Overview of Interim Study Committees

Written by: Mindi Goodpaster, MCCOY's Public Policy & Advocacy Director

Interim Study Committee on Corrections and Criminal Code

• Alcohol and opioid dependence in criminal justice
• Report concerning the Indiana Commission on Improving the Status of Children in Indiana
• The availability of the juvenile indigent defense
• Concerns relating to racial and ethnic disparities in the juvenile justice system
• Juvenile detention issues

o   The status of the Indiana Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative

o   Proposed amendments to IC 31-37-22-5 to preclude status offenders from being sent to DOC

o   Inappropriate referrals to juvenile justice system

• The use of risk assessment techniques in juvenile delinquency dispositional determinations and case planning
• The application of restorative justice principles in juvenile delinquency cases

o   Victim Offender Restoration Program

• Juvenile justice caselaw and statutes

o   Recent United States Supreme Court decisions relating to juvenile justice

o   Amending statutes regarding juvenile court jurisdiction and waiver of jurisdiction

o   Expanding interrogation protections for juveniles (J.D.B. v. North Carolina, 131 S.Ct 2394 (2011))

• Law enforcement training regarding juveniles
• Juvenile justice reform nationally
• Education and training for juvenile court judges
• The Indiana Juvenile Mental Screening, Assessment and Treatment Project

Interim Study Committee on Education

• Discussion of student discipline and the suspension, expulsion, or exclusion of a student from school
•  Discussion Prekindergarten and Early Learning

o   The feasibility of obtaining a block grant and necessary waivers under the federal Head Start program under 42 U.S.C, 9831 et seq. to establish an early learning scholarship program or another type of alternative program.

o   The feasibility of obtaining a Child Care and Development Block Grant under 72 U.S.C. 9858 et seq. or other federal funds to fund prekindergarten or early learning education programs in Indiana.

o   Options for funding prekindergarten or early learning programs, including opportunities to partner with business, philanthropic, or community leaders.

o   Whether other state have developed rigorous accountability standards for prekindergarten or early education.

o   Parental Involvement opportunities to prepare children for education outside the educational environment, including the benefits of reading to a child.

o   Opportunities to equip parents with skills necessary to improve the parents' ability to contribute to their child's early education.

o   The economic benefits of prekindergarten or early learning.

·         Next Meeting: October 22, 9 a.m. in Room 404

o   Topic: Need for an Early College High School program and the Committee's final report