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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release September 11, 1999

                        PRESIDENT CLINTON ANNOUNCES
                    NEW RESOURCES TO KEEP SCHOOLS SAFE

                            September 11, 1999

In his radio address to the nation today, President Clinton emphasized the importance of protecting our children from violence, announced new grants to keep children safe in and out of school, and called on Congress to do its part by passing common sense gun legislation. The President announced over $100 million in grants from the new Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative for 54 communities to prevent and combat youth violence. An additional $17 million in COPS grants for 46 communities to hire 147 new police officers for schools was also released.

PROMOTING A COMMUNITY-WIDE RESPONSE TO SCHOOL SAFETY

The Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative. This initiative, launched last year at the White House Conference on School Safety, rewards and promotes coordinated community-wide responses to school and youth violence. It empowers parents, principals, police, and others to collaborate on local solutions. Today's announcement included $106 million in grants for 54 school districts to support coordinated and comprehensive school safety plans.

Engaging the whole community. Under the initiative, school districts submit safe schools plans under formal partnerships with local law enforcement and mental health authorities, and in collaboration with families, juvenile justice authorities and community groups.
Comprehensive solutions. Today's grantees -- chosen among hundreds of worthy applications -- developed comprehensive safe school plans that provide for drug and violence prevention programs, mental health services, and early childhood development services. Some of the activities funded through the school safety plans include: mentoring and conflict resolution programs, truancy prevention, teen courts, after school programs, and security measures such as school resource officers and metal detectors.
One-stop shopping. This is an unprecedented joint effort of the Departments of Education, Justice, and Health and Human Services to give communities user-friendly, one-stop access to an array of federal resources. Descriptions of all funded projects are available on the various department web sites at www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/SDFS, www.samhsa.gov and www.usdoj.gov.

COPS in Schools. The Justice Department today will also release $17 million in Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grants for 46 communities to hire 147 police officers to work in schools. These officers work in partnership with education officials and students to solve problems of crime and disorder in and around schools.

FIGHTING FOR COMMON SENSE GUN LEGISLATION. The President also urged Congress to complete work on juvenile crime legislation and pass a final bill that includes common sense gun provisions. Noting that communities across the nation are mobilizing to address the problem of youth and school violence, the President said it was past time for Congress to do its part.

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