Friday, March 30, 2007

Attorney General Highlights DOJ Efforts To Combat Sexual Exploitation of Children

Attorney General Highlights DOJ Efforts To Combat Sexual Exploitation of Children

On March 22, 2007, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued the following press release:

St. Louis, MO - Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales today joined U.S. Attorneys Catherine Hanaway and Bradley Schlozman to highlight the ongoing efforts of federal, state and local law enforcement, as well as community leaders, in combating the sexual abuse and exploitation of children in St. Louis.

Attorney General Gonzales was also joined in today's roundtable by Director of Missouri Internet Crimes Against Children Joe Laramie, Founder of the INOBTR campaign Steve Shankman, and other members of the Project Safe Childhood initiative for the state of Missouri.

Launched in May 2006, Project Safe Childhood is a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims.

Last year, the Department of Justice prosecuted 1,543 cases involving the sexual exploitation or abuse of children. In the state of Missouri, more sexual predators were federally indicted on a per capita basis than in any other state in the country. Additionally, the number of cases prosecuted in the state of Missouri has more than tripled since 2000.

"Protecting our children is not only a parent's responsibility, it should be everyone's responsibility," said U.S. Attorney Hanaway. "The people assembled here today have made that commitment, which is reflected in the increase in the prosecutions of these crimes."

"As a result of Project Safe Childhood's unprecedented effort to bring an entire community together to tackle the problem of online child exploitation, predators and would-be predators are now fully aware that their actions will not be tolerated in the state of Missouri," stated U.S. Attorney Schlozman. "Rest assured, we will find you, we will aggressively prosecute you, and we will make sure you will never be in a position to harm the vulnerable youth in our communities ever again."

Project Safe Childhood partners for the Eastern District of Missouri include: Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC); Regional Computer Crime Education and Enforcement Group; St. Louis City Police Department; St. Louis County Police Department; Festus Police Department; Pevely Police Department; FBI; Postal Inspection Service; ICE; St. Louis Circuit Attorney; St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney; O’Fallon Police Department; St. Charles County Sheriff’s Department; St. Charles County Prosecuting Attorney; Franklin County Sheriff's Department; Big Brothers Big Sisters; Hoover Boys and Girls Town; Family Resource Center, Inc., and Kaminer & Co.

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The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is a component of the Office of Justice Progams in the U.S. Department of Justice.

Monday, March 12, 2007

Senate HELP Committee Announces NCLB Plans

Senate HELP Committee Announces NCLB Plans

Staff on the Senate HELP Committee met with education stakeholders on Wednesday afternoon to discuss Committee plans to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (now known as the No Child Left Behind Act). According to staff representing both Chairman Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Ranking Member Mike Enzi (R-WY), the goal is to move a bill out of Committee in May of 2007. Once that goal is achieved, the Committee will work with the Senate leadership to place the bill on the calendar and schedule a floor debate.

It was noted that also on the Committee agenda for the year are reauthorizations of the Head Start Act, the Higher Education Act and the Workforce Investment Act. It is an ambitious schedule that, according to Committee staff, will require the support of the stakeholders present. In order to take all recommendations to amend NCLB into account, interested groups are asked to submit proposals to the Committee by March 30th. These proposals should be in the form of legislative language, accompanied by written justifications for the changes and sent to: Kelly_hastings@help.senate.gov and Nora_crowley@help.senate.gov

In order to prepare for the development of a reauthorization proposal in April, the Committee will continue their briefing, roundtable and hearing schedule. A joint hearing with the House Education and Labor Committee, examining successful strategies for school improvement, will be held on March 13th in room 2175 of the Rayburn House Office Building. Future hearings in the Senate will cover the topics of secondary school reform; adequate yearly progress and accountability; parent and community engagement; English Language Learners and NCLB; and Special Education students and NCLB. Other briefings/roundtables/hearings may be added to the schedule, either in Washington or around the country, at the request of Senators on the Committee.

