$6M restored to reinvestment fundAs we look back over what happened during the 2019 legislative session, one thing we can celebrate is the legislature's move to restore $6 million to the Evidence Based Programs Fund – which holds all funds for juvenile justice reinvestment – and was removed last year. These dollars are critically important to continuing to develop and strengthen the array of programs and services available to justice-involved youth and their families in our local communities. Click below to thank your legislators in Topeka for continuing to invest in juvenile justice reform. |
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Kansas Center for Economic Growth (member organization of KUYJ) on restoring $6M to the Evidence Based Programs Fund:
"Returning the money to the Juvenile Justice Evidence-Based Reinvestment Fund means our state can continue to reduce incarceration among youth and redirect those savings into more effective and community-based programs. Our state is already seeing the positive results of SB 367 and the reinvestment, with the out-of-home youth population dropping by 63 percent between 2015 and 2018." |
Legislation to watch: HB 2028
This bill focuses on allowing money in the evidence-based programs account managed by the Department of Corrections to be used for transportation to programs and electronic monitoring.
We support the usage of funds to transport young people to evidence-based programming. With Kansas’ expansive geography, many Kansans must travel to access services. The world of juvenile justice is no different. We do not support using those funds for electronic monitoring because there is limited reliable research that electronic monitoring reduces recidivism, and there are other state funds available for electronic monitoring - taking that money from the evidence-based programs account endangers the juvenile justice reforms.
This legislation did not make it out of committee during the 2019 legislative session but could resurface in the 2020 session.
We support the usage of funds to transport young people to evidence-based programming. With Kansas’ expansive geography, many Kansans must travel to access services. The world of juvenile justice is no different. We do not support using those funds for electronic monitoring because there is limited reliable research that electronic monitoring reduces recidivism, and there are other state funds available for electronic monitoring - taking that money from the evidence-based programs account endangers the juvenile justice reforms.
This legislation did not make it out of committee during the 2019 legislative session but could resurface in the 2020 session.