[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 25 (Friday, February 6, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6338-6368]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-2729]
[[Page 6337]]
_______________________________________________________________________
Part III
Department of Justice
_______________________________________________________________________
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
_______________________________________________________________________
Proposed Comprehensive Plan for Fiscal Year 1998; Notice
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 25 / Friday, February 6, 1998 /
Notices
[[Page 6338]]
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
[OJP(OJJDP)-1149]
Proposed Comprehensive Plan for Fiscal Year 1998
AGENCY: Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), Justice.
ACTION: Notice of proposed program plan for fiscal year 1998.
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SUMMARY: The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is
publishing this notice of its Proposed Comprehensive Plan for fiscal
year (FY) 1998.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 23, 1998.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to Shay Bilchik, Administrator,
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Room 8413, 810
Seventh Street, NW., Washington, DC 20531.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eileen M. Garry, Acting Director,
Information Dissemination Unit, at 202-307-5911. [This is not a toll-
free number.]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) is a component of the Office of Justice
Programs in the U.S. Department of Justice. Pursuant to the provisions
of Section 204(b)(5)(A) of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention Act of 1974, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 5601 et seq. (JJDP Act),
the Administrator of OJJDP is publishing for public comment a Proposed
Comprehensive Plan describing the program activities that OJJDP
proposes to carry out during FY 1998. The Proposed Comprehensive Plan
includes activities authorized in Parts C and D of Title II of the JJDP
Act, codified at 42 U.S.C. 5651-5665a, 5667, 5667a. Taking into
consideration comments received on this Proposed Comprehensive Plan,
the Administrator will develop and publish a Final Comprehensive Plan
describing the particular program activities that OJJDP intends to fund
during FY 1998, using in whole or in part funds appropriated under
Parts C and D of Title II of the JJDP Act.
Notice of the official solicitation of grant or cooperative
agreement applications under the Final Comprehensive Plan will be
published at a later date in the Federal Register. No proposals,
concept papers, or other forms of application should be submitted at
this time.
Overview
After a decade of steady increases in juvenile crime and violence,
the trend is being reversed. The United States has experienced a
downturn in juvenile violent crime arrests for 2 straight years (3
years for murder arrests). Figures released in 1997 show that juvenile
arrests for murder declined 14 percent 2 years in a row--and 3 percent
the year before that. From 1995 to 1996, juvenile arrests for robbery
declined 8 percent; for the previous year, they decreased 1 percent.
The overall Violent Crime Index arrests of juveniles declined 6 percent
in 1996, following a 3-percent drop in 1995.
The decreases in juvenile Violent Crime Index arrests must be kept
in perspective, however. Even with the 2-year decline, the 1996 number
was 60 percent above the 1987 level. In comparison, adult Violent Crime
Index offense arrests rose 24 percent over the same period.
In the area of drug use violations, juveniles were involved in 14
percent of all drug arrests in 1996 (compared with 13 percent in 1995).
However, arrests of juveniles for drug abuse violations increased 6
percent from 1995 to 1996, a smaller increase than the previous year's
18 percent. In addition, between 1992 and 1996, juvenile arrests for
drug abuse violations increased 120 percent, compared with a 138-
percent increase between 1991 and 1995.
Thus, in the second half of the 1990's, juvenile violent crime and
drug use are still significantly higher than in the late 1980's but
beginning to show signs of trending downward. The juvenile justice
system needs to build on the positive momentum of these recent
decreases by continuing to focus on programs and strategies that work.
This requires a concerted effort on the part of Federal, State, and
local government, in partnership with private organizations and
community agencies, to ensure that available resources are used in a
way that maximizes their impact; decreases juvenile crime, violence,
and victimization; and increases community safety.
Federal leadership in responding to the problems confronting the
Nation's juvenile justice system is vested in OJJDP. Established in
1974 by the JJDP Act, OJJDP is the Federal agency responsible for
providing a comprehensive, coordinated approach to preventing and
controlling juvenile crime and improving the juvenile justice system.
OJJDP administers State Formula Grants, State Challenge Grants, and the
Title V Community Prevention Grants programs in States and territories;
funds gang and mentoring programs under Parts D and G of the JJDP Act;
funds numerous projects through its Special Emphasis Discretionary
Grant Program and its National Institute for Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention; and coordinates Federal activities related to
juvenile justice and delinquency prevention.
OJJDP also serves as the staff agency for the Coordinating Council
on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, coordinates the
Concentration of Federal Efforts Program, and administers both the
Title IV Missing and Exploited Children's Program and programs under
the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990, as amended, 42 U.S.C.
Sec. 13001 et seq.
In the FY 1998 Appropriations Act, Congress provided funding for
two new OJJDP programs. These are not funded under Parts C and D of
Title II of the JJDP Act, which are the focus of this Proposed Program
Plan. However, mention of these new programs here, along with an
additional program that OJJDP will administer, may help to alert those
who work in the juvenile justice field to the existence of these new
programs. Recognizing that, ``while crime is on the decline in certain
parts of America, a dangerous precursor to crime, teenage drug use, is
on the rise and may soon reach a 20-year high,'' Congress provided $5
million in funds for the development, demonstration, and testing of
programs designed ``to reduce drug use among juveniles'' and ``to
increase the perception among children and youth that drug use is
risky, harmful, and unattractive.'' Funding for the drug prevention
program is discretionary, and the Appropriations Act directs OJJDP to
submit a program plan for the drug prevention program by February 1,
1998. Twenty-five million dollars in funds were also provided for an
underage drinking program. Much of the funding for the underage
drinking program will be made available to the States and the District
of Columbia through formula grants of $360,000 each (total $18.36
million), with $5 million in discretionary funding, and $1.64 million
for training and technical assistance to support the program. OJJDP
will also administer the Juvenile Accountability Incentive Block Grants
program authorized in the FY 1998 Appropriations Act. Of the $250
million available under this new block grant program, 3 percent is
available for research, evaluation, and demonstration activities
related to the program and 2 percent is available for related training
and technical assistance activities.
[[Page 6339]]
Further information on these programs will be provided to the field in
the near future.
Cognizant of the trends in juvenile crime and violence and of its
responsibilities and mission, OJJDP has developed a Proposed Program
Plan for FY 1998 for activities authorized under Parts C and D of Title
II of the JJDP Act, as described below.
Fiscal Year 1998 Program Planning Activities
The OJJDP program planning process for FY 1998 is being coordinated
with the Assistant Attorney General, Office of Justice Programs (OJP),
and the four other OJP program bureaus: the Bureau of Justice
Assistance (BJA), the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), the National
Institute of Justice (NIJ), and the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC).
The program planning process involves the following steps:
Internal review of existing programs by OJJDP staff.
Internal review of proposed programs by OJP bureaus and
Department of Justice components.
Review of information and data from OJJDP grantees and
contractors.
Review of information contained in State comprehensive
plans.
Review of comments made by youth service providers,
juvenile justice practitioners, and researchers to provide OJJDP with
input in proposed new program areas.
Consideration of suggestions made by juvenile justice
policymakers concerning State and local needs.
Consideration of all comments received during the period
of public comment on the Proposed Comprehensive Plan.
Discretionary Program Activities
Discretionary Grant Continuation Policy
OJJDP has listed on the following pages continuation projects
currently funded in whole or in part with Part C and Part D funds and
eligible for continuation funding in FY 1998, either within an existing
project period or through an extension for an additional project
period. A grantee's eligibility for continued funding for an additional
budget period within an existing project period depends on the
grantee's compliance with funding eligibility requirements and
achievement of the prior year's objectives. The amount of award is
based on prior projections, demonstrated need, and fund availability.
The only projects described in this Proposed Program Plan are those
that are receiving Part C or Part D FY 1998 continuation funding and
programs that OJJDP is considering for new awards in FY 1998.
Consideration for continuation funding for an additional project
period for previously funded discretionary grant programs will be based
upon several factors, including the following:
The extent to which the project responds to the applicable
requirements of the JJDP Act.
Responsiveness to OJJDP and Department of Justice FY 1998
program priorities.
Compliance with performance requirements of prior grant
years.
Compliance with fiscal and regulatory requirements.
Compliance with any special conditions of the award.
Availability of funds (based on appropriations and program
priority determinations).
In accordance with Section 262(d)(1)(B) of the JJDP Act, as
amended, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 5665a, the competitive process for the award of
Part C funds shall not be required if the Administrator makes a written
determination waiving the competitive process:
1. With respect to programs to be carried out in areas in which the
President declares under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and
Emergency Assistance Act codified at 42 U.S.C. Sec. 5121 et seq. that a
major disaster or emergency exists, or
2. With respect to a particular program described in Part C that is
uniquely qualified.
Program Goals
OJJDP seeks to focus its assistance on the development and
implementation of programs with the greatest potential for reducing
juvenile delinquency and improving the juvenile justice system by
establishing partnerships with State and local governments, Native
American and Native Alaskan jurisdictions, and public and private
agencies and organizations. To that end, OJJDP has set three goals that
constitute the major elements of a sound policy that assures public
safety and security while establishing effective juvenile justice and
delinquency prevention programs:
To promote delinquency prevention and early intervention
efforts that reduce the flow of juvenile offenders into the juvenile
justice system, the numbers of serious and violent offenders, and the
development of chronic delinquent careers. While removing serious and
violent juvenile offenders from the street serves to protect the
public, long-term solutions lie primarily in taking aggressive steps to
stop delinquency before it starts or becomes a pattern of behavior.
To improve the juvenile justice system and the response of
the system to juvenile delinquents, status offenders, and dependent,
neglected, and abused children.
To preserve the public safety in a manner that serves the
appropriate development and best use of secure detention and
corrections options, while at the same time fostering the use of
community-based programs for juvenile offenders.
Underlying each of the three goals is the overarching premise that
their achievement is vital to protecting the long-term safety of the
public from juvenile delinquency and violence. The following discussion
addresses these three broad goals.
Delinquency Prevention and Early Intervention
A primary goal of OJJDP is to identify and promote programs that
prevent or reduce the occurrence of juvenile offenses, both criminal
and noncriminal, and to intervene immediately and effectively when
delinquent or status offense conduct first occurs. A sound policy for
juvenile delinquency prevention seeks to strengthen the most powerful
contributing factor to socially acceptable behavior--a productive place
for young people in a law-abiding society. Delinquency prevention
programs can operate on a broad scale, providing for positive youth
development, or can target juveniles identified as being at high risk
for delinquency with programs designed to reduce future juvenile
offending. OJJDP prevention programs take a risk and protective factor-
based delinquency prevention approach based on public health and social
development models.
Early interventions are designed to provide services to juveniles
whose noncriminal misbehavior indicates that they are on a delinquent
pathway or to first-time nonviolent delinquent offenders or nonserious
repeat offenders who do not respond to initial system intervention.
These interventions are generally nonpunitive but serve to hold a
juvenile accountable while providing services tailored to the
individual needs of the juvenile and the juvenile's family. They are
designed to both deter future misconduct and reduce the negative or
enhance the positive factors present in a child's life.
Improvement of the Juvenile Justice System
A second goal of OJJDP is to promote improvements in the juvenile
justice
[[Page 6340]]
system and facilitate the most effective allocation of system
resources. This goal is necessary for holding juveniles who commit
crimes accountable for their conduct, particularly serious and violent
offenders who sometimes slip through the cracks of the system or are
inappropriately diverted. Activities to support this goal include
assisting law enforcement officers in their efforts to prevent and
control delinquency and the victimization of children through community
policing programs and coordination and collaboration with other system
components and with child caring systems. Meeting this goal involves
helping juvenile and family courts, and the prosecutors and public
defenders who practice in those courts, to provide a system of justice
that maintains due process protections. It requires trying innovative
programs and carefully evaluating those programs to determine what
works and what does not work. It includes a commitment to involving
crime victims in the juvenile justice system and ensuring that their
rights are considered. In this regard, OJJDP will continue to work
closely with the Office for Victims of Crime to further cooperative
programming, including the provision of services to juveniles who are
crime victims or the provision of victims services that improve the
operation of the juvenile justice system.
Improving the juvenile justice system also calls for strengthening
its juvenile detention and corrections capacity and intensifying
efforts to use juvenile detention and correctional facilities in
appropriate circumstances and under conditions that maximize public
safety, while at the same time providing effective rehabilitation
services. It requires encouraging States to carefully consider the use
of expanded transfer authority that sends the most serious, violent,
and intractable juvenile offenders to the criminal justice system,
while preserving individualized justice. It necessitates conducting
research and gathering statistical information in order to understand
how the juvenile justice system works in serving children and families.
Finally, the system can only be improved if information and knowledge
are communicated, understood, and applied for the purpose of juvenile
justice system improvement.
Corrections, Detention, and Community-Based Alternatives
A third OJJDP goal is to maintain the public safety through a
balanced use of secure detention and corrections and community-based
alternatives. This involves identifying and promoting effective
community-based programs and services for juveniles who have formal
contact with the juvenile justice system and emphasizing options that
maintain the safety of the public, are appropriately restrictive, and
promote and preserve positive ties with the child's family, school, and
community. Communities cannot afford to place responsibility for
juvenile delinquency entirely on publicly operated juvenile justice
system programs. A sound policy for combating juvenile delinquency and
reducing the threat of youth violence makes maximum use of a full range
of public and private programs and services, most of which operate in
the juvenile's home community, including those provided by the health
and mental health, child welfare, social service, and educational
systems.
Coordination of the development of community-based programs and
services with the development and use of a secure detention and
correctional system capability for those juveniles who require a secure
option is cost effective and will protect the public, reduce facility
crowding, and result in better services for both institutionalized
juveniles and those who can be served while remaining in their
community environment.
In pursuing these three broad goals, OJJDP divides its programs
into four broad categories: public safety and law enforcement;
strengthening the juvenile justice system; delinquency prevention and
intervention; and child abuse, neglect, and dependency courts. A fifth
category, overarching programs, contains programs that have significant
elements common to more than one category. Following the introductory
section below, the programs that OJJDP proposes to fund in FY 1998 are
listed and summarized within these five categories.
Introduction to Fiscal Year 1998 Program Plan
An effective juvenile justice system must implement a sound
comprehensive strategy and must identify and support programs that work
to further the objectives of the strategy. These objectives include
holding the juvenile offender accountable; enabling the juvenile to
become a capable, productive, and responsible citizen; and ensuring the
safety of the community.
For juveniles who come to the attention of police, juvenile courts,
or social service agencies, a strong juvenile justice system must
assess the danger they pose, determine what can help put them back on
the right track, deliver appropriate treatment, and stay with them when
they return to the community. When necessary, a strong juvenile justice
system also must appropriately identify those serious, violent, and
chronic juveniles offenders who are beyond its reach and ensure their
criminal prosecution and incapacitation.
Research has shown that what works to reduce juvenile crime and
violence includes prevention programs that start with the earliest
stages of life: good prenatal care, home visitation for newborns at
risk of abuse and neglect, steps to strengthen parenting skills, and
initiatives to prepare children for school. These programs can build
the foundation for law-abiding lives for children and interrupt the
cycle of violence that can turn abused or neglected children into
delinquents.