Budget and Appropriations

Budget and Appropriations

Congress got back to work last week picking right up where it had left off arguing about the appropriate Congressional response to the President’s request for emergency funding to support the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. By week’s end, Democrats had moved a bit closer to a compromise position, but votes on the emergency supplemental spending bill had been put off for several weeks. Republicans appeared to be united in their support for the President in his opposition to a supplemental that includes language about benchmarks and troop withdrawals and significantly more funds than he had requested.

In order to find the votes to pass the controversial supplemental bill, several financial sweeteners have been added to the pot with more anticipated. Beyond the $765 million to fully fund the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, there is now additional money for agricultural disaster relief, the Gulf Region, emergency fuel oil and wildfire suppression, putting the total amount of funding at close to $115 billion. That might still not be enough to secure the 60-vote margin that will be required for passage in the Senate.

While appropriators tried to agree on the supplemental spending bill, the Budget Committees met to work out details on spending resolutions for the FY 2008 budget. On Wednesday, March 14th the Senate Budget Committee will meet to adopt their plan, one that education advocates are optimistic will allow for significant new spending by the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Subcommittee. The House Budget Committee will not meet until the following week.

Also next week, hearings begin in the LHHS and ED Subcommittees of the Appropriations Committees in the House and the Senate on the FY 2008 budget for the Department of Education. First up in both Houses will be Education Secretary Margaret Spellings. In the House she will be asked to defend the President’s level funding request, including 44 program eliminations and some other tricky budget gimmicks that were included in the budget plan he sent to the Congress in early February. With Representative David Obey (D-WI) sitting in the Chair, it might not be as friendly a meeting as in past years for the Secretary. On Wednesday, Secretary Spellings will appear before the Senate LHHS Subcommittee, now Chaired by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA). That hearing will focus on the Democratic view that the No Child Left Behind Act has been severely under-funded by the Administration, which will be a second contentious conversation.

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Legislative Action Alert - Urge Representatives to Sign the Langevin Letter Requesting ESSCP Funding

 
Leg Update head

Urge Representatives to Sign the Langevin Letter Requesting ESSCP Funding
One of ASCA’s priority issues is increased funding for the Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Program (ESSCP), which is the only federal program that provides school districts with the resources to provide comprehensive school counseling services. Adequate access to school counseling services is proven to help improve students' academic achievement and school safety.

ASCA took the lead in urging Rep. Jim Langevin (D-RI) to once again distribute a “Dear Colleague” letter to all the members of the House of Representatives urging his colleagues to sign a letter requesting the House Appropriations Committee to provide $75 million for this essential program in fiscal year (FY) 2008. By funding the ESSCP program at $75 million, monies will be made available to both elementary and secondary schools to provide comprehensive school counseling services. This is due to ESSCP's statuary funding trigger, secondary schools (i.e., middle and high) are not eligible to participate in the program until total funding exceeds $40 million. In fiscal year 2007, Congress appropriated $34.65 million for ESSCP. This year, the president's budget again calls for the elimination of all funding for the ESSCP. Therefore, it is critical to show congressional support for the ESSCP by having as many representatives as possible sign the Langevin letter.


ACTION NEEDED

Call your representative and urge him/her to show support for the Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Program (ESSCP) by signing onto the Langevin Dear Colleague Letter, which requests the House Appropriations Committee to provide $75 million for this essential program in fiscal year 2008.

What should you say? When you call your congressional office tell them your name and where you are from – they may ask you for your name and number. Since you're one of their constituents, they are very interested in your call. Then ask to speak with the education legislative assistant because you want the congressman/woman to sign on to the Dear Colleague letter being circulated by Rep. Jim Langevin requesting that the House Appropriations Committee provide $75 million in funding for the Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Program in FY 2008. If congressional staff have any further questions, they can contact Amy Judge in Rep. Langevin's office at (202) 225-2735.

If you have additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact ASCA’s government relations team of Ellen Fern or Krista Heckler.

PLEASE DO THIS TODAY! DEADLINE FOR SIGNATURES IS TUESDAY, MARCH 13.
American School Counselor Association