Shaquita Ogletree
The final federal budget for FY 2018 resulted in an overall Juvenile Justice funding level that is slightly above 2017. There is a notable $22 million increase for youth impacted by the opioid crisis and drug addiction added to Title V and Youth Mentoring programs. State Formula grants increased by $5 million to $60 million. An increase in Title V prevention funding to $27.5 million (increase of $8 million) due to an additional line item of funding for opioid abuse prevention for youth. Also, mentoring for youth involved in the justice and foster care systems funding was restored back to $95 million from $80 million in FY2017 with $14 million designated to reach youth impacted by opioids. There is also a slight increase for Child Abuse Programs to $21 million (increase of $3 million) which supports Child Advocacy Centers and multi-disciplinary teams’ child abuse and neglect work. Continued funding for child abuse training and technical assistance at $2 million for the judicial system and related practitioners. An increase to $12 million (increase of $4 million) to support the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) program that is assigned to work with abused and neglected children in dependency court hearings.