Prevention programs work for older children, too: opportunities for
youth after school and on weekends, such as Boys and Girls Clubs and
mentoring programs, reduce juvenile alcohol and drug use, improve
school performance, and prevent youth from getting involved in crime
and violent behavior.
Another focal point for juvenile justice efforts is the community.
Without healthy communities, young people cannot thrive. The key
leaders in the community, including representatives from the juvenile
justice, health and mental health, schools, law enforcement, social
services, and other systems, as well as leaders from the private
sector, must be jointly engaged in the planning, development, and
operation of the juvenile justice system. Attempts to improve the
juvenile justice system must be part of a broad, comprehensive,
communitywide effort--both at the leadership and grassroots level--to
eliminate factors that place juveniles at risk of delinquency and
victimization, enhance factors that protect them from engaging in
delinquent behavior, and use the full range of resources and programs
within the community to meet the varying needs of juveniles. It is also
important to provide increased public access to the system to ensure an
appropriate role for victims, a greater understanding of how the system
operates, and a higher level of system accountability to the public.
The recent decreases in all measures of juvenile violence known to
law enforcement (number of arrests, arrest rates, and the percentage of
violent crimes cleared by juvenile arrests) should encourage
legislators, juvenile justice policymakers and practitioners, and all
concerned citizens to support ongoing efforts to address juvenile crime
and violence through a comprehensive approach.
Three documents published during the past 5 years provide the
framework
[[Page 6341]]
for a comprehensive approach to an improved, more effective juvenile
justice system. OJJDP's Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent,
and Chronic Juvenile Offenders (1993) and Guide for Implementing the
Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile
Offenders (1995) were followed in 1996 by the Coordinating Council on
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's Combating Violence and
Delinquency: The National Juvenile Justice Action Plan. The first of
these publications defined the elements of the comprehensive strategy.
The second provided States and communities with a more detailed
explanation of what would constitute the elements of a comprehensive
strategy, including strategic and programmatic information on risk and
protective factor-based prevention and a system of graduated sanctions.
The third prioritized Federal, State, and local activities and
resources under eight critical objectives that are central to reducing
and preventing juvenile violence, delinquency, and victimization.
The OJJDP FY 1998 Proposed Program Plan is rooted in the principles
of the Comprehensive Strategy and the objectives of the Action Plan.
Like the OJJDP Program Plans for FY's 1996 and 1997, the FY 1998
Proposed Program Plan supports a balanced approach to aggressively
addressing juvenile delinquency and violence through establishing
graduated sanctions, improving the juvenile justice system's ability to
respond to juvenile offending, and preventing the onset of delinquency.
The Proposed Program Plan, therefore, recognizes the need to ensure
public safety and support children's development into healthy,
productive citizens through a range of prevention, early intervention,
and graduated sanctions programs.
Proposed new program areas were identified for FY 1998 through a
process of engaging OJJDP staff, other Federal agencies, and juvenile
justice practitioners in an examination of existing programs, research
findings, and the needs of the field. In a departure from past
practice, OJJDP is presenting for public comment more proposed programs
than it expects to be able to fund with the resources available. It is
OJJDP's intent to stimulate discussion of the best use of its FY 1998
discretionary funding and to seek guidance from the field as to which
programs, among the many described here, would most effectively advance
the goals of promoting delinquency prevention and early intervention,
improving the juvenile justice system, and preserving the public
safety.
OJJDP is considering providing funding for a wide variety of new
programs, including technical assistance to promote teen court
programs, training and technical assistance coordination for the
SafeFutures initiative, and training and technical assistance for the
Blueprints for Violence Prevention project and for a school safety
program. New proposals also involve OJJDP collaboration with other
agencies to address problems such as truancy, develop arts programs
directed toward at-risk youth and youth held in juvenile detention
centers, support the planning and development of systems of care for
Native American and Alaskan Native youth with mental health and
substance abuse needs, develop and implement a teambuilding project
designed to facilitate coordination and foster innovative solutions to
problems facing juvenile courts, and support demonstration projects
designed to intervene early with students with learning disabilities to
prevent delinquency and also to prevent recidivism by those students in
correctional settings. In addition, OJJDP is considering providing
funding for initial planning and implementation of a Juvenile Defender
Center, coordination of youth-related volunteer services, support for
programs designed to build infrastructure for programming for female
juvenile offenders and teen mothers, and support for additional work in
the area of disproportionate minority confinement in secure juvenile
facilities and other institutions. Some of the proposed new program
areas for FY 1998 are specific while others are more general, as can be
seen in the program descriptions that appear later in the Program Plan.
In addition, OJJDP has identified for FY 1998 funding a range of
research and evaluation projects designed to expand knowledge about
juvenile offenders; the effectiveness of prevention, intervention, and
treatment programs; and the operation of the juvenile justice system.
New evaluation initiatives that may be undertaken include the
Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile
Offenders; the Boys and Girls Clubs of America's TeenSupreme Career
Preparation Initiative; analysis and interpretation of juvenile
justice-related data from nontraditional sources; evaluation capacity
building in States; and field-initiated research and evaluation.
Combined with new OJJDP programs and programs being continued in FY
1998, these new demonstration and evaluation programs would form a
continuum of programming that supports the objectives of the Action
Plan and mirrors the foundation and framework of the Comprehensive
Strategy.
OJJDP's continuation activities and the new FY 1998 programs are at
the heart of OJJDP's categorical funding efforts. For example, while
focusing on new areas of programming such as the Juvenile Defender
Center and the role of the arts for juveniles in detention centers and
for at-risk youth, continuing to offer training seminars in the
Comprehensive Strategy, and looking to the SafeFutures program to
implement a continuum of care system, OJJDP will be supporting programs
that reduce the likelihood of juvenile involvement in hate crimes,
reduce juvenile gun violence, promote positive approaches to conflict
resolution, and explore the mental health needs of juveniles. Together,
these and other activities provide a comprehensive approach to
prevention and early intervention programs while enhancing the juvenile
justice system's capacity to provide immediate and appropriate
accountability and treatment for juvenile offenders, including those
with special treatment needs.
OJJDP's Part D Gang Program is considering development of a rural
gang prevention and intervention program and will continue to support a
range of comprehensive prevention, intervention, and suppression
activities at the local level, evaluate those activities, and inform
communities about the nature and extent of gang activities and
effective and innovative programs through OJJDP's National Youth Gang
Center. Similarly, activities related to the identification of school-
based gang programs and the evaluation of the Boys and Girls Clubs gang
outreach effort, along with an evaluation of selected youth gun
violence reduction programs, will complement existing law enforcement
and prosecutorial training programs by supporting and informing
grassroots community organizations' efforts to address juvenile gangs
and juvenile access to, carriage of, and use of guns. This programming
builds on OJJDP's youth-focused community policing, mentoring, and
conflict resolution initiatives and programming, including the work of
the Congress of National Black Churches in supporting local churches to
address the prevention of drug abuse, youth violence, and hate crime.
In support of the need to break the cycle of violence, OJJDP's
SafeKids/Safe Streets demonstration program, currently being
implemented in
[[Page 6342]]
partnership with other OJP offices and bureaus, will improve linkages
between the dependency and criminal court systems, child welfare and
social service providers, and family strengthening programs and will
complement ongoing support of Court Appointed Special Advocates, Child
Advocacy Centers, and prosecutor and judicial training in the
dependency field, funded under the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990,
as amended.
The Plan's research and evaluation programming will support many of
the above activities by filling in critical gaps in knowledge about the
level and seriousness of juvenile crime and victimization, its causes
and correlates, and effective programs in preventing delinquency and
violence. At the same time, OJJDP's research efforts will also be
geared toward efforts that monitor and evaluate the ways juveniles are
treated by the juvenile and criminal justice systems, particularly in
relation to juvenile violence and its impact.
As described below, OJJDP is also utilizing its national
perspective to disseminate information to those at the grassroots
level: practitioners, policymakers, community leaders, and service
providers who are directly responsible for planning and implementing
policies and programs that impact juvenile crime and violence. An
additional OJJDP goal is to help practitioners and policymakers
translate this information into action through its training and
technical assistance providers as part of its mission to provide
meaningful assistance for the replication of successful and promising
strategies and programs.
OJJDP will continue to fund longitudinal research on the causes and
correlates of delinquency. Even more important, however, OJJDP will
regularly share the findings from this research with the field through
OJJDP's publications, Home Page on the World Wide Web, and JuvJust (an
electronic newsletter); utilize state-of-the-art technology to provide
the field with an interactive CD-ROM on promising and effective
programs designed to prevent delinquency and reduce recidivism; air
national satellite teleconferences on key topics of relevance to
practitioners; and publish new reports and documents on timely topics.
Some examples of these publication topics include youth action to
prevent delinquency; family strengthening; juvenile substance abuse
(prevention, intervention, and testing); balanced and restorative
justice; developmental pathways in delinquent behavior, gang migration,
capacity building for substance abuse treatment, youth gangs,
restitution programs, school safety, and conditions of confinement.
The various contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, and
interagency fund transfers described in the Program Plan form a
continuum of activity designed to address youth violence, delinquency,
and victimization. In isolation, this programming can do little.
However, the emphasis of OJJDP's programming is on collaboration. It is
through collaboration that Federal, State, and local agencies; Native
American tribes; national organizations; private philanthropies; the
corporate and business sector; health, mental health, and social
service agencies; schools; youth; families; and clergy can come
together to form partnerships and leverage additional resources,
identify needs and priorities, and implement innovative strategies. In
the past few years, the combined efforts of these varied groups have
brought about the beginnings of change in the prevalence of juvenile
crime, violence, and victimization. Now is the time to strengthen old
partnerships and forge new ones to develop support for a long-term,
comprehensive approach to a more effective juvenile justice system.
Fiscal Year 1998 Programs
The following are brief summaries of each of the new and
continuation programs scheduled to receive funding in FY 1998. As
indicated above, the program categories are public safety and law
enforcement; strengthening the juvenile justice system; delinquency
prevention and intervention; and child abuse and neglect and dependency
courts. However, because many programs have significant elements of
more than one of these program categories or generally support all of
OJJDP's programs, they are listed in an initial program category,
called overarching programs. The specific program priorities within
each category are subject to change with regard to their priority
status, sites for implementation, and other descriptive data and
information based on grantee performance, application quality, fund
availability, and other factors.
A number of OJJDP programs have been identified for funding
consideration by Congress with regard to the grantee(s), the amount of
funds, or both. These programs, which are listed below, are not
included in the program descriptions that follow.
National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
Teens, Crime, and the Community
Parents Anonymous, Inc.
Juvenile Offender Transition Program
Suffolk University Center for Juvenile Justice
Center for Crimes and Violence Against Children
Crow Creek Alcohol and Drug Program
Metro Denver Gang Coalition
In addition, OJJDP has been directed to examine each of the
following proposals, provide grants if warranted, and report to the
Committees on Appropriations of both the House and the Senate on its
intention for each proposal:
Coalition for Juvenile Justice
The Hamilton Fish National Institute on School/Community Violence
Low Country Children's Center
Vermont Department of Social and Rehabilitative Services
Grassroots Drug Prevention Program
Dona Ana Camp
Center for Prevention of Juvenile Crime and Delinquency at Prairie View
University
Project O.A.S.I.S.
KidsPeace--The National Centers for Kids in Crisis, North America
Consortium on Children, Families, and Law
New Mexico Prevention Project
No Hope in Dope Program
Study of the Link Between Child Abuse and Criminal Behavior in Alaska
Gainesville Juvenile Assessment Center
Lincoln Council on Alcohol and Drugs
Hill Renaissance Partnership
National Training and Information Center
Culinary Arts Training Program for At-Risk Youth
Women of Vision Program for Youthful Female Offenders
Violence Institute of New Jersey
Delancy Street Foundation
Law-Related Education
Fiscal Year 1998 Program Listing
Overarching
SafeFutures: Partnerships To Reduce Youth Violence and Delinquency
Evaluation of SafeFutures
Program of Research on the Causes and Correlates of Delinquency
OJJDP Management Evaluation Contract
Juvenile Justice Statistics and Systems Development
Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement
National Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Training and
Technical Assistance Center
Technical Assistance for State Legislatures
Telecommunications Assistance
OJJDP Technical Assistance Support Contract--Juvenile Justice Resource
Center
Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse
[[Page 6343]]
Insular Area Support
Community Assessment Centers (CAC's)
Training and Technical Assistance Coordination for SafeFutures
Initiative
Public Safety and Law Enforcement
Comprehensive Community-Wide Approach to Gang Prevention, Intervention,
and Suppression Program
Evaluation of the Comprehensive Community-Wide Approach to Gang
Prevention, Intervention, and Suppression Program
Targeted Outreach With A Gang Prevention and Intervention Component
(Boys and Girls Clubs)
National Youth Gang Center
Evaluation of the Partnerships To Reduce Juvenile Gun Violence Program
The Chicago Project for Violence Prevention
Safe Start--Child Development-Community-Oriented Policing (CD-CP)
Law Enforcement Training and Technical Assistance Program
Partnerships To Reduce Juvenile Gun Violence
Comprehensive Community-Wide Approach to Gang Prevention, Intervention,
and Suppression Technical Assistance and Training
Rural Youth Gang Problems--Adapting OJJDP's Comprehensive Approach
Delinquency Prevention and Intervention
Youth-Centered Conflict Resolution
Communities in Schools--Federal Interagency Partnership
The Congress of National Black Churches: National Anti-Drug Abuse/
Violence Campaign (NADVC)
Risk Reduction Via Promotion of Youth Development
Training and Technical Assistance for Family Strengthening Programs
Hate Crime
Strengthening Services for Chemically Involved Children, Youth, and
Families
Diffusion of State Risk-and Protective-Factor Focused Prevention
Multisite, Multimodal Treatment Study of Children With ADHD
Evaluation of the Juvenile Mentoring Program
Truancy Reduction
Arts and At-Risk Youth
Community Volunteer Coordinator Program
Learning Disabilities Among Juveniles At Risk of Delinquency or in the
Juvenile Justice System
Advertising Campaign--Investing in Youth for a Safer Future
Strengthening the Juvenile Justice System
Development of the Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and
Chronic Juvenile Offenders
Balanced and Restorative Justice Project (BARJ)
Training and Technical Assistance Program To Promote Gender-Specific
Programming for Female Juvenile Offenders
Juvenile Transfers to Criminal Court Studies
Replication and Extension of Fagan Transfer Study
The Juvenile Justice Prosecution Unit
Due Process Advocacy Program Development
Quantum Opportunities Program (QOP) Evaluation
Intensive Community-Based Aftercare Demonstration and Technical
Assistance Program
Evaluation of the Intensive Community-Based Aftercare Program
Training and Technical Assistance for National Innovations To Reduce
Disproportionate Minority Confinement (The Deborah Ann Wysinger
Memorial Program)
Juvenile Probation Survey Research
Training for Juvenile Corrections and Detention Management Staff
Training for Line Staff in Juvenile Detention and Corrections
Training and Technical Support for State and Local Jurisdictional Teams
To Focus on Juvenile Corrections and Detention Overcrowding
National Program Directory
Juvenile Sex Offender Typology
Interagency Programs on Mental Health and Juvenile Justice
Juvenile Residential Facility Census
The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 97
National Academy of Sciences Study of Juvenile Justice
TeenSupreme Career Preparation Initiative
Technical Assistance to Native Americans
Training and Technical Assistance To Promote Teen Court Programs
Training and Technical Assistance Coordination for SafeFutures
Initiative
School Safety
Disproportionate Minority Confinement
Arts Programs in Juvenile Detention Centers
``Circles of Care''--A Program To Develop Strategies To Serve Native
American Youth With Mental Health and Substance Abuse Needs
Juvenile Defender Training, Technical Assistance, and Resource Center
Gender-Specific Programming for Female Juvenile Offenders
Evaluation Capacity Building
Field-Initiated Research
Field-Initiated Evaluation
Analysis of Juvenile Justice Data
Evaluation of the Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and
Chronic Juvenile Offenders
Blueprints for Violence Prevention: Training and Technical Assistance
Teambuilding Project for Courts
Child Abuse and Neglect and Dependency Courts
Safe Kids/Safe Streets: Community Approaches to Reducing Abuse and
Neglect and Preventing Delinquency
National Evaluation of the Safe Kids/Safe Streets Program
Secondary Analysis of Childhood Victimization
Evaluation of Nurse Home Visitation in Weed and Seed Sites
Overarching
SafeFutures: Partnerships To Reduce Youth Violence and Delinquency
OJJDP is awarding grants of up to $1.4 million annually to each of
six communities for a 5-year project period that began in FY 1995, to
assist in implementing comprehensive community programs designed to
reduce youth violence and delinquency. Boston, Massachusetts; Contra
Costa County, California; Seattle, Washington; St. Louis, Missouri;
Imperial County, California (rural site); and Fort Belknap, Montana
(tribal site) were competitively selected to receive awards under the
SafeFutures program on the basis of their substantial planning and
progress in community assessment and strategic planning to address
delinquency.
