Date: 2002-01-23
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I want to first and foremost thank my colleague from Nebraska. TOM OSBORNE. for bringing this resolution to the floor. He is the author of the mentoring program recently signed into law by the President as part of the No Child Left Behind Act and he is also a cosponsor of my bill. the Younger Americans Act. which would make youth development programs such as mentoring. a national priority. Mr. Speaker. consider the following: TwentyTwo percent of violent crime victims in the United States are juveniles and children under age 12 make up approximately one fourth of all juvenile victims known to police. My State of California ranks 48th among the 50 States and the District of Columbia for the percentage of youth detained in the California Youth Authority (CYA). county camps. juvenile halls. and private institutions. Nationally. we know that alcohol and drug use among youth remains a serious public health concern. In California. we are finding that while selfreported teen drug use declined in the mideighties through the early nineties. we are now experiencing a strong rebound. And. children are using more dangerous drugs such as heroin and methamphetamines. We also know that the need for adultsupervised environments in the after school hours is significant. About half of all California children ages 5 to 14 have both parents or a single parent working at least 30 hours per week. These numbers describe just some of the problemsour children face. For too long however. we have focused on providing remedies to these problems that only address the negative behaviors instead of looking at ways that promote the positive and healthy development of our youth. This resolution takes us in this new direction where the focus is placed squarely on what children need to grow into healthy. safe. and welleducated adults. Making sure that all children have access to a caring and responsible adult relationship through quality mentoring programs is critical to this effort. There is an overwhelming body of research to demonstrate the benefits of programs that guide youth development in a positive manner. According to a report released by Public/Private Ventures. a childs involvement in a mentoring relationship with a caring and responsible adult can reduce their participation in alcohol and drugs and increase attendance in school. We also know that students with adult supervision during afterschool hours have better work habits. better relationships with their peers and better emotional adjustment. California has long recognized the need for reenteoring programs and $.ncc 1995 over 340.000 children have benefited from programs that match youth with caring and responsible adult mentors through the California Mentoring Initiative. Volunteers in Probation and Families First Inc.. represent just two examples of outstanding programs in the Initiative that offer quality mentoring relationships to youth in my district. I want to applaud Mr. OSBORNE for bringing this resolution to the floor and I look forward to working with. him to expand the number of mentoring programs across the country. I also invite him and the 72 cosponsors of the Younger Americans Act to work with me on getting that bill passed. Only then will we have a national youth development policy that assures all children and youth have access to the educational. health. and economic resources they need to realize their full potential.