Clinton Unveils Proposals to Fight Juvenile Violence

President Clinton, describing the fight against juvenile crime as “our top law enforcement priority,” unveiled a series of proposals Wednesday to combat gangs and youth violence, including federal support for local prosecutors, efforts against truancy and aid to help 1,000 schools stay open longer.

Overall, the measures would cost half a billion dollars over the next two years. The expense was included in the administration’s recent spending plan and does not alter forecasts about balancing the budget, the White House said.

“It is the critical next step in our fight to have a safe America and to give our children a safe childhood,” Clinton told an audience at the University of Massachusetts Boston campus.

Clinton’s “anti-gang and youth violence strategy” is a mix of new proposals and some previously announced initiatives, including:

* $200 million to pay for local prosecutors, particularly of violent gang members.

* $75 million aimed at keeping “at risk” children out of trouble through such efforts as fighting truancy and supporting curfews.

* $60 million for 1,000 new programs across the country to help schools bear the expense of staying open later in the day on weekends and during the summer.

* $50 million for grants to improve the juvenile justice system to ensure that crimes of violence are reviewed in a timely manner and to consider when youthful defendants should be referred to adult courts.

Some juvenile crime experts said that the president’s initiatives reflect an understanding that communities should subject children to rules and penalties for not obeying--rather than waiting for more serious offenses that could land them in jail.

“The key is to have rules and enforce them,” said Gerald Caplan, dean of the McGeorge Law School in Sacramento. “The penalty need not be harsh. The likelihood of a sanction being enforced is far more important than the severity of the sanction.

“The critical function the federal government does is presenting the best current ideas around for local communities to implement,” Caplan said. “State and local communities can run with these ideas. Many of these changes are attitudinal. You don’t need a lot of money for these things.”

Juvenile crime is one of the five areas that the president and GOP congressional leaders agreed they would find a consensus on during an unusual meeting in the Capitol last week.

“We will need the president’s help to pass a strong bill and I welcome his expressions of interest,” said Sen. John Ashcroft (R-Mo.), a leading sponsor of the GOP draft legislation to combat youth crime.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), who introduced a crime bill with a major section devoted to youth crime, said that Republicans would cooperate with the president.

“How I would pray that could happen in every city in America,” the president declared. “We cannot permit this to be only an achievement in Boston.”

Times staff writer Elizabeth Shogren contributed to this story.