SafeFutures seeks to prevent and control youth crime and
victimization through the creation of a continuum of care in
communities. This continuum enables communities to be responsive to the
needs of youth at critical stages of their development through
providing an appropriate range of prevention, intervention, treatment,
and sanctions programs.
The goals of SafeFutures are (1): To prevent and control juvenile
violence and delinquency in targeted communities by reducing risk
factors and increasing protective factors for delinquency; providing a
continuum of services for juveniles at risk of delinquency, including
appropriate immediate interventions for juvenile offenders; and
developing a full range of graduated sanctions designed to hold
delinquent youth accountable to the victim and the community, ensure
community safety, and provide appropriate treatment and rehabilitation
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services; (2) to develop a more efficient, effective, and timely
service delivery system for at-risk and delinquent juveniles and their
families that is capable of responding to their needs at any point of
entry into the juvenile justice system; (3) to build the community's
capacity to institutionalize and sustain the continuum by expanding and
diversifying sources of funding; and (4) to determine the success of
program implementation and the outcomes achieved, including whether a
comprehensive program involving community-based efforts and program
resources concentrated on providing a continuum of care has succeeded
in preventing or reducing juvenile violence and delinquency.
Each of the six sites will continue to provide a set of services
that builds on community strengths and existing services and fills in
gaps within their existing continuum. These services include family
strengthening; after school activities; mentoring; treatment
alternatives for juvenile female offenders; mental health services; day
treatment; graduated sanctions for serious, violent, and chronic
juvenile offenders; and gang prevention, intervention, and suppression.
A national evaluation is being conducted by the Urban Institute to
determine the success of the initiative and track lessons learned at
each of the six sites. OJJDP has also committed a cadre of training and
technical assistance (TTA) resources to SafeFutures through a full-time
TTA coordinator for SafeFutures and a host of partner organizations
committed to assisting SafeFutures sites. The TTA coordinator also
assists the communities in brokering and leveraging additional TTA
resources. In addition, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development has provided interagency support of $100,000 for training
and technical assistance targeted to violence and delinquency
prevention in public housing areas of SafeFutures sites. Thus,
operations, evaluation, and TTA have been organized together to form a
joint team at the national level to support local site efforts.
SafeFutures activities will be carried out by the six current
grantees. No additional applications will be solicited in FY 1998.
Evaluation of SafeFutures
In FY 1995, OJJDP funded six communities under the SafeFutures:
Partnerships To Reduce Youth Violence and Delinquency program. The
program sites are Boston, Massachusetts; Contra Costa County,
California; Fort Belknap Indian Community, Harlem, Montana; Imperial
County, California; Seattle, Washington; St. Louis, Missouri. The
SafeFutures Program provides support for a comprehensive prevention,
intervention, and treatment program to meet the needs of at-risk
juveniles and their families. In total, up to $8.4 million is being
made available for annual awards over a 5-year project period to
support the efforts of these jurisdictions to enhance existing
partnerships, integrate juvenile justice and social services, and
provide a continuum of care that is designed to reduce the number of
serious, violent, and chronic juvenile offenders.
The Urban Institute received a competitive 3-year cooperative
agreement award with FY 1995 funds to conduct Phase I of the national
evaluation of the SafeFutures program. OJJDP would consider 2 years of
additional funding for Phase II. The evaluation addresses the program
implementation process and measures performance outcomes across the six
sites. The process evaluation focuses primarily on the development and
implementation of a strategic plan designed to establish a continuum of
care and integrated services for young people in high-risk communities.
The evaluation will identify obstacles and key factors contributing to
the successful implementation of the SafeFutures program. The evaluator
is responsible for developing a cross-site report documenting the
process of program implementation for use by other funding agencies or
communities that want to develop and implement a comprehensive
community-based strategy to address serious, violent, and chronic
delinquency.
In FY 1996, the Urban Institute developed a logic model that links
program activities and outputs to desired intermediate and long-term
outcomes. Their evaluator also held a cross-site cluster meeting and
conducted site visits at each of the six SafeFutures sites.
In FY 1997, in addition to continuing its onsite monitoring, the
Urban Institute, in collaboration with the OJJDP SafeFutures program
management team, developed the national evaluation plan and introduced
it to the sites at the cluster meeting on information technology held
in Oakland, CA, in September 1997.
In FY 1998, the Urban Institute will continue the process
evaluation and will conduct interviews with key stakeholders, service
providers, and youth in order to assess the extent to which a community
and its policy board have mobilized to implement a continuum of care
and develop an integrated system of services over the course of
SafeFutures program implementation. The research team will also
complete the development of performance measures to be used by all
sites to monitor the outcomes for targeted populations within and
across sites. They will compile and process the results of the
performance outcomes from the sites and provide feedback to both the
sites and to OJJDP. Beginning in FY 1998, the national evaluator will
design and conduct sample surveys of youth in the community to assist
in monitoring community-level changes in the prevalence and incidence
of certain risk factors as well as developmental and community assets
on levels of delinquency and violence in the targeted community. In
addition, longitudinal samples of youth and their families will be
followed over time to observe the extent to which multiple needs are
identified and responded to over the course of the SafeFutures program
interventions.
The evaluation will be implemented by the current grantee, the
Urban Institute. No additional applications will be solicited in FY
1998.
Program of Research on the Causes and Correlates of Delinquency
Three project sites participate in the Program of Research on the
Causes and Correlates of Delinquency (Causes and Correlates): The
University of Colorado at Boulder, the University of Pittsburgh, and
the University at Albany, State University of New York. Results from
this longitudinal study have been used extensively in the field of
juvenile justice and have contributed significantly to the development
of OJJDP's Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and Chronic
Juvenile Offenders and other OJJDP program initiatives.
OJJDP began funding this program in 1986 and has invested
approximately $10.3 million to date. Currently, OJJDP is supporting
site data analyses under three-year project period grants awarded to
each site in FY 1996. The Causes and Correlates program has addressed a
variety of issues related to juvenile violence and delinquency. These
include developing and testing causal models for chronic violent
offending and examining interrelationships among gang involvement, drug
selling, and gun ownership/use. To date, the program has produced a
massive amount of information on the causes and correlates of
delinquent behavior.
Although there is great commonality across the Causes and
Correlates project sites, each has unique design features.
Additionally, each project has
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disseminated the results of its research through a broad range of
publications, reports, and presentations.
With FY 1996 funding, each site of the Causes and Correlates
program was provided funds to further analyze the longitudinal data.
Among the numerous analyses conducted were risk factors for teenage
fatherhood, patterns of illegal gun carrying among young urban males,
and factors associated with early sexual activity among urban
adolescents. Two publications were developed as part of the newly
launched Youth Development Series of OJJDP Bulletins.
In FY 1997, the sites continued both their collaborative research
efforts and site-specific research. The cross site analysis was on the
early onset and co-occurrence of persistent serious offending. Site
specific analyses were produced on victimization, over time changes in
delinquency and drug use, impact of family changes on adolescent
development, and neighborhood, individual, and social risk factors for
serious juvenile offending.
In FY 1998, at least one major cross site analysis will be
undertaken as well as three site specific analyses per study site.
This program will be implemented by the current grantees: Institute
of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado at Boulder; Western
Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh; and
Hindelang Criminal Justice Research Center, University at Albany, State
University of New York. No additional applications will be solicited in
FY 1998.
OJJDP Management Evaluation Contract
OJJDP's Management Evaluation Contract was competitively awarded in
1995 for a period of 3 years. Its purpose is to provide OJJDP with an
expert resource capable of performing independent program evaluations
and assisting the Office in implementing evaluation activities. The
management evaluation contract currently provides the following types
of assistance to OJJDP: (1) Assists OJJDP staff in the determination of
evaluation needs of programs, program areas, or projects to assist the
agency in determining when to invest its evaluation resources; (2)
develops evaluation designs that OJJDP can use in defining requirements
for a grant or contract to implement the evaluation; (3) provides
technical assistance with regard to evaluation techniques to other
jurisdictions involved in the evaluation of programs to prevent and
treat juvenile delinquency; (4) responds to the needs of OJJDP by
providing evaluations based on available data or data that can be
readily developed to support OJJDP decisionmaking under whatever
schedule is required by the decisionmaking process. Evaluations under
this contract are program evaluations, that is, evaluations of either
individual grants or con tracts or groups of grants or contracts that
are designed to determine the effectiveness and efficiency of the
program; (5) conduct a full-scale evaluation research project; and (6)
provide training to OJJDP program managers and other staff on
evaluation-related topics such as the different kinds of evaluation
data and their uses, planning for program or project information
collection and evaluation, and the role of evaluation in the agency
planning process.
Under this contract, evaluations may be conducted on OJJDP-funded
action programs, including demonstrations, tests, training, and
technical assistance programs and other programs, not funded by OJJDP,
designed to prevent and treat juvenile delinquency. Evaluations are
carried out in accordance with work plans prepared by the contractor
and approved by OJJDP. Because the evaluations vary in terms of program
complexity, availability of data, and purpose of the evaluation, the
time and cost of each varies. Each evaluation is defined by OJJDP and
costs, method, and time are determined through negotiations between
OJJDP and the contractor. Because the purpose of many evaluations is to
inform management decisions, the completion of an evaluation and
submission of a report may be required in a specific and, often, short
time period.
This contract will be implemented by the current contractor,
Caliber Associates. A new competitive contract solicitation will be
issued during FY 1998, and a new contract awarded in FY 1999.
Juvenile Justice Statistics and Systems Development
The Juvenile Justice Statistics and Systems Development (SSD)
program was competitively awarded in FY 1990 to the National Center for
Juvenile Justice (NCJJ) to improve national, State, and local
statistics on juveniles as victims and offenders. Over the last seven
years, through continuation funding, the project has focused on three
major tasks: (1) assessing how current information needs are being met
with existing data collection efforts and recommending options for
improving national level statistics; (2) analyzing data and
disseminating information gathered from existing Federal statistical
series and national studies; and (3) providing training and technical
assistance for local agencies in developing or enhancing management
information systems.
Under the second task, OJJDP released the seminal analysis Juvenile
Offenders and Victims: A National Report in September 1995, Juvenile
Offenders and Victims: 1996 Update on Violence in March 1996, and
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1997 Update on Violence in October
1997. A training curriculum, Improving Information for Rational
Decisionmaking in Juvenile Justice, was drafted for pilot testing, and
future documents will be produced based on this effort.
In FY 1998, NCJJ will: (1) complete a long-term plan for improving
national statistics on juveniles as victims and offenders, including
constructing core data elements for a national reporting program for
juveniles waived or transferred to criminal court; (2) update the
Compendium of Federal Statistical Programs on juvenile victims and
offenders and work with the Office of Justice Programs' Crime
Statistics Working Group and other Federal interagency statistics
working groups; (3) provide technical support to OJJDP in enhancing the
availability and accessibility of statistics on the OJJDP web site; (4)
make recommendations to fill information gaps in the areas of juvenile
probation, juvenile court and law enforcement responses to juvenile
delinquency, violent delinquency, and child abuse and neglect; and (5)
produce a second edition of Juvenile Offenders and Victims: A National
Report.
This project will be implemented by the current grantee, NCJJ. No
additional applications will be solicited in FY 1998.
Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement
The Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement (CJRP) is
replacing the biennial Census of Public and Private Juvenile Detention,
Correctional, and Shelter Facilities, known as the Children in Custody
census. This newly designed census will collect detailed information on
the population of juveniles who are in juvenile residential placement
facilities as a result of contact with the juvenile justice system.
Over the past 3 years, OJJDP and the Bureau of the Census, with the
assistance of a Technical Advisory Board, have developed the CJRP to
more accurately represent the numbers of juveniles in residential
placement and to describe the reasons for their placement. A new method
of data collection, tested in FY 1996, involves gathering data in a
roster-
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type format, often by electronic means. The new methods are expected to
result in more accurate, timely, and useful data on the juvenile
population, with less reporting burden for facility respondents.
In FY 1997, OJJDP funded initial implementation of the CJRP,
including form preparation, mailout, and processing of census forms. In
October 1997, the first census using the revised methodology was
conducted.
OJJDP proposes to continue funding this project in FY 1998 to clean
the data files, allowing the production of new data products based on
the 1997 census.
This program would be implemented through an existing interagency
agreement with the Bureau of the Census. No additional applications
would be solicited in FY 1998.
National Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Training and
Technical Assistance Center
The National Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Training
and Technical Assistance Center (NTTAC) was established in FY 1995
under a competitive 3-year project period award to Community Research
Associates. NTTAC serves as a national training and technical
assistance clearinghouse, inventorying and coordinating the integrated
delivery of juvenile justice training/technical assistance resources
and establishing a data base of these resources.
In FY 1995, work involved organization and staffing of the Center,
orientation for OJJDP training/technical assistance providers regarding
their role in the Center's activities, and initial data base
development.
NTTAC's funding in FY 1996 provided services in the form of
coordinated technical assistance support for OJJDP's SafeFutures and
gang program initiatives, continued promotion of collaboration between
OJJDP training/technical assistance providers, developed training/
technical assistance materials, and completed and disseminated the
first OJJDP Training and Technical Assistance Resource Catalog. In
addition, NTTAC assisted State and local jurisdictions and other OJJDP
grantees with specialized training, including the development of
training-of-trainers programs. NTTAC continued to evolve as a central
source for information pertaining to the availability of OJJDP-
supported training/technical assistance programs and resources.
