The State of Juvenile Justice

In February of 2011, the Center for Public Policy Priorities (CPPP) put out a report called “The State of Texas Children: Texas KIDS COUNT Annual Data Book”. The report takes a critical look at how children in Texas are faring and how budget cuts are going to affect programming for children. One of the main points made is that “because the federal budget currently priorities non-child expenses, the responsibility to invest in children falls to state and local communities” (Center for Public Policy Priorities, p.9). Unfortunately for children in Texas, then, is the fact that our state is known for its tight-belt spending. When compared to states that spend more, especially on public education, these states have lower dropout rates, higher test scores and lower teen birth rates. And these indicators of educational success correlate highly with things like rates of delinquency and other crimes (Center for Public Policy Priorities, p.9).

In the report, a pie graph shows what percentages of spending on children go to different areas such as education, health, juvenile justice, etc. Only 11% of the combined state and federal funds spend on children ($80.5 billion) go towards juvenile justice, special needs, protective services and income support all together. And only 1% of the funds spent are spent on juvenile justice, which is the only category in which spending didn’t increase from 2008-2009 to 2010-2011 (Center for Public Policy Priorities, p.10). In fact, funds for juvenile justice have actually decreased from 2008-2009 to 2010-2011 – by 10%. And, if it weren’t for federal investments from the Recovery Act, juvenile justice funds would have decreased by 15% or more.

The information in the CPPP’s report shows pretty clearly that juvenile justice is not a high-spending priority in Texas’s mind when it comes to funds for children. With the current deficit and the proposed budget cuts to programs across the board, the amount of money Texas spends on children in general and on juvenile justice specifically will only be decreased further.

Center for Public Policy Priorities. (2011). The state of Texas children. Texas KIDS COUNT Annual Data Book: The Importance of Investing in Children. Austin, TX: Deviney, F., Phillips, P., Dickerson, C., and Tibbitt, L.