Barbara, Coordinator, SaYes, Michigan Sanctuary, Inc., Royal Oak, MI, prepared statement of 86 Clark, Gary, Founder, Gary Clark ''Why Say No" Sports Camp and Youth Leadership Program, Washington, DC, prepared statement of 22 1110 4 IV Page Prepared statements, letters, supplemental materials, et ceteraCo atinued Cop len, Bruce, Chair, Los Angeles County Interagency Gang Task Force, Los Angeles, CA, prepared statement of 155 Cotton, Far ly, Sr., Assistant Outreach Coordinator of At-Risk Students, prepared statement of 129 Dawley, David, Founder and Chair of the National Center for Gang Policy of Washington, DC, prepared statement of 49 Jones, Anthony, Gary Clark "Why Say No" Sports Camp and Youth Leadership Program, Washington, DC, prepared statement of 37 Nelson, Jim, Executive Director, At-Risk Services City, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, prepared statement of 110 Nichols, Nexus, Director of Public Policy, National Network of Runaway and Youth Services, Washington, DC, prepared statement of 70 Peel, John, Los Angeles Youth Network, Los Angeles, CA, prepared state- ment of 193 Smoot, James, Graduate, Good Choices Program, Patchwork, Charleston, WV, prepared statement of 105 Tara, Peer Counselor, Michigan Sanctuary, Inc., Royal Oak, MI, prepared statement of 92 Valdivia, Steve, Community Gang Services, Los Angeles, CA, prepared statement of 187 Yates, Gary, Associate Director, Division of Adolesceni. Medicine, Chil- dren's Hospital, Los Angeles, CA, prepared statement of. 165 HEARING ON THE REAUTHORIZATION OF TITLE 3(b) OF THE ANTI-DRUG ABUSE ACT OF 1988: DRUG ABUSE EDUCATION AND PREVENTION PROGRAMS FOR RUNAWAY AND HOMELESS YOUTH AND YOUTH GANGS THURSDAY, JULY 18, 1991 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON HUMAN RESOURCES, COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR, Washington, DC The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 9:30 a.m., Room 2257, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Matthew G. Martinez [Chair- man] presiding. Members present: Representatives Martinez and Fawell. Staff present: Jennifer Amstutz, staff assistant; Roger McClellan, assistant; Terry Deshler, legislative legislative assistant; Eric Jensen, staff director; Beth Buehlmann, minority professional staff member; and Kathleen minority staff Gillespie, professional member. Mr. MARTINEZ. First, let me apologize for being a few minutes late. This meeting is called to order. Today, we have called this hearing to receive the testimony re- garding the reauthorization of Title 3(b) of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 relating to the drug abuse education and prevention for runaway and homeless youth and youth gangs. Titk 3(b) is schedule for reauthorization this year, and the sub- committee will oe looking at a number of different programs that provide education and prevention services for those populations. Most of you have heard me talk about the vulnerability of the people served by the program under the jurisdiction of the subcom- mittee. None are more vulnerable than our youth. These teenagers are impressionable, struggling with the worlii of constantly chang- ing values, and are in the process of making the transition from child to adult, which is at best most difficult. Those who have no support at home, who may be abused or neglected, have few places to turn other than the streets. Those who feel disenfranchised reach out for peer approval and find it where it is available whether it is belonging to a gang or other peer groups. Many hide their pain through abusing drugs, and many succumb to peer pressure just wanting to be accepted. Drugs have become a blight in our society. Everyday, you can pick up the paper and read about violence related to drugs or about some famous person who (1) t; has or had abused drugs. It is getting harder and harder to say "this is not my problem." These youth out there are our children. Drug abuse is a classless phenomenon. It is not just an inner city problem. It is a suburban American problem as well. America has declared war on drugs, and the Congress has passed an omnibus drug bill. But we have to do much more. We must now join our youth at the front line to fight that war. Education and prevention are those vital tools with which to arm them. I would like to also express my 52 per- concern at this time about the $7.7 million cut, more than cent, passed by the House, in the Youth Gang Program for 1992. While the Senate proposes funding the programs at the same level last year, which I believe is still inadequate, that $14.8 mil- lion is so terribly important to these programs. This program is vital in our war, and I urge all of you out there to send letters to the House Appropriations Committee, and to those members that will be a part of the conference and urge them to accept the Senate recommendations in the conference. Today, you Will hear the testimony of people which will shock will hear some of you and touch the hearts of most of you. You from people who are reaching out to these disenfranchised youth; who provide programs that deal with these everyday issues that they face. You will hear from the youth themselves talking about what the programs have meant to them. One thing you will hear from all of these witnesses, besides the obvious needs of these pro- grams, is their commitment, their dedication. I commend all of them for their valiant efforts and I look forward to the testimony today. With that, I'd like to turn before we take our first witness to Mr. Fawell, the ranking minority member of this subcommittee. Mr. FAWELL. