Herb Kohl before the Senate Judiciary Committee Opening Statement of Sen. Herb Kohl Nov. 5 Youth Violence Subcommittee Hearing on Federal Prevention Efforts Mr. Chairman, I want to commend you for calling today's hearing. Crime prevention is a crucial investment that can and does reduce juvenile crime. Common sense tells us it's best to stop crime before it becomes a problem. But prevention is a good investment only if we invest wisely.
Evaluation is a critical step.
That's why in 1995 Senator Cohen and I commissioned the Department of Justice to fund the University of Maryland study we are hearing about today. We need to evaluate prevention programs because some programs work but some don't, some should be held up as national models, and some should be terminated as unnecessary handouts. So let me make a few brief points. For example, most job training programs aren't targeted at reducing crime. Second, we already know a lot about which programs work and which don't.