In FY 1997, NTTAC completed the first draft of the jurisdictional
team training/technical assistance packages for gender-specific
services and juvenile correctional services; provided training/
technical assistance in support of OJJDP's SafeFutures and Gangs
programs; updated and disseminated the second Training and Technical
Assistance Resource Catalog; created a Web site for the Center and a
ListServe for the Children, Youth and Affinity Group; held three focus
groups on needs assessments; and coordinated and provided 38 instances
of technical assistance in conjunction with OJJDP's training/technical
assistance grantees and contractors.
In FY 1998, NTTAC plans to finalize, field test, and coordinate
delivery of the jurisdictional team training/technical assistance
packages on critical needs in the juvenile justice system, update the
resource catalog, facilitate the annual OJJDP training/TA grantee and
contractor meeting, continue to update the repository of training/TA
materials and the electronic data base of training/TA materials, and
continue to respond to training/TA requests from the field.
The current grantee, Community Research Associates, will complete
its work in FY 1998. A new competitive solicitation would be issued in
FY 1998 for a new project period.
Technical Assistance for State Legislatures
Since FY 1995, OJJDP has awarded annual grants to the National
Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) to provide relevant and timely
information on comprehensive approaches in juvenile justice that are
geared to the legislative environment. The purpose of this project is
to aid State legislators in improving State juvenile justice systems
when crafting legislative responses to youth violence. State
legislatures have a unique role and responsibility in establishing
State policy and approaches and appropriating funds for juvenile
justice. Nearly every State has enacted, or is considering, statutory
changes affecting the juvenile justice system. Historically, State
legislatures have lacked the information needed to comprehensively
address juvenile justice issues. Experience with this project indicates
that policymakers find it has helped them understand the ramifications
and nuances of juvenile justice reform.
Since OJJDP began funding this project, NCSL has conducted three
invitational Legislator's Leadership Forums; sponsored sessions on
juvenile justice reform at the NCSL annual meetings; expanded
clearinghouse and juvenile justice enactment reporting; and produced
and distributed a publication, Legislator's Guide to Comprehensive
Juvenile Justice. The invitational meetings were attended by more than
100 legislators and additional legislative staff from 34 States
selected as key decisionmakers on juvenile justice reform. Meeting
sessions and information services reached at least 500 legislators or
legislative staff in all States. In addition, project publications were
distributed to more than 2,000 legislative members, staff, and agencies
to provide for further broad distribution of information central to
comprehensive strategies in juvenile justice to a State legislative
audience throughout the States.
The grant has improved capacity for the delivery of information
services to legislatures, with the number of information requests
handled for legislators and staff having increased to about 500 per
year. It is expected that the Children and Families and Criminal
Justice programs will respond to another 500 information requests in FY
1998.
In FY 1998, NCSL would further identify, analyze, and disseminate
information to assist State legislatures to make more informed
decisions about legislation affecting the juvenile justice system. A
complementary task involves supporting increased communication between
State legislators and State and local leaders who influence
decisionmaking regarding juvenile justice issues. NCSL would provide
intensive technical assistance to four States, continue outreach
activities, and maintain its clearinghouse function. Additionally, NCSL
would assist in the production of a live satellite videoconference
directed primarily to State legislators.
The project would be implemented by the current grantee, NCSL. No
additional applications would be solicited in FY 1998.
Telecommunications Assistance
Developments in information technology and distance training have
expanded and enhanced OJJDP's capacity to disseminate information and
provide training and technical assistance. The advantages of these
technologies include increased access to information and training for
professionals in the juvenile justice system, reduced travel costs to
conferences, and reduced time attending meetings away from one's home
or office. OJJDP uses this cost-effective medium to share with the
field the salient elements of the most effective or promising
approaches to various juvenile justice issues. The field has responded
positively to these live satellite teleconferences and has come to
expect them at regular intervals.
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OJJDP selected Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) through a
competitive program announcement in FY 1992 to conduct a feasibility
study on using this technology in its programming. In FY 1995, EKU was
awarded a competitive grant to undertake production of live satellite
videoconferences. Since the inception of this grant in FY 1995, EKU has
produced 13 live satellite teleconferences, with an average of 360
downlink sites participating in each. The project produced four
teleconferences in FY 1995 (Juvenile Boot Camps, Reducing Youth Gun
Violence, Youth Out of the Education Mainstream, and Conflict
Resolution for Youth), four in FY 1996 (Community Collaboration,
Effective Programs for Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile
Offenders, Youth-Oriented Community Policing, Leadership Challenges for
Juvenile Detentions and Corrections), and five in FY 1997 (Has the
Juvenile Court Outlived Its Usefulness?, Youth Gangs in America,
Preventing Drug Abuse Among Youth, Mentoring for Youth, and Treating
Drug-Involved Youth).
In FY 1998, OJJDP proposes to continue the cooperative agreement
with EKU in order to provide program support and technical assistance
for a variety of information technologies, including audioconferences,
fiber optics, and satellite teleconferences, producing four to five
additional live national satellite teleconferences. The grantee would
also continue to provide technical assistance to other grantees
interested in using this technology and explore linkages with key
constituent groups to advance mutual information goals and objectives.
This project would be implemented by the current grantee, EKU. No
additional applications would be solicited in FY 1998.
OJJDP Technical Assistance Support Contract--Juvenile Justice
Resource Center
This contract provides technical assistance and support to OJJDP,
its grantees, and the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention in the areas of program development, evaluation,
training, and research. OJJDP proposes to extend the current contract
in FY 1998 until a new contract can be competitively awarded.
Applications have been solicited, and the new contract is expected to
be awarded shortly.
This contract would be implemented by the current contractor, Aspen
Systems Corporation, until a new contract is awarded.
Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse
A component of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service
(NCJRS), the Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse (JJC) is OJJDP's central
source for the collection, synthesis, and dissemination of information
on all aspects of juvenile justice, including research and evaluation
findings; State and local juvenile delinquency prevention and treatment
programs and plans; availability of resources; training and educational
programs; and statistics. JJC serves the entire juvenile justice
community, including researchers, law enforcement officials, judges,
prosecutors, probation and corrections staff, youth-service personnel,
legislators, the media, and the public.
Among its many support services, JJC offers toll-free telephone
access to information; prepares specialized responses to information
requests; produces, warehouses, and distributes OJJDP publications;
exhibits at national conferences; maintains a comprehensive juvenile
justice library and data base; and administers several electronic
information resources. Recognizing the critical need to inform juvenile
justice practitioners and policymakers on promising program approaches,
JJC continually develops and recommends new products and strategies to
communicate more effectively the research findings and program
activities of OJJDP and the field. The entire NCJRS, of which the
OJJDP-funded JJC is a part, is administered by the National Institute
of Justice (NIJ) under a competitively awarded contract to Aspen
Systems Corporation.
This program would continue to be implemented by the current
contractor, Aspen Systems Corporation, until the new contract is
awarded. NIJ will issue a new competitive solicitation in the near
future, and a new contract will be awarded during FY 1998.
Insular Area Support
The purpose of this program is to provide support to the U.S.
Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Trust Territory of the
Pacific Islands (Palau), and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
Islands. Funds are available to address the special needs and problems
of juvenile delinquency in these insular areas, as specified by Section
261(e) of the JJDP Act of 1974, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 5665(e).
Community Assessment Centers (CAC's)
The Community Assessment Center (CAC) program is a multicomponent
demonstration initiative designed to test the efficacy of the Community
Assessment Center concept. CAC's provide a 24-hour centralized point of
intake and assessment for juveniles who have or are likely to come into
contact with the juvenile justice system. The main purpose of a CAC is
to facilitate earlier and more efficient prevention and intervention
service delivery at the ``front end'' of the juvenile justice system.
In FY 1997, OJJDP funded two planning grants and two enhancement grants
to existing assessment centers for a 1-year project period, a CAC
evaluation project, and a technical assistance component.
The planning grants were awarded to the Denver Juvenile Court in
Denver, Colorado, and to the Lee County Sheriff's Office in Fort Myers,
Florida, to support a 1-year intensive planning process for the
development and implementation of a CAC in each community. In Denver,
community leaders are assessing the feasibility of a CAC and building
on existing infrastructure developed with support from the Center for
Substance Abuse Treatment's Juvenile Justice Integrated Treatment
Network program. In Fort Myers, community leaders are completing an
initial planning process and are planning to open their CAC in 1998.
Planning in this site will continue after implementation and will focus
on enhancing the CAC in Fort Myers to become more consistent with the
CAC concept and on developing linkages with the community's
Comprehensive Strategy initiative.
The enhancement component of the CAC program is designed to
increase the effectiveness and efficiency of existing assessment
centers by supporting various and specific program enhancements and to
provide support to existing assessment centers in an effort to create
consistency with OJJDP's CAC concept.
Also in FY 1997, two communities received 1-year awards to help
existing assessment centers provide enhanced services and to
demonstrate the effectiveness of the CAC concept overall. Jefferson
Center for Mental Health in Jefferson County, Colorado, and Human
Service Associates, Inc., in Orlando, Florida, were competitively
selected to receive awards under the CAC program on the basis of their
demonstrated commitment to specifically implement an enhancement that
makes the existing CAC more consistent with the CAC concept. The
Jefferson Center for Mental Health is developing an improved ``single
point of entry'' and an improved management information system and
other enhancements consistent with the OJJDP CAC concept. Human
Services
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Associates, Inc., is creating an intensive integrated case management
system for high-risk youth referred to the CAC, an enhancement also
consistent with the OJJDP CAC concept.
In FY 1998, OJJDP proposes to provide an additional year's funding
to support the full and continued implementation of selected CAC
enhancements and additional support to the sites awarded planning
grants in FY 1997. This funding would enable these sites to begin
implementing the CAC's planned for with OJJDP funding support or to
enhance existing operations.
The CAC initiative evaluation component, being conducted by the
National Council on Crime and Delinquency, and the technical assistance
component, being delivered by the Florida Alcohol and Drug Abuse
Association, were funded in FY 1997 for a 2-year project period and
will not require additional funds in FY 1998.
These programs would be implemented by the current grantees,
Jefferson Center for Mental Health, Human Service Associates, Inc.,
Denver Juvenile Court, and Lee County Sheriff's Office. No additional
applications would be solicited in FY 1998.
Training and Technical Assistance Coordination for SafeFutures
Initiative
OJJDP proposes to provide funding for long-term training and
technical assistance (TA) for the remaining 3 years of the SafeFutures
initiative. The purpose of this TA effort would be to build local
capacity for implementing and sustaining effective continuum of care
and systems change approaches to preventing and controlling juvenile
violence and delinquency in the six SafeFutures communities. Project
activities would include assessment, identification, and coordination
of the implementation of training and TA needs at each SafeFutures site
and administration of cross-site training.
Public Safety and Law Enforcement
Comprehensive Community-Wide Approach to Gang Prevention, Intervention,
and Suppression Program
This program supports the implementation of a comprehensive gang
program model in five jurisdictions. The program was competitively
awarded with FY 1994 funds under a 3-year project period. The
demonstration sites implementing the model, which was developed by the
University of Chicago with OJJDP funding support, are Bloomington,
Illinois; Mesa, Arizona; Riverside, California; San Antonio, Texas; and
Tucson, Arizona. Implementation of the comprehensive gang program model
requires the mobilization of the community to address gang-related
violence by making available and coordinating social interventions,
providing social/academic/vocational and other opportunities, and
supporting gang suppression through law enforcement, probation, and
other community control mechanisms.
During the past year, the demonstration sites began full-scale
implementation of the program model and began serving gang-involved
youth in the targeted areas. In each site, a multidisciplinary team has
been established to coordinate the services that project youth receive.
Teams are made up of various community institution representatives,
including police, probation, outreach or street workers, court
representatives, service providers, and others. The services provided
through this team--or recommended by them--include social interventions
such as outreach, case management, counseling, substance abuse
treatment, anger management, life skills, cultural awareness,
controlled recreation activities, access to educational, social, and
economic opportunities such as GED attainment, school reintegration,
vocational training, and job development and placement. Also included
in the service mix is accountability or social control. This is
provided through traditional suppression from law enforcement and
probation, and also accountability through the schools, community-based
agencies, parents, families, and community members. The team meets
regularly to go over progress with each youth, so that each team member
is aware of prevailing risks and positive developments and can use this
information to be supportive of the youth when contacted in the field
by providing additional services, modifying ``treatment plans,'' or
invoking accountability measures ranging from values clarification and
general motivational support to arrest and prosecution. In addition to
core team members, other agencies also support the programs, such as
the faith community, local Boys and Girls Clubs, and alternative and
mainstream schools.
In some sites, prevention components have been established to work
hand-in-hand with the intervention and suppression program. For
example, in one site a mentoring program has been established for youth
who are younger siblings of gang members targeted in the intervention
components.
The demonstration sites also participated in training and technical
assistance activities, including cluster conferences sponsored by OJJDP
and site-specific consultations on issues such as information sharing
and outreach activities.
In FY 1998, OJJDP proposes to provide a fourth year of funding to
the demonstration sites to target up to 200 youth prone to gang
violence in each site through continuing implementation of the program
model and work with the independent evaluator of this demonstration
program.
This project would be implemented by the current demonstration
sites. No additional applications would be solicited in FY 1998.
Evaluation of the Comprehensive Community-Wide Approach to Gang
Prevention, Intervention, and Suppression Program
The University of Chicago, School of Social Service Administration,
received a competitive cooperative agreement award in FY 1995. This 4-
year project period award supports the evaluation of OJJDP's
Comprehensive Community-Wide Approach to Gang Prevention, Intervention,
and Suppression Program. The evaluation grantee assisted the five
program sites (Bloomington, Illinois; Mesa, Arizona; Riverside,
California; San Antonio, Texas; and Tucson, Arizona) in establishing
realistic and measurable objectives, documenting program
implementation, and measuring the impact of a variety of gang program
strategies. It has also provided interim feedback to the program
implementors.
In FY 1997, following two years of program development and
evaluation design, the grantee trained the local site interviewers;
gathered and tracked data from police, prosecutor, probation, school,
and social service agencies; collected individual gang member
interviews from both the program and comparison areas; provided onsite
technical assistance to the local sites; consulted with local
evaluators on development and implementation of local site parent/
community resident surveys; and coordinated ongoing efforts with local
researchers.
In FY 1998, the grantee will continue to gather and analyze data
required to evaluate the program; monitor and oversee the quality
control of data; provide assistance for completion of interviews; and
provide ongoing feedback to project sites.
This project will be implemented by the current grantee, the
University of Chicago, School of Social Service Administration. No
additional applications will be solicited in FY 1998.