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you for holding this hearing on the Youth Gang Drug Prevention Program and the Drug Preventioa Program for Runaway and Homeless Youth. As we prepare for the reauthorization of these two programs, 4 has become apparent to me that there is not very much good infor- mation about how these programs have worked. It is my hope ti at these hearings will provide an opportunity to gather information both from the department and from some of the recipients of fund- ing under the Youth Gang and Runaway and Homeless Youth Drug Program about any problems with the program's operation refinements in the legislation. and any need Maybe we will discover that these have been model programs and that refinements are not necessary. In any case, today's hear- ing will provide an opportunity to start building that important record. The Federal Government is currently spending almost $700 mil- lion annually on drug education programs operated by the Depart- ment of EducatiJn and the Department of Health and Human Services. While the overwhelming percentage of these funds are di- rected to the Drug-free Schools and Communities Act, almost $90 million over the last 3 years has supported the Youth Gang and Runaway and Homeless Youth Drug Programs. The importance of providing drug abuse education and preven- tion to our nation's youth is unquestioned. But also unquestioned is 3 which the need to evaluate drug education programs to determine ones are effective and why. I am sure that there are many excellent drug education pro- today are involved with some grams out there. And the witnesses of those programs. It is my hope that today we will begin this process of taking a critical look at which programs work. I also hope that the process of evaluation will continue throughout the life both of the Youth Gang and Runaway and Homeless Youth programs and of the other drug education programs supported by the Federal Govern- ment. I thank the witnesses in advance for their testimony and I look forward to hearing their perspectives on the programs. Again, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'll add, unfortuaately, the life of a Membey of Congress is that he is hopping and skipping from committee room to committee Education and Labor room. There is another subcommittee of our Committee where I have consented to play a relatively crucial part of that hearing. So I'll probably have to be leaving about 10 min- reviewed a utes to 10, Mr. Chairman. I will certainlyI have number of statements that I have been able to obtain in advanced, and I'll be reviewing all of the statements and carefully reviewing the evidence which is to come before our subcommittee. Mr. MARTINEZ. Thank you very much, Mr. Fawell. If at all possible, and you find time in your schedule to maybe swing back by, some of the younger people that will be testifying later, I think, are crucial to really understanding their perspectives on these problems. I know that you are very busy. We are all very busy. If you could just find time, if something happens, we would appreciate it. If not, review the tran- we know that you wil1 look at the testimony and script from the hearing as you most diligently do all the time to understand what is happening. With that, I'd like to turn to our first witness. It gives me a great deal of pleasure to welcome today Ms. Jo Anne Barnhart, Assistant Secretary of the Administration for Children and Families, Depart- ment of Health and Human Services. In the short time I have known Ms. Barnhart, I am convinced that she is a dedicated public servant and one who desires very much to do a very good job in these areas that she has authority. We have found woriling with you to this point a pleas.int experi- ence, one of coopem -ion and one that we heartily enjoy. Thank you very much. STATEMENT OF JO ANNE B. BARNHART, ASSISTANT SECRETARY, ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, DEPART- MENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, WASHINGTON, DC Ms. BARNHART. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. And thank the rela- you for those nice words of support. I, too, have enjoyed tionship that has begun to be established between myself and you and your staff. I look forward to continuing that. I have a much longer statement for the record that I would like to submit in its entirety for publication in the hearing record. How- 4 ever, recognizing the number of witnesses that you have today, I have prepared a greatly reduced summary that I'd like to present orally at this time. Mr. MARTINEZ. We appreciate that. Your entire testimony will be inserted into the record. Ms. BARNHART. Thank you. And thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the invitation to testify this morning on reauthorization of two im- portant anti-drug programs for youth, the Drug Education and Pre- vention Program Relating to Youth Gangs and the Drug Education and Prevention Program for Runaway and Homeless Youth. I am pleased to have this opportunity to express the administra- tion's support for the reauthorization of these two programs. In April of this year, Secretary Sullivan created the Administra- tion for Children and Families, ACF, by combining the Office of Human Development Services with the