For Release: Immediate  Date: June 6, 2001

Contact: Sara Kempin, APR. Phone: (919) 733-5021 ext. 233

RALEIGH - Gov. Mike Easley today announced that the Governor's Crime Commission (GCC) is awarding more than $24.5 million in federal grant money to help at-risk youth, assist victims of violent crimes, and provide law enforcement officers with the high-tech communications they need to protect North Carolina citizens.

In his State of the State address, Easley directed the GCC to use grant money to help at-risk youth by funding more alternative learning programs across the state. The GCC approved more than $8 million in funding for alternative learning programs. Alternative learning programs give students an opportunity to continue their education if they are suspended from school for more than 10 days.

"When we expel kids they do not go away, they just take their troubles to the street," said Easley. "Alternative learning programs give students who have been suspended a chance to continue their education in a structured environment."

"Alternative learning programs give students a better opportunity to become productive, responsible citizens," said Easley. "We have a choice - we can fund these types of programs now, or we can spend the money on prisons down the road."

Easley made the announcement while touring a Juvenile Day Reporting Center at Lakeview School. The Center, a program of the Durham County Criminal Justice Resource Center, is receiving $239,395 in GCC funds this year.

"At the Governor's direction, we are emphasizing programs that help at-risk youth," said Linda Hayes, chair of the GCC. "By giving them the attention and discipline they need now, we hope to give them every opportunity to succeed as adults."

This year's funds will be disbursed among 215 local and 29 state agencies in North Carolina. The grants are administered by the GCC.
Types of initiatives being funded include:

After school and summer programs;

Intervention programs for youth already involved with the court system;

Technologies, such as the Criminal Justice Information Network, that enable agencies to easily access court-related information; and

Direct assistance to crime victims, especially victims of domestic violence.

"Because of the coordination and support provided by the Department of Crime Control & Public Safety, the Governor's Crime Commission has been able to provide more than $150 million in the past five years to innovative local programs like the one we are visiting today," said Secretary of CC&PS Bryan Beatty.

The money is appropriated by Congress to the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for distribution to the states.

The U.S. Department of Justice provides funds for Drug Control and System Improvement, Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and Victim of Crime Act programs. Children's Justice grants are funded by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Note to Editors: For a list of the grant awards, amounts and GCC members please visit the North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety's Governor's Crime Commission's web site at www.gcc.state.nc.us.

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