Sept/Oct. 98

Rose Garden Not the Place to Raise Children
by Julianne Versnel Gottlieb, Publisher

Dear Self-Reliant Reader

President Bill Clinton is on the move again to change the pattern of juvenile crime.

He has issued an Executive Order to require firearms dealers to post signs saying that transfer and certain possession of a handgun by those under the age of 21 is illegal.

This comes after his monumental success with the mid-night basketball program and phantom 100,000 additional police on the streets. His wife Hillary’s book, "It Takes a Village," is the new-age primer for raising children.

Let’s just see what President and Mrs. Clinton have accomplished since taking office.

The U.S. Department of Justice is a busy government agency. At least once a week I receive something from their Bureau of Justice Statistics.

The latest report to reach my desk is "Profile of Jail Inmates 1996." After a cursory glance, I decided that there was some interesting information hiding in the statistics.

According to this Special Report, "Survey of Inmates in Local Jails" (SILJ), at mid-year 1997, 567,079 persons were being held in locally administered facilities while awaiting trial, sentencing or serving a sentence of less than a year.

This is an increase of jail inmates of almost 4.6% for each of the last seven years.

In 1996, seven of every ten inmates had prior convictions. Forty percent had served three or more terms of incarceration. Less than 40% had lived with both parents and almost half had an immediate family member who had been incarcerated.

Sixty-four percent were regular users of illegal drugs and 35.6% were under the influence of drugs at the time of the commission of the crime. Alcohol was a factor in 40.5% of the crimes.

One in five inmates reported receiving financial aid from the government: welfare, unemployment, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), food stamps, Special Supplemental Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), Social Security or Supplemental Security Income, etc. Fifteen percent also had income from illegal sources.

Based on the figures from the prior SILJ in 1989, drug offenses remained relatively consistent with 22% of the jail population held for possession, trafficking, etc. in 1996 compared to 23% in 1989. Property offenses declined slightly and public order offenses increased marginally.

The percentage of violent crime increased 53%, from 85,530 in 1989 to 130,580 in 1996. The homicide percentage remained constant but the violent assault rate went up about 60%.

The most startling numbers are in the young adult incarcerated population. Persons 24 years or younger accounted for half of the inmates held for homicide. These young adults account for almost one third of violent offenses. This same age group commits over 50% of weapons violations. One in five in this group had been involved in a fight or altercation while in jail.

It is important to note that the population in this study includes only those held in jails; not those sent to prisons where the more violent offender would be expected to be. Ironically half of the violent offenders were scheduled to serve 8 months or less until release. Offenders sentenced to jail were anticipated to serve 45% of their total maximum sentence.

The increase in the assault rate is staggering. Twenty seven thousand inmates were in jail in 1989 with over 57,000 in 1996. This is a 300% increase from 1983.

The number of jail inmates under the age of 18 increased by 100% from less than six thousand in 1989 to an estimated 11,770 in 1996.

Donna Shalala, who heads Health and Human Services and Attorney General Janet Reno, head of the Justice Department, need to get some serious parenting skills in a hurry. These two women are responsible for the programs that are supposedly addressing the disquiet of our youth and the inmate population in particular.

It doesn’t look like DARE (Drug Awareness Resistance Education) and GREAT (Gang Resistance Education and Awareness Training) are working.

I wonder what Bill Clinton plans next? A Rose Garden meeting on the merits of parental licensing or an International Summit in Antarctica on the benefits of waiting periods for parenthood and electronic locking of all children.

Perhaps a notice on diaper pails:

"Warning: If you let the Village raise your child, it has been noted that he/she may commit a violent crime."

P.S. If you would like a copy of this study, please contact BJS Clearing House, P.O. Box 179, Dept. BJS, Annapolis Junction 20701 and ask for NCJ 164620.