Families Support Adminis- tration and the Maternal and Child Health block grant program. As a single agency, ACF offers a more comprehensive approach to the problems faced by children, youth and families by servir.g as a single point of contact for the more than 60 different programs that we administer. Both the Drug Abuse Prevention Program for Runaway and Homeless Youth and the Youth Gang Drug Prevention Program are relatively new among the many programs for at-risk youth and families administered by ACF. They are valuable components of the broad range of services to families provided by ACF, and they offer invaluable services to hard-to-reach youth who are often over- looked by more traditional service delivery systems. The reauthorization bill submitted by the administration would reauthorize both programs without any major changes for 4 years. We are requesting a four-year reauthorization in order to place these programs for at-risk youth on the same legislative cycle as the Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Act. This will facili- tate long-range planning and gre-,ter coordination among these re- lated programs. We are requesting authorization of $14.786 million for each pro- gram in fiscal year 1992 and such sums as necessary for 1993, 1994, and 1995.. The drug problems associated with youth gangs are a relatively new phenomenon. In the late 1970s and 1980s, increasing numbers of youth gangs became involved in the marketing and distribution of illegal drugs. Along with this trend came an increase in youth gang violence. Definitive national data are not available; yet th, .e is evidence that since the mid 1980s, extensive drug use and sale by gang members have increased in cities both large and small. In response to this growing problem, the Anti-drug Abuse Act of 1988 created the Youth Gang Drug Prevention Program. The program has received an appropriation of approximately $15 million in each of the last 3 years, fiscal year 1989 through 1991. Over 90 percent of this appropriation each year is awarded to local agencies to help them respond to the problems of youth gangs at the local level. Eighty-four projects have been supportive of multi- year grants. These grants range from $1 million community-based consortia projects in large urban centers, such as Denver and Los (1 5 Angeles to $50,000 planning projects in small communities, such as Caldwell, Idaho and Jefferson County, Alabama.. In general, the program has promoted a holistic approach to youth gang and drug prevention by funding a broad range of serv- ices and planning activities. These include: supportive services for families of at-risk youth; development of intervention strategies for inter-generational gang families; the development of programs to meet the special needs of at-risk families; and promotion of cooper- ative ventures among youth service providers. Grantees have developed several common approaches to prevent- ing youth gang involvement that are showing positive results. Some of these examples include community organization activities that get the community involved in solving its own problems. I have other examples in my written testimony as well. In addition to the grants, we provide technical assistance to grantees. We have begun an extensive evaluation of the program. This year in fiscal year 1991, all funds in the Youth Gang Preven- tion Program are committed to continue projects that began in either 1989 or 1990. Next year, if the administration's budget request is approved, we'll be able to make up to $10 million available for new competi- tive grants applying the knowledge and the insights that we have gained from our original grantees to new communities to help addi- tional at-risk youth. Although reported alcohol and other drug us among the run- away and homeless youth population varies by source, studies show these youth use alcohol and other drugs at a greater frequency than their non-runaway or non-homeless counterparts. This preva- lence of alcohol and other drug use among runaway and homeless youth prompted the enactment of the Drug Abuse Education and Prevention Program for Runaway and Homeless Youth in 1988 DAPP. This program has been funded at approximately $15 million in eacl fiscal year since 1989. The vast majority of these funds have been awarded to support service or demonstration projects. These projects are typically carried out by community-based organiza- tions, many of which also receive funds under the runaway and homeless youth basic center program. Grantees provide a wide range of services to at-risk youth, either directly or through refer- rals to other agencies. Again, Mr. Chairman, I list the range of services that grantees provide in my written statement. In some cases, grantees have integrated these substance abuse activities into ongoing shelter and service programs that were al- ready established to serve runaway and homeless youth. In other cases, grantees have developed independent and freestanding pro- grams to reach at-risk youth who were not necessarily receiving shelter. In my statement, I provided examples of two grantees, Mr. Chair- man, that I believe further illustrate the valuable activities that are supported through the drug abuse prevention program. In addition to grants, the program is funding a study of alcohol and other drug use among runaway and homeless youth. We are also developing a management information system of data collec-