[[Page 6349]]
Targeted Outreach With a Gang Prevention and Intervention Component
(Boys and Girls Clubs)
This program is designed to enable local Boys and Girls Clubs to
prevent youth from entering gangs, intervene with gang members in the
early stages of gang involvement, and divert youth from gang activities
into more constructive programs. In FY 1997, Boys and Girls Clubs of
America provided training and technical assistance to 30 existing gang
prevention and 4 intervention sites and expanded the gang prevention
and intervention program to 23 additional Boys and Girls Clubs,
including to some of those in the OJJDP SafeFutures sites. A national
evaluation of this program, through Public/Private Ventures, was also
started in FY 1997 under this award.
In FY 1998, Boys and Girls Clubs of America would provide training
and technical assistance to 20 new gang prevention sites, 3 new
intervention sites, and 6 SafeFutures sites.
This program would be implemented by the current grantee, the Boys
and Girls Clubs of America. No additional applications would be
solicited in FY 1998.
National Youth Gang Center
The proliferation of gang problems in large inner cities, smaller
cities, suburbs, and even rural areas over the past two decades led to
the development by OJJDP of a comprehensive, coordinated response to
America's gang problem. This response involved five program components,
one of which was the implementation and operation of the National Youth
Gang Center (NYC). The NYGC was competitively awarded in FY 1995 for a
3-year project period. The NYGC was created to expand and maintain the
body of critical knowledge about youth gangs and effective responses to
them.
In FY 1997, NYGC continued to assist state and local jurisdictions
to collect, analyze and exchange information on gang-related
demographics, legislation, literature, research and promising program
strategies. It also supported the work of the National Gang Consortium,
a group of federal agencies, gang program representatives and
researchers. A major activity was a survey of all federal agencies and
the presentation of data on their programs, planning cycles and other
resources. It continued to promote the collection and analysis of gang
related data and published the results of its first National Youth Gang
Survey of 2,000 law enforcement agencies.
OJJDP proposes to extend the project an additional year and provide
FY 1998 funds to NYGC to conduct more indepth analyses of the first and
second National Youth Gang Survey results that track changes in the
nature and scope of the youth gang problem. NYGC, through its Focus
Group on Data Collection and Analysis, will also continue its efforts
to foster integration of gang-related items into other relevant surveys
and national data collection efforts.
Fiscal year 1998 funds would support an additional year of funding
to the current grantee, the Institute for Intergovernmental Research.
No additional applications would be solicited in FY 1998.
Evaluation of the Partnerships To Reduce Juvenile Gun Violence Program
COSMOS Corporation received a competitive award in FY 1997. This 3-
year project period award supports OJJDP's Evaluation of the
Partnerships To Reduce Juvenile Gun Violence Program. The program will
document and evaluate the process of community mobilization, planning,
and collaboration needed to develop a comprehensive, collaborative
approach to reducing gun violence involving juveniles in four sites.
The sites are Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Oakland, California; Shreveport,
Louisiana; and Syracuse, New York.
In FY 1997, the grantee conducted onsite technical assistance
workshops with partner organizations and assisted the sites in planning
and developing local Partnerships To Reduce Juvenile Gun Violence.
In FY 1998, the grantee will develop data collection protocols,
conduct a process evaluation, and continue to provide onsite technical
assistance to the sites. In addition to the four sites listed above,
the grantee will also identify additional promising/effective programs
underway in communities across the country and evaluate a select number
of these programs. With an expanded base of youth gun violence
programs, there is greater opportunity to identify sites that are
employing similar strategies with different targeted populations.
This evaluation will be implemented by the current grantee, COSMOS
Corporation. No additional applications will be solicited in FY 1998.
The Chicago Project for Violence Prevention
The Chicago Project for Violence Prevention's primary goal is the
development of a citywide, accelerated, long-term effort to reduce
violence in Chicago. In addition, the Chicago Project serves to
demonstrate a comprehensive, citywide violence prevention model.
Overall project objectives include reductions in homicide, physical
injury, disability and emotional harm from assault, domestic abuse,
sexual abuse and rape, and child abuse and neglect.
The Chicago Project is a partnership among the Chicago Department
of Public Health, the Illinois Council for the Prevention of Violence,
the University of Illinois, and Chicago communities. The project began
in January 1995 with joint funding from OJJDP and the Centers for
Disease Control and prevention (CDC), National Center for Injury
Prevention and Control (NCIPC), the Bureau of Justice Assistance, and
the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The project currently
provides technical assistance to a variety of community-based and
citywide organizations involved in violence prevention planning. The
majority of the technical assistance supports community level efforts
and agencies working to directly support the community plan.
In FY 1996, technical assistance was provided to the central
planning group for the Austin community-based coalition, leadership and
staff of the Westside Health Authority in the Austin community, and to
other selected groups involved in the Austin plan for the development
of their components (e.g., to Northwest Austin Council for the
development of the afterschool and drug treatment components of the
Austin plan). These groups are members of the violence consortium in
Austin.
In FY 1997, the Chicago Project further refined the violence
prevention strategy developed in the Austin community, began
implementation of the strategy, and continued to provide technical
assistance to the Logan Square and Grand Boulevard communities as they
developed their violence prevention strategies.
In FY 1998, OJJDP proposes to continue funding the project, which
would complete the strategic planning process with Logan Square and
Grand Boulevard and continue to work with Austin in implementing its
strategy.
The Chicago Project for Violence Prevention would be implemented by
the current grantee, the University of Illinois, School of Public
Health. No additional applications would be solicited in FY 1998.
Safe Start--Child Development-Community-Oriented Policing (CD-CP)
The Child Development-Community-Oriented Policing (CD-CP) program,
an innovative partnership between the New Haven Department of Police
Services and the Child Study Center at
[[Page 6350]]
the Yale University School of Medicine, addresses the psychological
burdens on children, families, and the broader community of increasing
levels of community violence. In FY 1993, OJJDP provided support to
document Yale--New Haven's child-centered, community-oriented policing
model. The program model consists of interrelated training and
consultation, including a child development fellowship for police
supervisors; police fellowship for clinicians; seminars on child
development, human functioning, and policing strategies; a 15-hour
training course in child development for all new police officers;
weekly collaborative meetings and case conferences that support
institutional changes in police practices; and establishment of
protocols for referral and consultation to ensure that children receive
the services they need.
In FY 1994, the Bureau of Justice Assistance, using community
policing funds, joined with OJJDP to support the first year of a 3-year
training and technical assistance grant to replicate the CD-CP program
nationwide. In each of FY's 1995, 1996, and 1997, OJJDP provided grants
of $300,000 to the Yale Child Study Center to replicate the model
through training of law enforcement and mental health providers in
Buffalo, New York; Charlotte, North Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; and
Portland, Oregon.
The CD-CP program has provided a wide range of coordinated police
and clinical responses in the four replication sites, including round-
the-clock availability of consultation with a clinical professional and
a police supervisor to patrol officers who assist children exposed to
violence; weekly case conferences with police officers, educators, and
child study center staff; open police stations located in neighborhoods
and accessible to residents for police and related services; community
liaison and coordination of community response; crisis response;
clinical referral; interagency collaboration; home-based followup; and
officer support and neighborhood foot patrols. In the CD-CP program's
last 4 years of operation in the New Haven site, more than 450 children
have been referred to the consultation service by officers in the
field. It is anticipated that these results can be obtained in the
replication sites.
In FY 1997, through a partnership between OJJDP, Violence Against
Women Grants Office, and Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), $700,000
($300,000 from OJJDP, $300,000 from the Violence Against Women Grants
Office, and $100,000 from OVC) was allocated to CD-CP to expand the
program under a new Safe Start Initiative designed to support the
following activities:
Development of a training and technical assistance center
in New Haven consisting of a team of expert practitioners who provide
training for law enforcement, prosecutors, mental health professionals,
school personnel, and probation and parole officers to better respond
to the needs of children exposed to community violence including but
not limited to family violence, gang violence, and abuse or neglect.
Plan for expansion of program sites from the original
four. Future sites, the total number of which are yet to be determined,
will be selected competitively based upon each site's capacity to
establish a core police/mental health provider team concerned with
child victimization.
Further research, data collection, analysis, and
evaluation of CD-CP in the program sites.
The development of a casebook for practitioners, which
will detail intervention strategies and various aspects of the CD-CP
collaborative process.
In order to continue this work in FY 1998, this project will be
continued by the current grantee, the Yale University School of
Medicine, in collaboration with the New Haven Department of Police
Services. No additional applications will be solicited in FY 1998.
Law Enforcement Training and Technical Assistance Program
Juvenile crime and victimization present major challenges to law
enforcement and other practitioners who are responsible for prevention,
intervention, and enforcement efforts. Violent crime committed by
juveniles, juvenile involvement in gangs and drugs, and decreasing
fiscal resources are a few of the challenges facing juvenile justice
practitioners today.
OJJDP is committed to helping Federal, State, local, and tribal
agencies, organizations, and individuals face these challenges through
a comprehensive program of training and technical assistance that is
designed to enhance the juvenile justice system's ability to respond to
juvenile crime and delinquency. This assistance targets many audiences,
including law enforcement representatives, social service workers,
school staff and administrators, prosecutors, judges, corrections and
probation personnel, and key community and agency leaders.
In FY 1997, a 3-year contract period was awarded to John Jay
College of Criminal Justice (John Jay) for the Law Enforcement Training
and Technical Assistance program. Since the program's inception in
March 1997, John Jay has trained approximately 700 State, local, and
tribal workshop participants and provided requested onsite technical
assistance to 16 communities.
Fiscal year 1998 funds will support the continuation of seven
regional training workshops: the Chief Executive Officer Youth Violence
Forum; Managing Juvenile Operations (MJO); Gang, Gun, and Drug Policy;
School Administrators for Effective Operations Leading to Improved
Children and Youth Services (SAFE Policy); Youth Oriented-Community
Policing; Tribal Justice Training and Technical Assistance; and the
Serious Habitual Offender Comprehensive Action Program (SHOCAP). A
minimum of 10 of these regional trainings are planned in FY 1998, with
onsite technical assistance provided, upon request. Participants in the
workshops will have access to followup technical assistance that will
enable them to devise, implement, modify, and evaluate community
partnerships and programs in their localities. Online, computer-
assisted training will also be available on OJJDP's Web page, along
with workshop information.
This project will be implemented by the current contractor, John
Jay College of Criminal Justice. No additional applications will be
solicited in FY 1998.
Partnerships To Reduce Juvenile Gun Violence
OJJDP will award continuation grants of up to $200,000 to each of
four competitively selected communities that initially received funds
in FY 1997 to help them increase the effectiveness of existing youth
gun violence reduction strategies by enhancing and coordinating
prevention, intervention, and suppression strategies and strengthening
linkages between community residents, law enforcement, and the juvenile
justice system. Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Oakland, California;
Shreveport, Louisiana; and Syracuse, New York, were competitively
selected to receive 3-year awards.
The goals of this initiative are to reduce juveniles' illegal
access to guns and address the reasons they carry and use guns in
violence exchanges. Each of the sites is required to address five
objectives: (1) Reduce illegal gun availability to juveniles; (2)
reduce the incidence of juveniles' illegally carrying guns; (3) reduce
juvenile gun-related
[[Page 6351]]
crimes; (4) increase youth awareness of the personal and legal
consequences of gun violence; and (5) increase participation of
community residents and organizations in public safety efforts.
To accomplish the goals and objectives, each site will complete the
development of a comprehensive plan and incorporate the following seven
strategies in the target area:
(1) Positive opportunity strategies for young people, such as
mentoring, job readiness, and afterschool programs.
(2) An educational strategy in which students learn how to resolve
conflicts without violence, resist peer pressure to possess or carry
guns, and distinguish between real violence and television violence.
(3) A public information strategy that uses radio, local
television, and print outlets to broadly communicate to young people
the dangers and consequences of gun violence and present information on
positive youth activities taking place in the community.
(4) A law enforcement/community communication strategy that expands
neighborhood communication; community policing, such as a program that
notifies neighborhood residents when particular incidents or concerns
have been addressed; and community supervision to educate at-risk and
court-involved juveniles on the legal consequences of their involvement
in gun violence.
(5) A grassroots community involvement and mobilization strategy
that engages neighborhood residents, including youth, in improving the
community.
(6) A suppression strategy that reduces juvenile access to illegal
guns and illegal gun trafficking in communities by developing special
gun units, using community allies to report illegal gun trade,
targeting gang members and illegal gun possession cases for
prosecution, and increasing sanctions.
(7) A juvenile justice system strategy that applies appropriate
treatment interventions to respond to the needs of juvenile offenders
who enter the system on gun-related charges. Interventions may include
specialized gun courts, family counseling, victim impact awareness
classes, drug treatment, probation, or intensive community supervision,
including aftercare. The approach should focus on addressing the
reasons juveniles had access to, carried, and used guns illegally.
A national evaluation is being conducted by COSMOS Corporation to
document and understand the process of community mobilization,
planning, and collaboration needed to develop a comprehensive,
collaborative approach to reducing juvenile gun violence.
The Partnerships To Reduce Juvenile Gun Violence program will be
carried out by the four current grantees. No additional applications
will be solicited in FY 1998.
Comprehensive Community-Wide Approach to Gang Prevention, Intervention,
and Suppression Technical Assistance and Training
Since 1995, OJJDP has provided funding to five communities to
implement and test a comprehensive program model for gang prevention,
intervention and suppression, known as the Spergel model. In 1997, the
sites were awarded continuation funding for the third year of a 3-year
project period grant to continue program implementation. OJJDP is
proposing to provide a fourth year of funding for this program.
To support the ongoing implementation and a potential fourth year
of operations (being proposed elsewhere in this Program Plan), OJJDP
proposes to provide funding to the University of Chicago for enhanced
technical assistance and training services. This award would be made to
the University's Gang Research, Evaluation and Technical Assistance
(GRETA) program, through the School of Social Service Administration.
Technical assistance and training to be provided through this award may
include technical assistance and training to law enforcement,
probation, and parole on their role in the model; technical assistance
to community and grassroots organizations on their role in the model;
and technical assistance on team development, information sharing,
information systems, and data collection and on issues of
sustainability and organizational and systems change to better deal
with the community's youth gang problem. Other training and technical
assistance services to be provided may include the development of
relevant materials for onsite use, such as a manual on the model being
implemented (in response to the national evaluation advisory board's
recommendations), a manual on youth outreach and a ``lessons learned''
publication or other materials, including audiovisual and electronic
media. Training and technical assistance services provided under this
project would be limited to OJJDP's comprehensive gang demonstration
sites in Mesa and Tucson, Arizona; Riverside, California; Bloomington,
Illinois; and San Antonio, Texas.
This project would be implemented by the current grantee, the
University of Chicago. No additional applications would be solicited in
FY 1998.
Rural Youth Gang Problems--Adapting OJJDP's Comprehensive Approach
In 1996, OJJDP's National Youth Gang Center completed its first
annual nationwide survey of law enforcement agencies regarding gang
problems experienced in their jurisdictions. This survey represents the
largest number of small law enforcement agencies in rural counties ever
surveyed. Among the findings of this survey is that half of the 2,007
gang survey respondents reporting youth gang problems in 1995 serve
populations under 25,000, confirming that youth gangs are not just a
problem for large cities and metropolitan counties. Youth gangs are
emerging in new localities, especially smaller and rural communities.
