Criminal neglect: "... a top-to-bottom overhaul of the nation's juvenile justice systems is mandatory if these [troubled youngsters] ever are to avoid becoming adult crime statistics.".

• Author: Califano, Joseph A.
• Position: Law & Justice

Thirty years ago, Charles W. Colson and Joseph A. Califano, Jr., were at each other's throats. Colson, the White House "hatchet man," was busy defending Pres. Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal. Califano, meanwhile, was going after Nixon, filing the lawsuit against the Committee to Reelect the President and representing The Washington Post during Watergate. Today, these men are brothers-in-arms in their concern for youngsters caught up in American juvenile justice systems.

ONE OF US has seen prison from the inside out, serving time for a Watergate-related crime--and has visited 600 correction facilities over the past 30 years. The other has spent many years studying the link between crime and substance abuse. Although we come from opposite ends of the political spectrum and have vastly different life experiences, on one issue, at least, we have arrived at the same bleak conclusion: The U.S. is criminally negligent when it comes to children caught up in the nation's juvenile justice systems.

In October, 2003, The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at New York's Columbia University released a report based on a five-year study. "Criminal Neglect: Substance Abuse, Juvenile Justice and the Children Left Behind" is the most comprehensive analysis ever undertaken of substance abuse and juvenile justice. Among its most significant findings: The road to juvenile crime and incarceration is paved with drags and alcohol. Four out of every five children and teen arrestees are under the influence of alcohol or drugs while committing their crimes, test positive for drugs, are arrested for an alcohol or drug offense, admit to having substance abuse and addiction problems, or share some combination of these characteristics. While the most commonly used drugs are alcohol and marijuana, a significant number of kids test positive for cocaine, amphetamines, and opiates.

Drug and alcohol abuse is implicated in all types of juvenile crime, including almost 70% of violent offenses, 72% of property offenses, and more than 80% of other offenses, such as vandalism and disorderly conduct.

The problem is, virtually nothing is being done to stem this disturbing tide. CASA found that some 1,900,000 of the 2,400,000 juvenile arrestees are drug and alcohol abusers or addicts. Yet, only 68,600 of them--a mere 3.6%--receive any treatment. Moreover, substance abuse is not the sole problem that goes unaddressed in these kids' lives. Many come from...