Senator Casey Pushes Bill Aimed At Reducing Youth Crime Rates
By Mike Dougherty
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Pennsylvania U.S. Senator Bob Casey is seeking support for a bill that he is sponsoring in Washington that would provide more funding to prevent crime committed by young people.
It's called the Youth Promise Act, and Casey says he has bi-partisan support for a plan with proven results.
"Every $1 you spend on a quality prevention and intervention program, you'd save $5 in return," Casey says. "This makes fiscal sense, but most importantly, it's the right thing to do for our kids."
Deputy police commissioner Kevin Bethel oversees an intervention program in Philadelphia with a more than 95% success rate.
"Get to the root issues. Provide counseling to their parents and other people," Bethel says. And guess what, then that child says 'I'm on my way to college' because they have gotten themselves on track."
Casey says the bill provides funding for cities and towns to implement and expand on programs like the one Bethel runs. The next step is to get the bill before a senate sub committee.