Many of the agencies in smaller and rural communities had no personnel
assigned to deal with youth gangs or gang units.
OJJDP's Comprehensive Approach to Gang Prevention, Intervention,
and Suppression (Spergel Model) is currently being implemented and
tested in multiple jurisdictions. The communities implementing the
model are mainly suburban and urban in nature, with areas of dense
population within the community.
In light of the rural gang problems exposed by the nationwide gang
survey, OJJDP is considering funding a new initiative to assist rural
communities in implementing the fully adaptable Comprehensive Approach
in a way that is appropriate to rural community needs, through a
comprehensive and systematic problem assessment and program design
process. Upon completion of the problem assessment using law
enforcement-based gang incident, census, and other data, communities
would engage in a process of adapting and applying the Comprehensive
Approach in a way that responds to the gang problems identified.
OJJDP is considering awarding funds to rural communities to
implement a rural youth gang program and also awarding funds for
related evaluation and technical assistance services.
Delinquency Prevention and Intervention
Youth-Centered Conflict Resolution
In FY 1995, OJJDP funded the Illinois Institute for Dispute
Resolution (IIDR) to implement the Youth-Centered Conflict Resolution
(YCCR) program under a competitively awarded 3-year
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cooperative agreement. The purpose of this program, which began in
October 1995, is to integrate conflict resolution education (CRE)
programming into all levels of education in the Nation's schools,
juvenile facilities, and youth-serving organizations.
During the first 2 years, IIDR provided training and technical
assistance through a number of mechanisms. In year one, activities
included participation in the development of a satellite teleconference
on CRE, a presentation on the YCCR program at the National Institute
for Dispute Resolution annual conference, and three regional training
conferences for teams from schools, communities, and juvenile
facilities. IIDR also completed the project's first major resource
document, Conflict Resolution Education: A Guide to Implementing
Programs in Schools, Youth-Serving Organizations, and Community and
Juvenile Justice Settings. Second-year activities included followup
training and intensive technical assistance including onsite work with
the Washington, DC, school system. In the second project year, with
additional funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, IIDR
developed a pilot curriculum and conducted a series of 10 training
sessions to assist arts program staff and administrators in infusing
conflict resolution skills and principles into art programs for at-risk
youth.
Activities planned for FY 1998 include three national training
conferences, onsite technical assistance to SafeFutures, Weed and Seed,
and other sites, increased followup support, and a survey of gang
intervention programs to identify those that use conflict resolution
techniques as part of their efforts.
Also, IIDR will expand the level of support that project staff
provide to schools, communities, and youth-serving organizations,
including training provided in partnership with national organizations
such as Boys and Girls Clubs of America and the National Juvenile
Detention Association. Efforts will also be undertaken to facilitate
peer-to-peer mentoring among youth education and youth-serving
organizations. Special emphasis will be placed on disseminating
information about effective conflict resolution programs and
implementation issues through print and electronic media. Project staff
will also work with staff in State departments of education and offices
of State Attorneys General to promote replication of local conflict
resolution programs and to partner with State agencies to establish
``training of trainers'' institutes or programs to build local capacity
to implement successful CRE programs for youth.
OJJDP is exploring the possibility of a partnership with the U.S.
Department of Education to expand this project. The project will be
implemented by the current grantee, IIDR. No additional applications
will be solicited in FY 1998.
Communities In Schools--Federal Interagency Partnership
This program is a continuation of a national school dropout
prevention model developed and implemented by Communities In Schools
(CIS), Inc. CIS, Inc., provides training and technical assistance to
CIS programs in States and local communities, enabling them to adapt
and implement the CIS model. The model brings social, employment,
mental health, drug prevention, entrepreneurship, and other resources
to high-risk youth and their families in the school setting. Where CIS
State organizations are established, they assume primary responsibility
for local program replication during the Federal Interagency
Partnership.
The Federal Interagency Partnership program is based on the
following strategies: (1) To enhance CIS, Inc., training and technical
assistance capabilities; (2) to enhance the organization's capability
to introduce selected initiatives to CIS youth at the local level; (3)
to enhance the CIS, Inc., information dissemination network capability;
and (4) to enhance the CIS, Inc., capability to network with Federal
agencies on behalf of State and local CIS programs.
In FY 1997, the CIS--Federal Interagency Partnership: (1) Performed
extensive research and compilation of conference materials and other
resources outlining trends and activities related to family
strengthening and parent participation initiatives; (2) produced a
quarterly issue of Facts You Can Use; (3) formed a committee
responsible for developing a description of the Family Service Center
site strategy; (4) formulated a plan for providing training and
technical assistance to SafeFutures sites; (5) advanced activities
under the Youth Entrepreneurship Program by implementing the second
phase of the minigrant process and by providing technical assistance;
(6) developed a violence prevention resource directory and offered
training on violence prevention; (7) provided program-level liaison and
coordination to facilitate access by State and local CIS organizations
to Federal agency products; and (8) added new features to the CIS web
site to increase local and State program access to Federal resources.
OJJDP proposes to continue funding this project in FY 1998 for
activities including: (1) Provide continuing training and technical
assistance on family strengthening and parent participation initiatives
for the primary benefit of CIS State and local programs; (2) develop a
report on known family strengthening activities occurring within the
CIS network of local programs, highlighting best practices; (3) make
available to the CIS network resources and materials developed by other
organizations that deal with family-focused issues; (4) offer
multitrack trainings to SafeFutures sites and, as appropriate, provide
technical assistance on the CIS process; and (5) produce and distribute
the CIS Facts You Can Use technical bulletin quarterly.
The program would be implemented by the current grantee,
Communities In Schools, Inc. No additional applications would be
solicited in FY 1998.
The Congress of National Black Churches: National Anti-Drug Abuse/
Violence Campaign (NADVC)
OJJDP proposes to award continuation funding to the Congress of
National Black Churches (CNBC) for its national public awareness and
mobilization strategy to address the problems of juvenile drug abuse,
violence, and hate crime in targeted communities. The goal of the CNBC
national strategy is to summon, focus, and coordinate the leadership of
the black religious community, in cooperation with the Department of
Justice and other Federal agencies and organizations, to mobilize
groups of community residents to combat juvenile drug abuse and drug-
related violence.
The CNBC National Anti-Drug Abuse/Violence Campaign (NADVC) is a
partner in the Education Development Center's (EDC) Juvenile Hate Crime
Initiative. NADVC has used EDC's hate crime curriculum to focus on
prevention through the networks and resources in the faith community to
address the impact and roles of juveniles and youth in engaging in and
preventing hate crimes. Two regional conferences were held during the
past year in Columbus, South Carolina, and Memphis, Tennessee.
Approximately 80 participants, representing more than 20 burned
churches from black and white congregations, attended.
In FY 1997, the program expanded through NADVC's Regional Hate
Crime Prevention Initiative, the Campaign's model for anti-drug/
violence strategies, and NADVC's faith community network.
[[Page 6353]]
NADVC has assisted in the development of programs in 87 sites, whose
activities vary depending on their stage of development. The smallest
of these alliances consists of 6 congregations and the largest has 134.
The NADVC program involves approximately 2,220 clergy and affects 1.5
million youth and the adults who influence their lives. NADVC also
provides technical support to four statewide religious coalitions.
NADVC's technical assistance, consultations, and training have
helped sites to leverage more than $15 million in funds from
corporations, foundations, and Federal, State, and local government.
CNBC receives frequent requests for its NADVC model for the development
of prevention programs in the faith community. The model is easily
tailored to the local community's assessment of its drug, delinquency,
violence, and hate crime problems.
NADVC has contributed to many agency conferences, workshops, and
advisory committees on the issues of violence, substance abuse
prevention, policing, and high-risk youth services. The Campaign has
also produced a National Training and Site Development Guide and a
video to assist sites in implementing the NADVC model.
NADVC would continue to expand to new sites in FY 1998, seek new
partnerships, and enhance efforts to address hate crime and family
violence intervention issues.
The program would be implemented by the current grantee, the
Congress of National Black Churches. No additional applications would
be solicited in FY 1998.
Risk Reduction Via Promotion of Youth Development
The Risk Reduction Via Promotion of Youth Development program, also
known as Early Alliance, is a large-scale prevention study involving
hundreds of children and several elementary schools located in lower
socioeconomic neighborhoods of Columbia, South Carolina. This program
is funded through an interagency agreement with the National Institute
of Mental Health (NIMH). NIMH's grantee is the University of South
Carolina. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the
National Institute on Drug Abuse have also provided funding for the
program.
This large-scale project is designed to promote coping-competence
and reduce risk for conduct problems, aggression, substance use,
delinquency and violence, and school failure beginning in early
elementary school. The project also seeks to alter home and school
climates to reduce risk for adverse outcomes and to promote positive
youth development. Interventions include a classroom program, a
schoolwide conflict management program, peer social skills training,
and home-based family programming. The sample includes African American
and Caucasian children attending schools located in lower income
neighborhoods. There is a sample of high-risk children (showing early
aggressive behavior at school entry), and a second sample consisting of
lower risk children (residing in socioeconomically disadvantaged
neighborhoods). The interventions begin in first grade, and children
are being followed longitudinally throughout the 5 years of the
project.
Funded initially in FY 1997 through a fund transfer to NIMH under
an interagency agreement, support will be continued for an additional 4
years. No additional applications will be solicited in FY 1998.
Training and Technical Assistance for Family Strengthening Programs
Prevention, early intervention, and effective crisis intervention
are critical elements in a community's family support system. In many
communities, one or more of these elements may be missing or programs
may not be coordinated. In addition, technical assistance and training
are often not available to community organizations and agencies
providing family strengthening services. In response to these needs,
OJJDP awarded a 3-year competitive cooperative agreement in FY 1995 to
the University of Utah's Department of Health Education (DHE) to
provide training and technical assistance to communities interested in
establishing or enhancing a continuum of family strengthening efforts.
In the first program year, the grantee completed initial drafts of
a literature review and summaries of exemplary programs; conducted a
national search for, rated, and selected family strengthening models;
planned 2 regional training conferences to showcase the selected
exemplary and promising family strengthening programs; convened the
first conference for 250 attendees in Salt Lake City, Utah; and
developed an application process for sites to receive followup training
on specific program models.
In the second program year, DHE completed a second draft of the
literature review and model program summaries; convened a second
regional conference in Washington, D.C.; conducted program-specific
workshops; produced user and training-of-trainers guides; and
distributed videos of several family strengthening workshops.
In the third program year, DHE will coordinate technical assistance
and training of agencies that are in the process of implementing the
identified model programs. In addition, the grantee will establish a
minigrant supplement program to provide stipends to a minimum of 10
sites to ensure program implementation. DHE will also update and
publish its literature review and develop program-specific bulletins to
be distributed by OJJDP and also made available on the OJJDP Web site.
The grantee's technical assistance delivery system and the overall
impact of the project will also be assessed.
This program will be implemented in FY 1998 by the current grantee,
the University of Utah's DHE. No additional applications will be
solicited in FY 1998.
Hate Crime
In FY 1998, OJJDP would provide continuation funding to the
Education Development Center (EDC) to expand their hate crime
prevention efforts. EDC has produced and published a multipurpose
curriculum, entitled Healing the Hate, for hate crime prevention in
middle schools and other classroom settings. The curriculum has been
disseminated to 20,000 law enforcement, juvenile justice professionals,
and educators throughout the country.
Because of increased racial, ethnic, and religious tensions and
hate crimes in various regions of the country, OJJDP expanded this
grant to allow EDC to provide training and technical assistance to
youth, educators, juvenile justice and law enforcement professionals
and representatives of local public/private community agencies and
organizations and the faith community. The recipients of this training/
technical assistance obtained the knowledge and skills necessary to
establish prejudice reduction and violence prevention programs to
decrease bias crimes by youth in their communities. During the past
year, EDC conducted training/technical assistance at three sites in
different regions of the country (Boston, Massachusetts; Chicago,
Illinois; and Miami, Florida). Dissemination of products was achieved
through national educational, advocacy, and justice networks and at 15
other national conferences. In FY 1997, additional Hate Crimes project
activities were funded through an interagency agreement with the U.S.
Department of Education.
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In FY 1998, EDC would provide expanded training/technical
assistance to new sites and further disseminate the products through
the education and juvenile justice networks. In addition, EDC would
develop a plan for providing onsite, short-term technical assistance to
practitioners who are experiencing specific hate crime problems, are
interested in assessing the extent of these problems in their locales,
or are developing, implementing, or modifying hate crime prevention
strategies. EDC would also develop a plan to assist State juvenile
justice agencies to formulate hate crime prevention components for
their juvenile delinquency prevention plans.
Guides to the development of hate crime prevention strategies for
selected audiences (juvenile justice agencies, schools, communities)
and hate crime prevention articles and bulletins would be produced and
disseminated. The grantee would research, analyze, and synthesize
information on emerging issues such as the juvenile justice system's
handling of hate crime offenders, alternative dispositions for youth
who commit hate crimes, and approaches to prevention of gender-related
hate crimes and those that target other specific populations, such as
immigrants.
The project would be implemented, in partnership with the U.S.
Department of Education, by the current grantee, Education Development
Center. No additional applications would be solicited in FY 1998.
Strengthening Services for Chemically Involved Children, Youth, and
Families
The abuse of alcohol and other drugs (AOD) is inextricably linked
with both personal and economic adversity and crime in society. Alcohol
and drug abuse exact a devastating toll, especially on the most
vulnerable--young children and adolescents. Recognizing that the U.S.
Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services are both servicing the same pool of children affected by
parental substance use/abuse, the two Departments have initiated a
joint program.
OJJDP will administer this training and technical assistance
program, with FY 1997 funds transferred to OJJDP by the Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) through a
cooperative agreement to the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA). To
achieve maximum effectiveness in aiding chemically involved families,
child welfare professionals must be able to address entrenched family
problems caused by alcohol and other drug abuse, while simultaneously
delivering services that protect and promote the health and well-being
of children. These professionals need information, resource materials,
and training to increase their knowledge of the link between chemical
dependency and a host of related conditions that negatively affect
child and family well-being.
CWLA, a nonprofit organization, will carry out the required
activities of this interagency agreement by assisting child welfare
personnel to provide appropriate intervention services for AOD-impacted
children and their caregivers. Through collaboration between the CWLA
program, policy specialists in chemical dependency, child protective
services, family support services, foster care, kinship care, and a
cadre of other agencies, CWLA will produce a state-of-the-art
comprehensive assessment tool and decisionmaking guidelines that
frontline child welfare workers and supervisors can use in determining:
(1) How alcohol and drugs are impacting child safety and family
functioning and (2) the most appropriate intervention options for each
child victim.
CWLA will also conduct training for trainers to facilitate
effective use of this guide by child welfare workers.
CWLA's assessment instrument and decision-making guidelines for
chemically-involved children and families will direct the vital first
steps for child welfare professionals toward achieving increased safety
to AOD-involved children and families. This instrument will not only
outline a culturally competent, strengths-based substance abuse
assessment tool, but also suggest new approaches to engaging families
and addressing their needs. The casework, placement, and permanency
planning options outlined in the guidelines will advance participatory
decisionmaking models that result in family strengthening. Case plans
that emphasize flexible options, encourage parents as partners in
decisionmaking, involve extended family in caregiving, can promote the
best interest of children and families.
