Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, says federal funding for juvenile-justice programs have more "strings than a symphony orchestra."
The executive director of the Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice agreed - telling Congress Tuesday fewer strings might allow states to spend the money better.Utah witness S. Camille Anthony questioned if benefits that would come from continuing to comply with costly mandates connected to the act, were worth the return of very few federal dollars.
"If Congress allocates grant monies for states, the requirements to qualify should be as least restrictive on states as possible," Anthony said.
Hatch likewise criticized the mandates expected through the act.
"Our laws and programs have not kept pace with the changes in juvenile crime," Hatch said.
Requirements for states to qualify for funding under the act also include a misguided philosophy saying children should be rehabilitated, not punished, Hatch said.
"Part of any serious rehabilitative effort is fair punishment," Hatch said. "In this time of re-engineering and streamlining government, the federal requirement that states maintain a distinct, large committee to determine and monitor grant awards seems counterproductive and duplicative," Anthony said.
Hatch and Anthony were heard before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Youth Violence.
They agreed that the federal government's role in juvenile justice is to provide leadership, not to "create numerous burdensome hoops that states must jump through in order to receive limited funds available under the act," Hatch said.