YOUNGER AMERICANS ACT -- HON. MARGE ROUKEMA (Extensions of Remarks - January 03, 2001)

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• Mrs. ROUKEMA. Mr. Speaker, on December 16, 2000, in accepting his appointment as Secretary of State, Colin Powell urged America to invest in its youth. He said, ``We have nothing more valuable as a national asset in anyone's country than the young people.'' Today, I rise to introduce the Younger Americans Act, a comprehensive, coordinated, community-based approach to youth development. This legislation, which is based on the principles promoted by General Powell's America's Promise group, is a major investment in the youth of this country.

• Mr. Speaker, as General Powell has said, now is the time to invest in America's youth. This effort is long overdue. Too many of our programs for youth focus on problems after the fact. The Younger Americans Act is intended to help our young people stay on the road to success and survive the challenges along the way. This legislation is designed to provide additional resources for programs that prepare youth for adulthood. This is ``preventive medicine'' that will keep good youth from becoming ``problem youths.''

• President-elect George W. Bush has urged this Nation's leaders and policymakers to ``leave no child behind.'' The Younger Americans Act is a bold, new investment in America's young people, providing the critical resources they need to develop skills, contribute to their communities, and build a better future for themselves and the Nation.

• This legislation establishes, for the first time in our Nation's history, a comprehensive, coordinated national youth policy. The programs developed under the legislation will follow the five core principles of America's Promise, the organization founded by General Colin Powell to strengthen the ``character and competence'' of America's youth.

• Ongoing relationships with caring adults--parents, mentors, tutors, or coaches.

• Safe places with structured activities during non-school hours.

• Access to services that promote healthy lifestyles, including those designed to improve physical and mental health.

• Opportunities to acquire marketable skills through effective education.

• Opportunities to give back through community service and civic participation.

• Fulfilling these five promises will help prepare young people to be the parents, workers, voters, and leaders of the future. Under the Younger Americans Act, our national youth policy will not regard young people as problems or only seek to prevent risky behaviors such as delinquency, truancy, and drug abuse--as do most existing Federal programs for youth. Rather, it will support positive youth development efforts, creating positive goals and outcomes for all our country's youth. It will also ensure that young people are involved in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of efforts directed toward youth.

• One key component of the bill is that mental health screening and services are made available to young people. Many youth who may be headed toward school violence or other tragedies can be helped if we identify their early symptoms. Just today, David Satcher, Assistant Secretary for Health and Surgeon General, released a National Action Agenda for Children's Mental Health, in which it was found that the Nation is facing a public crisis in mental health for children and adolescents. According to the report, while 1 in 10 children and adolescents suffer from mental illness severe enough to cause some level of impairment, fewer than 1 in 5 of these children received needed treatment. Dr. Satcher urged that ``we must educate all persons who are involved in the care of children on how to identify early indicators for potential mental health problems.'' In fact, a tragedy of contemporary youth is the significant rise we have seen in suicide rates.

• According to Dr. Satcher, ``the burden of suffering by children with mental health needs and their families has created a health crisis in this country. Growing numbers of children are suffering needlessly because their emotional, behavioral, and developmental needs are not being met by the very institutions and systems that were created to take care of them.'' This bill provides an important step in ensuring that children with mental health needs are identified early and provided with the services they so desperately need to help them succeed in school and become healthy and contributing members of society.

• This bill provides resources for after-school programs, to ensure that youth have access to positive activities that promote their development. I was a member of the Bipartisan Working Group on Youth Violence in the 106th Congress. The findings of this group, and numerous studies, have indicated that charitable and community initiatives should promote access to after-school programs during the peak hours for youth crime of 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. Too often, children return after school to an empty home or to the streets. An estimated 5 to 7

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  million ``latchkey'' children go home alone after school. Children who are unsupervised during the after-school hours are more likely to engage in delinquent and other high-risk behaviors, such as alcohol and drug use. After school programs can provide safe, drug-free, supervised and cost-effective havens for children. Quality after-school programs can provide adult supervision of children during after-school hours, and they can provide children with healthy alternatives to and insulation from risk-taking and delinquent behavior. Students should be encouraged to participate in extra-curricular school activities. Studies have shown that a student in one after school activity is almost 50 times less likely to commit crime.

• One important aspect of the bill is the collaboration of public and private local organizations. I am pleased that faith based organizations have been included in the bill as collaborators in youth development activities. These organizations have proven effective in addressing the needs of youth and it is important that we have the benefit of their expertise when creating youth development programs.

• Finally, let me say that there is no ``one size fits all'' way to helping our children become productive members of our society. We must allow for an array of programs to address the variety of youth in a variety of communities. This bill provides the flexibility necessary to allow each community to tailor their youth development efforts to their specific needs.

• Investing wisely in children and youth by engaging them in positive activities is more effective and much less costly than waiting until young lives have taken a bad turn. The Younger American's Act is a common sense approach to what should be a high national priority. Young people are 23 percent of our population, but 100 percent of our future. This bill will help them achieve their full potential and their rightful place as valued--and valuable--members of their communities.

• Let's make sure that ``we leave no child behind.'' General Powell has promised to use his new role as Secretary of State to spread the America's Promise message on the value of youth around the world. Let's be certain that his message is heard and taken to heart in the U.S. Congress.