Training and technical assistance to child welfare professionals
supported by this agreement will help to develop innovative and
effective approaches to meeting the needs of children in the child
welfare system whose parents are AOD abusers. The activities funded by
this agreement will focus on developing, expanding, or enhancing
initiatives that raise public awareness and educate child welfare
workers and policymakers on the most appropriate services for children
of substance abusing parents to prevent these children and youth from
becoming AOD abusers.
OJJDP funds would enable CWLA to produce a guidebook for top-level
officials that describes current practices, models of innovation, and
the policy choices faced in linking child welfare service agencies and
their substance abuse counterparts. Also under consideration is
increasing the number of sites in which CWLA would conduct training-of-
trainer sessions from the four sites and 100 workers approved under the
cooperative agreement, to eight sites and 200 workers.
This jointly funded project would be implemented by CWLA. No
additional applications will be solicited in FY 1998.
Diffusion of State Risk- and Protective-Factor Focused Prevention
OJJDP is providing funds to the National Institute on Drug Abuse
(NIDA), through an interagency agreement, to support this 5-year
evaluation program. Fiscal year 1997 funds were used to begin this
diffusion study of the natural history of the adoption, implementation,
and effects of the public health approach to prevention, focusing on
risk and protective factors for substance abuse at the State and
community levels. The study seeks to identify phases and factors that
influence the adoption of the public health approach and assess the
association between the use of this approach for community prevention
planning and the levels of risk and protective factors and substance
abuse among adolescents.
The study will also examine State substance abuse data gathered
from 1988 through 2001 and use key informant interviews conducted in
1997, 1999, and 2001 to identify and describe the process of
implementing the epidemiological risk- and protective-factor approach
in seven collaborating States: Colorado, Kansas, Illinois, Maine,
Oregon, Utah, and Washington.
This project will be implemented by the current grantee, the Social
Development Research Group at the University of Washington, School of
Social Work. No additional applications will be solicited in FY 1998.
Multisite, Multimodal Treatment Study of Children With ADHD
OJJDP would provide funds under an interagency agreement with the
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to fund this study. OJJDP's
participation in this NIMH-sponsored research is designed to enhance
and expand the project to include analysis of justice
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system contact on the part of the subjects. The study began in 1992,
studying the long-term efficacy of stimulant medication and intensive
behavioral and educational treatment for children with attention
deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Originally funded for 5 years,
this new round of funding would continue the six study sites for
another 5 years, to 2003. Given this continuation, many of the children
involved in the study will reach the age at which children normally
begin antisocial behavior. To date, no extensive study has examined the
relationship between delinquency and ADHD.
This expanded study, principally funded by NIMH, will follow the
original study families and include a comparison group. With OJJDP
support, the project sites are beginning to look at the subjects'
delinquent behavior and legal system contact. This second funding cycle
will include studies of substance use and antisocial behavior.
OJJDP would support this study through an interagency agreement
with the National Institute of Mental Health. No additional
applications would be solicited in FY 1998.
Evaluation of the Juvenile Mentoring Program
The overall goals of the Part G Juvenile Mentoring Program (JUMP)
are the reduction of delinquency, gang participation, violence, and
substance abuse and related behavior and the enhancement of educational
opportunity, academic achievement, investments in school, and
contribution to one's community. Translating these impact goals to
outcome goals, the evaluation grantee will assess and measure the
relative probability that JUMP mentees will reflect reductions in
delinquency, gang participation, and associated negative behaviors and
show improvements in school attendance, school completion, and academic
performance.
The evaluation objectives include assessing and measuring the
extent to which the quality of the mentor-mentee relationship generates
attitudes, values, and intermediary behavior that increase the
probability of the positive outcomes cited as goals. A second objective
includes assessing and measuring the attributes of mentor
characteristics and behaviors that contribute most to the attainment of
mentee results. Other objectives include ensuring that the evaluation
instrument is optimally designed, worded, and configured; providing
ongoing assistance to JUMP program grantees; implementing quality
assurance for raw data received from JUMP grantees and assuring proper
entry into the management information data base; preparing appropriate
data analysis for each JUMP grantee; generating analyses of site-
specific findings; and preparing an aggregate analysis of
implementation results and outcome data from all sites with special
focus on attributable program effects and implications for replication.
This evaluation is being conducted by Information Technology
International under a two-year grant that was competitively awarded in
FY 1997. The primary focus of the initial award is the original 41 JUMP
program sites. OJJDP anticipates extending the project period in FY
1998 for an additional 2 years in order to expand the ongoing
evaluation to the 52 JUMP grants awarded to new sites in FY 1997. No
additional applications will be solicited in FY 1998.
Truancy Reduction
Truancy often leads to dropping out of school, delinquency, and
drug abuse. For many youth, truancy may be a first step to a lifetime
of unemployment, crime, and incarceration.
OJJDP is considering engaging in a joint funding effort with the
U.S. Department of Education to award competitive discretionary funds
for jurisdictions to address the problem of truancy. OJJDP would be
looking for school districts, under the leadership of their
superintendents, to apply jointly with law enforcement or other
juvenile justice system agencies to develop and implement a
collaborative program designed to reduce truancy in their
jurisdictions.
Arts and At-Risk Youth
The need for afterschool programs for youth at risk of delinquency
is well-known. The opportunity to join an afterschool arts program that
helps students develop their talents and abilities has been shown to
help youth stay in school; receive higher grades; develop self-esteem;
and resist peer pressure to engage in negative behaviors, such as
substance and alcohol use, and other delinquent acts. Unfortunately,
juveniles who are at greatest risk of delinquency are the ones who
often have the least opportunity to join such programs because they are
not available in their schools, neighborhoods, or communities. These
youth have limited experiences both in the world of work and in job
training skills. In addition, lack of conflict resolution skills makes
it difficult for youth to retain jobs once they are employed because
they are not well equipped to handle conflicts that may arise.
OJJDP is considering funding an afterschool and summer arts program
that combines the arts with job training and conflict resolution
skills. This project would include summer jobs or paid internships for
youth so that they would be able to put into practice the job and
conflict resolution skills they are learning. By combining the arts
with practical life experiences, at-risk youth are able to gain
valuable insights into their own abilities and the possibilities that
await them in the world of work if they continue to attend school,
study, and graduate.
OJJDP intends to explore the possibility of collaboration with the
National Endowment for the Arts and the U.S. Department of Labor for
this 2-year pilot project. OJJDP would award a competitive grant to
develop a strategy based on research, provide technical assistance,
implement an impact evaluation, and create reports on the strengths and
weaknesses of the pilot program.
Community Volunteer Coordinator Program
OJJDP is considering funding the establishment of ``volunteer
coordinators'' in a limited number of ongoing community-based
initiative sites for the purpose of expanding the quality,
sustainability, and number of safe and positive activities for young
people during nonschool hours. Building on the work of the
``Presidents' Summit for America's Future,'' OJJDP would seek
partnerships with other Federal agencies to provide grants to
identified collaboratives that can demonstrate a clearly articulated
plan for increasing volunteerism and representation from schools, law
enforcement, city or county government, youth groups, and community-
based organizations. The grants would support the hiring of an
individual in the community who would be responsible for inventorying
programs; planning; and recruiting, connecting, and training volunteers
to participate in a range of programs that provide youth services
(mentoring, tutoring, neighborhood restoration, counseling,
recreational activities, mediation services, media outreach, and other
forms of community service for youth).
Learning Disabilities Among Juveniles At-Risk of Delinquency or in the
Juvenile Justice System
Some researchers have concluded that children who have difficulties
in school often become frustrated because of constant failure. Studies
have shown
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that youth who have a learning disability (LD) are very likely to
become truant or drop out of school rather than face the ridicule of
their peers. The relationship between an LD and juvenile delinquency is
complex.
A learning disability is a neurological condition that impedes a
person's ability to store, process, or produce information. Learning
disabilities can affect the ability to read, write, speak, or compute
math and can impair socialization skills. Individuals with LD's are
generally of average or above average intelligence, but the disability
creates a gap between ability and performance.
School failure associated with learning disabilities is an
important risk factor for juvenile delinquency. Whatever the presenting
problem (e.g., abuse or neglect, truancy, or delinquency), a large
percentage of children who come before the court have some specific
learning disability that may have contributed, either directly or
indirectly, to the behavior that led to their presence in court. A
child with an LD is much more likely to come into contact with the
juvenile justice system than one without an LD. The prevalence of LD in
a population of juvenile delinquents is extremely high: approximately
35 percent of all children in the juvenile justice system have an
identified LD.
To better address the needs of these youth, greater attention needs
to be paid at a much younger age to the nature of learning
disabilities, their impact on learning and the processing of
information in and out of the classroom setting, and their relationship
to dropping out and delinquency. Parents, schools, and the juvenile
courts need to be more aware of this hidden handicap. These children
could be helped if their disabilities were properly diagnosed and
treated. Professionals who directly interact with the learning disabled
need to share knowledge on how to identify and treat learning
disabilities with juvenile justice system practitioners in order to
reduce the number of system-involved juveniles who are learning
disabled and to retain them in the education mainstream.
To address these critical issues, OJJDP is considering a joint
initiative with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special
Education and Rehabilitation Services. This initiative would include a
planning component to develop a systemwide protocol to link appropriate
agencies and professionals in the fields of education, juvenile and
family courts, law enforcement, social services, juvenile justice
system, and other systems that interact with LD youth.
The goals of this initiative would be: (1) To prevent the
development of delinquency through early intervention, appropriate
education, and other community-based services for students with an LD,
and (2) to prevent recidivism by assuring that students with an LD in
the juvenile justice system receive appropriate, specially designed
instructional and social development skills and services that address
their individual needs and that practitioners receive training on
working with this population of offender.
Competitive grants would be awarded to support a planning and
demonstration project that provides a systemwide protocol to address
the issues surrounding learning disabilities and the link to
delinquency both in schools and in the juvenile justice system that
includes schools, education, juvenile and family courts, law
enforcement, social services, juvenile justice system, and other
directly or indirectly related fields. If this initiative is funded,
OJJDP would also consider funding an evaluation of the demonstration
project.
Advertising Campaign--Investing in Youth for a Safer Future
OJJDP proposes to continue its support of the National Crime
Prevention Council's (NCPC's) ad campaign, ``Investing in Youth for A
Safer Future,'' through the transfer of funds to the Bureau of Justice
Assistance (BJA) under an Intra-agency Agreement. OJJDP and BJA are
working with the NCPC Media Unit to produce, disseminate, and support
effective public service advertising and related media that are
designed to inform the public of effective solutions to juvenile crime
and to motivate young people and adults to get involved and support
these solutions. The featured solutions include effective prevention
programs and intervention strategies.
The program would be administered by BJA through its existing grant
to NCPC. No additional applications would be solicited in FY 1998.
Strengthening the Juvenile Justice System
Development of the Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and
Chronic Juvenile Offenders
In FY 1995, the National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD)
and Developmental Research and Programs, Inc. (DRP), completed Phases I
and II of a collaborative effort to support the development and
implementation of OJJDP's Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent,
and Chronic Juvenile Offenders. This effort involved assessing existing
and previously researched programs in order to identify effective and
promising programs that can be used in implementing the Comprehensive
Strategy. A series of reports were combined into the Guide for
Implementing the Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and
Chronic Juvenile Offenders. The effort also included convening the
forum ``Guaranteeing Safe Passage: A National Forum on Youth
Violence,'' holding two regional training seminars for key leaders on
implementing the Comprehensive Strategy, and disseminating the Guide at
national conferences.
In FY 1996, Phase II work included two regional training seminars;
the delivery of intensive training and technical assistance to three
pilot sites--Lee County, Florida; Ducal County, Florida; and San Diego
County, California; and the delivery of technical assistance to five
States and selected local jurisdictions implementing the Comprehensive
Strategy.
In FY 1997, the project continued its targeted dissemination of
OJJDP's Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and Chronic
Juvenile Offenders at several national conferences and additional
regional training seminars and continued providing the five States with
intensive training for implementing the Comprehensive Strategy,
providing individualized technical assistance to individual
jurisdictions interested in implementing the Comprehensive Strategy,
and continuing developmental work on Comprehensive Strategy training
materials.
In FY 1998, this project will continue the implementation efforts
and expand to up to two additional States. In each of the new States,
up to six jurisdictions will be identified to receive Comprehensive
Strategy implementation training and technical assistance.
This project will be implemented by the current grantees, NCCD and
DRP. No additional applications will be solicited in FY 1998.
Balanced and Restorative Justice Project (BARJ)
Based on research showing that properly structured restitution
programs can reduce recidivism, OJJDP has supported development and
improvement of juvenile restitution programs since 1977. The BARJ
project sprang from OJJDP's RESTTA (Restitution, Education, Specialized
Training, and Technical Assistance)
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Project. In FY 1992, Florida Atlantic University (FAU) was awarded a
competitive grant to enhance the development of restitution programs as
part of systemwide juvenile justice improvement using balanced approach
concepts and restorative justice principles. In subsequent years, the
project developed a BARJ program model. The model was initially
described in a 1994 OJJDP Program Summary entitled Balanced and
Restorative Justice, which became a reference source for BARJ training.
The BARJ project currently provides intensive training, technical
assistance, and guideline materials to three selected sites that over
recent years have been implementing major systemic change in accordance
with the BARJ model. The three sites are Allegheny County,
Pennsylvania; Dakota County, Minnesota; and West Palm Beach County,
Florida. In addition, the BARJ Project has continuously offered
technical assistance and training to other jurisdictions nationwide.
Project staff have also provided training at regional roundtables and
at professional conferences dealing with juvenile justice system
improvement. In 1997, the project published another reference document
entitled Balanced and Restorative Justice for Juveniles: A Framework
for Juvenile Justice in the 21st Century. The project also compiled a
BARJ Implementation Guide.
In FY 1998, the BARJ Project will produce additional reference and
training materials and will offer further training and technical
assistance.
This project will be implemented by the current grantee, FAU. No
additional applications will be solicited in FY 1998.
Training and Technical Assistance Program To Promote Gender-Specific
Programming for Female Juvenile Offenders
The 1992 Amendments to the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention Act addressed, for the first time, the issue of gender-
specific services. The Amendments require States participating in the
JJDP Act's Part B State Formula Grants program to conduct an analysis
of gender-specific services for the prevention and treatment of
juvenile delinquency, including the types of services available, the
need for such services, and a plan for providing needed gender-specific
services for the prevention and treatment of juvenile delinquency.
In FY 1995, OJJDP's Gender-Specific Services program focused on
providing training and technical assistance directly to States and
promoting the establishment of gender-specific programs at the State
level. Training and technical assistance were provided to a broad
spectrum of policymakers and service providers regarding services
available for juvenile female offenders under direct grants,
sponsorship of national conferences, and inclusion of a gender-specific
service component in the OJJDP-funded comprehensive SafeFutures
program.
