Talking Points for HCR 4 and HB 6

Release of Criminal Information about Minors

HCR 4 gives the Department of Health and Social Services legislative directive to restructure the Division of Family and Youth Services. This restructuring will split the records relating to child abuse from the records of criminal acts committed by a minor.

The split of staff and personnel protects the agency from the loss of most of the federal funds received for out-of-home placement. Over $7 million in federal funds is expended each year for out-of-home placement of abused children. The separation protects funds used for children in need of aid (CINA).

Getting kids out of dysfunctional homes is an important option for breaking the cycle of violence with kids who commit criminal acts. Foster care is a valuable component of the juvenile justice system.

I believe a portion of the fiscal note attached replaces the federal funds with state dollars, it assumes that federal funds will be lost once records are released for delinquent children. A smaller portion of the fiscal note effectuates the organizational restructuring. The experts from the Department of Health and Social Services are far better able to explain these details.

CSHB 6 Builds upon HCR 4. It provides for the release of information about the outcome of agency actions when a child admits guilt and agrees to a restitution plan; as well as the outcome of agency court records when a child is found delinquent.

The disclosure of the outcome of agency and court actions is limited in two ways in this bill. First the bill focuses on repeat offenders - NOT first time misdemeanants. Secondly the bill releases only a given set of information about the minor - NOT the complete file, psychological report, family background investigation, previous child abuse, etc.

The focus on repeat offenders recognizes that the vast majority of kids who are caught committing a criminal act do so only once. They wake up, say "Hey, this isn't me!!" and are never seen again inside the criminal justice system.

Repeat offenders, however need more attention than the current system is able to provide. To prevent them from developing a habit or lifestyle of crime, they need additional community involvement. The concept of confidentiality developed to protect kids from being labeled criminals. Unfortunately, confidentiality is used by a few kids as cover for their criminal actions. They are able to commit serious crimes, then walk about masked from their elders and their peers. This invisibility, can act to reinforce their sense of invincibility. Judges are telling me that they use confidentiality to build a following, not unlike "Billy the Kid" or Jesse James phenomenon. This braggadocio and "see what I can do" fuels their desire to live outside society's rules.

Kids need clear limits. Negative attention has its own role in defining limits to civil behavior. I do not believe that community knowledge of a minors criminal acts is harmful. I believe it allows the community to interact naturally to help heal the wounds and troubles of youth today. Certainly it helps other children say, "No" when they are pressured to join a peer in a criminal act.

Kids do dumb things. Even dumber is to get caught. But dumbest of all is to catch a kid committing a crime, and then ignore it. The professionals are not ignoring the kid, but you and I are kept ignorant of these acts, and of the needs of our troubled youth by the existing confidentiality system.