to the educational processes by re-establishing discipline and ending drug and alcohol abuse in the schools. An extensive study of crime in the schools released several years ago by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare ("Violent Schools--Safe Schools: The Safe School Study Report to Congress", 1978) found that: 6,700 of the nation's schools have a serious problem with crime; one-fourth of all schools in the country were vandalized in a given month and 10 percent were burglarized; - in a typical month about 2.4 million secondary school students had something stolen and approximately 282,000 students reported being physically attacked; in a month's time 120,000 secondary school teachers had something stolen at school, 6,000 had something taken by force, weapons, or threats, 5,200 were physically attacked; and - the risk of violence to teenagers was greater in school than elsewhere 40 percent of the robberies and 36 percent of the assaults on urban students occurred in schools. These are only a few of the major findings of the study and additional research indicates that the problem is still a very real one. A major 1983 study on school violence by Jackson Toby, Director of Rutgers University's Institute for Criminological Research concluded that the earlier data had probably understated the actual instances of school violence at the time the survey was conducted. ("Violence in School", Crime and Justice: An Annual Review of Research, vol. 4). To address these issues, OJJDP has awarded a grant to Pepperdine University to establish a National School Safety Center in Sacramento, California. As you may know, Pepperdine has an outstanding law school and graduate schools of both business and education and was selected last year by more than 1,000 college and university presidents as being among the top comprehensive universities in the nation. The National Center will collect information on effective strategies for promoting school safety and crime prevention, and disseminate these resources through a variety of training and technical assistance activities at the national and local levels. The Center will work closely with educational associations and in cooperation with the Departments of Education and Justice to promote safe schools. One of the questions recently raised in connection with the projects I have just described concerns the nature of the funding process as it relates to "competitive bidding" for OJJDP funds. I want to assure you, Mr. Chairman, that although there are no statutory requirements for competition under the Act, the majority of OJJDP funds are awarded competitively and it is a longstanding agency policy to promote maximum open competition. (Instruction 14510.2, September 14, 1979). We are presently in the midst of competing several large programs, including our chronic serious juvenile offender project, private sector corrections, restitution training, and several evaluation and research projects. I would also like to point out that the amount of funds identified for activities of this type are based on estimated costs and represent a ceiling on expenditures. At the conclusion of such projects, any funds not required and expended remain with the agency and will be used for other authorized purposes. There are instances, however, when a competitive process is inappropriate or unnecessary and the agency policy provides for certain exceptions. In each case when a non-competitive grant, contract, or cooperative agreement has been made, it has been made pursuant to a sole-source justification approved by the OJARS Office of General Counsel. I appreciate the opportunity to present this information on OJJDP program activity, Mr. Chairman, and I will be pleased to respond to any questions you or members of the Subcommittee may have. STATEMENT OF ALFRED S. REGNERY, ADMINISTRATOR, OFFICE OF JUVENILE JUSTICE AND DELINQUENCY PREVENTION, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, ACCOMPANIED BY JAMES M. WOOTTON, DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR; PAMELA SWAIN, DIRECTOR, RESEARCH AND PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT, AND IRVING SLOTT, DIRECTOR, FORMULA GRANTS AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE Mr. REGNERY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, I am very happy to be here. As you know, when I last appeared before this subcommittee, I submitted for the record a summary of recent and current program activities of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. My statement also expressed the views of the administration regarding our support of title III of the JJDP Act, the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act, administered by the Department of Health and Human Services, but opposing reauthorization of title II. At the outset today, I would like to take a few minutes to discuss a major new emphasis of my office that has recently received considerable attention by the news media and some Members of Congress. Unfortunately, some of the published commentaries on elements of our activities have attempted to sensationalize the issue by seriously misrepresenting various aspects of an extremely important and unpleasant subject: the sexual abuse and exploitation of children. The JJDP Act authorizes my office to address issues related to sexual abuse or exploitation in the context of juvenile delinquency. We have discovered, Mr. Chairman, that these issues are awesomely complex and the magnitude of related problems is far more extensive than most of us can imagine. Over 1 million children disappear or run away from their homes every year. Thousands of these children are never accounted for, and virtually all of them are in significant danger of physical, sexual or other criminal exploitation. Some estimates show as many as 2.4 million teenage boys and girls are engaged in prostitution, and up to 1 million childrensome as young as 6 months old-have been used in pornographic pictures and films. The child pornography market is estimated by researchers to account for up to $1 billion of the $2 to $4 billion pornography