[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 192 (Wednesday, October 5, 2022)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 60257-60258]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-21787]


 
 
                         Presidential Documents 
 
 

  Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 192 / Wednesday, October 5, 2022 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 60257]]


                Proclamation 10462 of September 30, 2022

                
National Youth Justice Action Month, 2022

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                During National Youth Justice Action Month, we recommit 
                to transforming our juvenile justice system, shifting 
                its focus from punishment to support--from the past to 
                the future. By investing more in all children's health 
                and well-being, our youth can build a foundation for 
                full lives and our whole country can benefit from their 
                unlimited potential.

                Every child in America deserves a fair shot through 
                good schools, safe communities, and equal 
                opportunities. But some 36,000 young Americans remain 
                confined in juvenile residential facilities, too often 
                stuck in unsafe environments, facing adult charges or 
                severe sentences, and living with untreated trauma that 
                keeps them from moving forward. Young people of color 
                and young people with disabilities are 
                disproportionately affected. We are not giving 
                America's children the second chances they deserve. It 
                is time to rethink our system in order to better reach 
                the young people who need us most with guidance and 
                support to keep them from coming in contact with the 
                criminal justice system in the first place.

                My Administration has invested historic amounts in 
                improving our youth justice system, increasing funding 
                for the Department of Justice's Juvenile Justice 
                Programs, which had seen sharp cuts. We have also 
                invested in schools, mentorship, and job training 
                programs, providing more than $120 billion of American 
                Rescue Plan funding to help schools safely reopen 
                during the pandemic, to hire more teachers and 
                counselors, to launch afterschool and summer tutoring 
                programs that help kids catch up, and to meet changing 
                mental health needs. My Administration more than 
                doubled funding for Full-Service Community Schools that 
                support students and their families outside the 
                classroom with important services like health care and 
                career counseling. We have launched a national 
                partnership to recruit 250,000 Americans to serve as 
                tutors and mentors and called on the Congress to fund 
                new programs that would turn juvenile detention 
                facilities into job-training centers. Once young people 
                come in contact with the justice system, we are working 
                to make sure they are treated fairly--boosting access 
                to lawyers who will fight for them and safely expanding 
                alternatives to incarceration, including intensive job 
                training and mentorship programs. Once they leave the 
                system, we are helping youth to find housing, jobs, and 
                other support. We are also urging States to expunge, 
                seal, or vacate juvenile records where appropriate so 
                more young Americans can move forward and build lives 
                of dignity and opportunity.

                This month, I stand with youth justice advocates in 
                urging States and communities across the country to do 
                more to help every child realize their full promise. I 
                will never quit working to strengthen America's 
                commitment to justice and building a system focused on 
                redemption and rehabilitation, especially for our 
                children.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of 
                the United States of America, by virtue of the 
                authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws 
                of the United States, do hereby proclaim October 2022 
                as National Youth Justice Action Month. I call upon all 
                Americans to observe

[[Page 60258]]

                this month by taking action to support our youth and by 
                participating in appropriate ceremonies, activities, 
                and programs in their communities.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                thirtieth day of September, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand twenty-two, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and forty-
                seventh.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2022-21787
Filed 10-4-22; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F3-P