PRESIDENT CLINTON ANNOUNCES NEW INITIATIVES TO COMBAT AND PREVENT YOUTH VIOLENCE

APRIL 15, 2000

In his weekly radio address today, President Clinton will discuss the responsibility we all have to help reduce youth violence. As we prepare to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Columbine tragedy, the President will talk about steps that the federal government and communities across the country are taking to keep our children safe. First, he will announce three new initiatives: $41 million in Safe Schools/Healthy Students grants to 23 communities; $60 million in COPS in Schools grants to hire 452 school resource officers in 223 communities nationwide; and $20 million for a new program to fund counselors in elementary schools. Second, the President will highlight a new city-by-city initiative launched by the National Campaign Against Youth Violence to engage citizens from every sector in 15 communities across the country. Finally, President Clinton will announce that on May 2, he and the First Lady will host a White House Conference on Teenagers to address the challenges today of raising responsible teenagers.

GIVING COMMUNITIES THE TOOLS TO PREVENT VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS

• President Clinton will announce more than $41 million in Safe Schools/Healthy Students grants to 23 communities. Urban, rural, suburban, and tribal school districts will receive support to help link community-based services and prevention activities into a single, comprehensive community-wide approach to school safety, violence prevention and healthy child development. The Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative is a unique collaboration among the U.S. Departments of Justice, Education and Health and Human Services first launched in 1999. Fifty-four communities across the country are already participating in this multi-year initiative.
  
  
• The President will also announce the fifth round of funding for the COPS in Schools grant program, to provide more than $60 million for 452 school resource officers in more than 223 communities nationwide. The COPS in Schools program, administered by the Justice Department's COPS Office, funds police officers to work in schools and to create a safer environment for students and teachers.
  
  
• The President will unveil his Elementary School Counseling Demonstration Program, which will make $20 million available for innovative approaches to starting or expanding elementary school counseling. The program, managed by the Department of Education, will support the hiring and training of qualified school counselors, school psychologists, and school social workers for elementary schools; provide greater student access to beneficial counseling services; and help identify effective strategies for providing counseling services to elementary school students that might be replicated and disseminated to other communities across the country.

CITY-BY-CITY TOUR OF THE NATIONAL CAMPAIGN AGINST YOUTH VIOLENCE

• The National Campaign Against Youth Violence this week launched its City-by-City Campaign in Memphis, culminating in a nationally televised Town Hall on Violence yesterday evening. The purpose of the National Campaign's 15-city effort is to highlight and engage community partnerships to combat youth crime. The National Campaign Against Youth Violence - formed in response to the President's call to action last year - has been working with local business leaders, political leaders, educators, parents, teens, and law enforcement to help implement proven best practices for preventing violence. To help other cities interested in developing a such public-private partnerships, the National Campaign has also produced, in conjunction with the Department of Justice, a best practices guide called "Corporate-Community Partnerships for Public Safety."

PRESIDENT AND MRS. CLINTON'S WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCE ON TEENAGERS

• On Tuesday, May 2, President and Mrs. Clinton will host the White House Conference on Teenagers: Raising Responsible and Resourceful Youth. The conference will feature some of the nation's leading experts on raising teenagers. These experts will discuss:
  
  
• new scientific research that the preteen years are as important as the first three years of life, setting patterns for adult behavior and success;
• the changing demographics of today's youth, the most diverse group of teenagers in history;
• perceptions and realities about the role that parents play in the lives of their teenage children;
• the risks, challenges and anxieties faced by today's teens;
• the impact of new media on youth and parenting; and
• what parents, communities, and young people themselves can do to avoid risk behaviors to build a safe and successful path to adulthood.

Attendees will also include parents and teens, educators, youth workers, foundation leaders, researchers, and policymakers. The opening session - which will be broadcast via satellite to locations around the country - will be followed by lunch, breakout sessions hosted by Administration officials and members of Congress, and a closing reception.

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