busi ness. One-half of the victims of reported rapes are under 18; 25 percent are under 12. In addition, some 2,500 juveniles each year are murdered by psychopathic serial murderers, pedophiles, child prostitution exploiters, and child abusers. Many of these killers were themselves abused as children, and law enforcement reports that many of these victimizers of children have a virtual obsession with pornography. The interrelationship between these issues is an important focus of OJJDP's programs. Through a series of separate projects, including cooperation with the FBI and citizen-supported organizations involved in efforts to locate and assist missing children, we have begun to probe these problems systematically. A few days ago, we awarded funds for the establishment of a National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The Center, which will be located here in Washington, will assist parents, citizen action groups, law enforcement agencies, and State and local governments in dealing with the problem of exploited and missing children. It will coordinate the local resources that are available to assist parents searching for missing children. It will collect information on education and prevention methods that parents can use to prevent abduction of their children, and will collect and correlate effective searching techniques once a child is missing. OJJDP is also sponsoring a research project that will examine the role of pornography in the abuse of children. I might note for the record, Mr. Chairman, that anyone who is inclined to trivialize this project by trying to dismiss pornography as little more than some of the well-known, so-called girlie magazines would have to be ignorant of the huge volume of utterly sickening material involving children and adults that is in circulation and that is often found in the possession of child abusers. The assessment of the role of pornography in the exploitation of children will involve an examination of existing research from a variety of disciplines, including medicine, sociology, and psychology. The results will be analyzed and submitted for a comprehensive review by recognized experts in those disciplines. These experts will attempt to determine what solid facts can be learned from the body of research about the effect pornography might have in producing violent, antisocial behavior by and against children and adults. OJJDP is supporting another major effort to study the possible connection between sexual abuse and exploitation of children and their subsequent juvenile delinquency and criminal violence. The experiences of children who have been used in pornographic activities and those who have survived rape or murder attempts will be studied in an attempt to develop a profile of children who have overcome the trauma of their victimization and are participating in normal activities. A profile of offenders who victimize children also will be developed through interviews with incarcerated pedophiles and serial rapists who began committing rapes as juveniles. In addition, OJJDP and the National Institute of Justice have funded, through the Sam Houston State University Criminal Justice Center, a series of planning sessions dealing with missing and exploited children, child prostitution and pornography, and serial murders. This project involves close liaison with the FBI, law enforcement, and the academic community, and is designed to assist local law enforcement agencies in dealing with these complex cases. Mr. Chairman, we believe these steps mark the important beginning of a national assault on those responsible for sexual abuse and exploitation of children and we are convinced that any progress in this effort is worth the investment of public funds. STATEMENT OF ALFRED S. REGNERY, ADMINISTRATOR, OFFICE Mr. REGNERY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, I am very happy to be here. As you know, when I last appeared before this subcommittee, I submitted for the record a summary of recent and current program activities of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. My statement also expressed the views of the administration regarding our support of title III of the JJDP Act, the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act, administered by the Department of Health and Human Services, but opposing reauthorization of title II. At the outset today, I would like to take a few minutes to discuss a major new emphasis of my office that has recently received considerable attention by the news media and some Members of Congress. Unfortunately, some of the published commentaries on elements of our activities have attempted to sensationalize the issue by seriously misrepresenting various aspects of an extremely im portant and unpleasant subject: the sexual abuse and exploitation of children. The JJDP Act authorizes my office to address issues related sexual abuse or exploitation in the context of juvenile delinquen We have discovered, Mr. Chairman, that these issues are av somely complex and the magnitude of related problems is far m extensive than most of us can imagine. to cy. we ore Over 1 million children disappear or run away from their homes every year. Thousands of these children are never accounted for. and virtually all of them are in significant danger of physical, sexual or other criminal exploitation. Some estimates show as many as 2.4 million teenage boys and girls are engaged in prostitution, and up to 1 million childrensome as young as 6 months old-have been used in pornographic pictures and films. The child pornography market is estimated by researchers to count for up to $1 billion of the $2 to $4 billion porraphy b ness. One-half of the victims of reported rapes are und are under 12. yonage add one seco In addition, some 2,500 juveniles each year a chopathic serial murderers, pedophiles, child ers, and child abusers. Many of these k abused as children, and law enforcemen these victimizers of children have a virty raphy. The interrelationship between these of OJJDP's programs. Through a serie ing cooperation with the FBI and subse e stu werc ofile |