In FY 1996, building upon these past efforts, OJJDP awarded a 3-
year competitive grant to Greene, Peters and Associates (GPA) to
provide a comprehensive framework for assisting policymakers, service
providers, educators, parents, and the general public in addressing the
complex needs of female adolescents who are at risk for delinquent
behavior. The project's objectives are to develop and test a training
curriculum for policymakers, advocacy organizations, and community-
based youth-serving organizations that conveys the need for effective
gender-specific programming for juvenile females and the elements of
such programs; to develop, test, and deliver a technical assistance
package on the development of gender-specific programs; to inventory
female-specific programs, identifying those program models designed to
build upon the gender-specific needs of girls and preparing a monograph
suitable for national dissemination; to design and test a curriculum
for line staff delivering services to juvenile females; to design and
implement a public education initiative on the need for gender-specific
programming for girls; and to design and conduct training for trainers.
In FY 1997, the training curriculum for policymakers, advocacy
organizations, and community leaders was developed and pilot-tested at
three sites, and a final draft of the monograph was completed.
In FY 1998, GPA will develop a needs assessment for State Advisory
Groups, develop a technical assistance package, and develop and test a
curriculum for practitioners based on the monograph findings.
This program will be implemented by the current grantee, GPA. No
additional applications will be solicited in FY 1998.
Juvenile Transfers to Criminal Court Studies
In FY 1995, OJJDP competitively awarded two extensive studies of
the increasing juvenile transfer phenomenon. Most States have passed
new legislation either permitting or requiring the transfer of alleged
juvenile offenders to criminal court under certain circumstances.
However, studies of the impact of criminal court prosecution of
juveniles have yielded mixed conclusions. Solid research on the
intended and unintended consequences of transfer of juveniles to
criminal court will enable policymakers and legislatures to develop
statutory provisions and policies and improve judicial and
prosecutorial waiver and transfer decisions. Preliminary findings from
these two studies (along with other efforts started over the past 2
years) have provided a wealth of information. The study undertaken in
Florida has extensively examined the records of juveniles transferred
to adult court along with similar juveniles who were not transferred,
including case attribute information. Through this data collection, the
research is bringing to light the differences in case handling and how
these differences affect the outcome of the specific case. The
differences in dispositions will naturally be a concern for many
interested in the subject.
In FY 1998, OJJDP proposes to increase the understanding of the
transfer issues by expanding the Florida study to include a greater
number of cases and to include some basic recidivism measures. The
Florida study has relied mainly on paper records for the case
information. Such records require considerable time and effort to
review. As such, the number of cases included in the first phase of
this study was relatively small. Expansion of this study would allow
the researchers to examine a greater number of cases in the a wider
range of jurisdictions in Florida resulting in a greater understanding
of the issue based on how the dynamics of jurisdictions may differ.
Also, by expanding the tracking of the case subjects to include arrests
and court cases following transfer to adult court, the researchers
would provide insight on the recidivism that follows transfer of
jurisdiction.
This project would be carried out by the current grantee, the
Juvenile Justice Advisory Board of the State of Florida. No new
applications would be solicited in FY 1998.
Replication and Extension of Fagan Transfer Study
The ``Comparative Impact of Juvenile Versus Criminal Court
Sanctions on Recidivism Among Adolescent Felony Offenders: A
Replication and Extension'' project will continue in FY 1998, building
on the past work of Dr. Jeffrey Fagan. In FY 1997, OJJDP awarded a two-
year project period grant to Columbia University to build on Dr.
Fagan's seminal study of 1986 transfers
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in New York and New Jersey. The earlier study was the first of its kind
to compare four contiguous counties with similar social, economic, and
criminogenic factors and offender cohorts with essentially identical
offense profiles. It was also the first such study to go beyond
comparing sentences to studying the deterrent effects of the sanction
and court jurisdiction on recidivism rates in juvenile versus criminal
court.
The replication and extension research project will be able to
answer questions about how case processing decisions have changed in
the last decade. The new study will compare case attribute information
and case dispositional outcomes in 1981-82 with those cases processed
in 1993-94, a time period following sustained growth in the rates of
youth violence. In addition, a study component under the direction of
Dr. Barry Feld will explore whether there are factors being considered
by prosecutors, judges, and defense attorneys that explain the
variation in sentences/dispositions and recidivism between groups of
offenders handled in different systems. This component will provide an
analysis of the organizational, contextual, or systemic factors
involved in the decision processes affecting both jurisdiction and
punishment. The study will also conduct interviews with selected
offenders processed in different systems to gain a perspective on the
impact of criminal versus juvenile system handling of such cases on
further experiences with the justice system. The project will also
collaborate with the other research conducted under OJJDP's Juvenile
Transfers to Criminal Court Studies program in sharing data collection
instruments and in planning appropriate joint analyses.
This project will be implemented by the current grantee, Columbia
University. No additional applications will be solicited in FY 1998.
The Juvenile Justice Prosecution Unit
OJJDP has historically supported prosecutor training through the
National District Attorneys Association (NDAA). This training has
increased the involvement and leadership of elected and appointed
prosecutors in juvenile justice systems issues, programs, and services.
To continue that progress, OJJDP funded a 3-year project period grant
in FY 1996 to the American Prosecutors Research Institute (APRI), the
research and technical assistance affiliate of NDAA, to promote
prosecutor training. Under this award, APRI established a Juvenile
Justice Prosecution Unit (JJPU). The JJPU holds workshops on juvenile-
related policy, leadership, and management for chief prosecutors and
juvenile unit chiefs and also provides prosecutors with background
information on juvenile justice issues, programs, training, and
technical assistance.
The project solicits planning and other advisory input from
prosecutors familiar with juvenile justice system and prosecutor needs.
It draws on the expertise of working groups of elected or appointed
prosecutors and juvenile unit chiefs to support project staff in
providing technical assistance, juvenile justice-related research,
program information, and training to practitioners nationwide. In FY
1997, for example, APRI held two executive seminars for prosecutors and
sponsored a National Invitational Symposium on Juvenile Justice. The
Symposium provided a forum for prosecutors to exchange ideas on
programs, issues, legislation, and practices in juvenile justice. APRI
has also produced materials focused on juvenile prosecution-related
issues for the benefit of prosecutors nationally.
In FY 1998, APRI will present additional workshops and seminars and
will develop new reference materials for prosecutors. Documents
expected to be developed include a compendium of juvenile justice
programs conducted by prosecutors offices, technical assistance
packages related to significant juvenile justice programs and issues of
interest to prosecutors, and newsletters updating developments in the
juvenile prosecution field.
This project will be implemented by the current grantee, APRI. No
additional applications will be solicited in FY 1998.
Due Process Advocacy Program Development
In FY 1993, OJJDP competitively funded the American Bar Association
(ABA) to determine the status of juvenile defense services in the
United States, develop a report, and then develop training and
technical assistance. The ABA-- along with its partners, the Youth Law
Center of San Francisco, California, and the Juvenile Law Center of
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania--conducted an extensive survey of public
defender offices, court-appointed systems, law school clinics, and the
literature. These data were then analyzed and a report, entitled A Call
for Justice, was developed and published in December 1995.
The ABA has also developed and delivered specialized training to
juvenile defenders in several jurisdictions, such as the State of
Maryland, the State of Tennessee, Baltimore County, Maryland, and
several other States and localities, to assist in increasing the
capacity of juvenile defenders to provide more effective defense
services. In October 1997, the ABA and its partners organized and
implemented the first Juvenile Defender Summit at Northwestern
University in Chicago, Illinois. The Summit brought together public
defenders, court-appointed lawyers, law school clinic directors,
juvenile offender services representatives, and others for a 2\1/2\-day
meeting to examine the issues related to juvenile defense services and
recommend strategies for improving these services. A report is
forthcoming on the Summit and the recommendations that emerged from the
seven working groups.
OJJDP is proposing to fund a Juvenile Defender Training, Technical
Assistance, and Resource Center in FY 1998 (discussed under New
Programs). However, the Center will not be funded until later in FY
1998 and probably will not be operational until early FY 1999. To
ensure that training and technical assistance continue in the interim
and into 1999 and to provide for the transition to the new Juvenile
Defender Center, OJJDP proposes to continue the Due Process Advocacy
grant for an additional year.
This project would be implemented by the current grantee, the
American Bar Association. No new applications would be solicited in FY
1998.
Quantum Opportunities Program (QOP) Evaluation
In FY 1997, OJJDP funded an impact evaluation of the Quantum
Opportunities Program (QOP)through an interagency fund transfer to the
U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). QOP was designed by the Ford Foundation
and Opportunities Industrialization Centers of America as a career
enrichment program using a model providing basic education. Personal
and cultural development, community service, and mentoring. The purpose
of the OJJDP funding for the evaluation is to determine whether QOP
reduces the likelihood that inner-city youth at educational risk will
enter the criminal justice system, including the juvenile justice
system. The QOP impact evaluation is designed to measure the impact of
QOP participation on such outcomes as high school graduation and
enrollment in postsecondary education and training. Other student
outcomes to be examined include academic achievement in high school;
misbehavior in school; self-esteem and
[[Page 6359]]
sense of control over one's life; educational and career goals; and
personal decisions such as teenage parenthood, substance abuse, and
criminal activity. Data on criminal activity is being collected from
individual student interviews.
In FY 1998, OJJDP proposes to continue this evaluation enhancement
to the DOL-funded evaluation to provide for the collection of analogous
data from the juvenile justice system, thus allowing estimates of the
impact of the QOP program on the likelihood of program youth becoming
involved in the criminal justice system. Attention would be focused on
identifying the appropriate governmental agencies responsible for the
data, dealing with confidentiality requirements, determining the
feasibility of collecting such information, preparing data collection
protocols for each site, and preparing a report outlining the data
collection design for implementation.
This program would be implemented through an interagency agreement
with the U.S. Department of Labor. No additional applications would be
solicited in FY 1998.
Intensive Community-Based Aftercare Demonstration and Technical
Assistance Program
This initiative is designed to support implementation, training and
technical assistance, and an independent evaluation of an intensive
community-based aftercare model in four jurisdictions that were
competitively selected to participate in this demonstration program.
The overall goal of the intensive aftercare model is to identify and
assist high-risk juvenile offenders to make a gradual transition from
secure confinement back into the community. The Intensive Aftercare
Program (IAP) model can be viewed as having three distinct, yet
overlapping segments: (1) Prerelease and preparatory planning
activities during incarceration; (2) structured transitioning involving
the participation of institutional and aftercare staffs both prior to
and following community reentry; and (3) long-term reintegrative
activities to ensure adequate service delivery and the required level
of social control.
In FY 1995, the Johns Hopkins University received a competitively
awarded 3-year grant to test its intensive community-based aftercare
model in four demonstration sites: Denver (Metro area), Colorado; Clark
County (Las Vegas), Nevada; Camden and Newark, New Jersey; and Norfolk,
Virginia.
The Johns Hopkins University has contracted with California State
University at Sacramento to assist in the implementation process by
providing training and technical assistance and by making OJJDP funds
available through contracts to each of the four demonstration sites.
Each of the sites developed risk assessment instruments for use in
selecting high-risk youth who need this type of intensive aftercare,
hired and trained staff in the intensive aftercare model, identified
existing and needed community support (intervention) services, and
identified and collected data necessary for the independent evaluation
of the intensive community-based aftercare program. In accordance with
a strong experimental research design, each of the sites uses a system
of random assignment of clients to the program.
The Johns Hopkins University and California State University at
Sacramento have provided continuing training and technical assistance
to administrators, managers, and line staff at the intensive community-
based aftercare sites. Staff have been fully trained in the theoretical
underpinnings of the IAP model and in its practical applications, such
as techniques for identifying juveniles appropriate for the program.
Training and technical assistance in this model have also been made
available to other States and OJJDP grantees on a limited basis.
This effort is the first attempt to implement an intensive,
integrated approach to aftercare with the necessary transition and
reentry components. One more year of program operation and data
collection would provide the information and data needed for analysis
of the effectiveness of the IAP model. The National Council on Crime
and Delinquency is performing an evaluation under a separate grant.
In FY 1998, OJJDP proposes to provide a fourth year of funding to
the Johns Hopkins University to provide ongoing training and technical
assistance to the four selected sites and also provide aftercare
technical assistance services to jurisdictions participating in the
OJJDP/Department of the Interior Youth Environmental Service (YES)
initiative, OJJDP's six SafeFutures program sites, and other programs,
including the New York State Division for Youth's Youth Leadership
Academy in Albany, New York. In addition, the grantee would work with
three other States (Arkansas, New York, and Washington) that plan to
implement the IAP model with State funds.
The IAP project would be implemented by the current grantee, the
Johns Hopkins University. No additional applications would be solicited
in FY 1998.
Evaluation of the Intensive Community-Based Aftercare Program
In FY 1995, OJJDP competitively awarded a 3-year grant to the
National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD) to perform a process
evaluation and design an outcome evaluation of the Intensive Community-
Based Aftercare Demonstration and Technical Assistance program. In FY
1997, the project was extended an additional year to begin the outcome
evaluation.
The purpose of the outcome evaluation is to answer the following
key research questions: (1) To what extent is the nature of supervision
and services provided Intensive Community-Based Aftercare Program (IAP)
youth different from that given to ``regular'' parolees? (2) To what
extent does IAP have an impact on the subsequent delinquent or criminal
involvement of program participants? (3) To what extent does the IAP
have an impact on the specific areas of youth functioning that it
targets for intervention? These intermediate outcomes include, for
example, reduction of substance abuse, improved family functioning,
improved peer relationships, improved self-concept, and reduced
delinquent or criminal behavior. (4) To what extent is IAP cost-
effective?
To obtain the answers to these questions, NCCD is (1) Using a true
experimental design that will involve random assignment of IAP-eligible
youth to either the experimental or control conditions; (2) using a
series of measures to compare differences between the two groups in
terms of services delivered, pre/post changes in selected areas of
youth functioning, and the extent and nature of recidivism; and (3)
estimating the per-participant costs for the IAP and control groups.
Data collection is being accomplished using several methods,
including use of a series of forms developed to capture data on youth
and program characteristics and a battery of standardized testing
instruments administered before and after institutional commitment and
IAP to measure the changes in youth functioning. The grantee is also
conducting searches of State agency and State police records to measure
recidivism and analyzing State agency and juvenile court data to
estimate costs.
This project will be implemented by the current grantee, NCCD. No
additional applications will be solicited in FY 1998.
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Training and Technical Assistance for National Innovations To Reduce
Disproportionate Minority Confinement (the Deborah Ann Wysinger
Memorial Program)
National data and studies have shown that minority children are
overrepresented in secure juvenile and criminal justice facilities
across the country. Since the 1988 reauthorization of the JJDP Act,
State Formula Grants program plans have addressed the disproportionate
confinement of minority juveniles. This is accomplished by gathering
and analyzing data to determine whether minority juveniles are
disproportionately confined and, if so, designing strategies to address
this issue. A competitive Special Emphasis discretionary grant program
was developed in FY 1991 to demonstrate model approaches to addressing
disproportionate minority confinement (DMC) in five State pilot sites
(Arizona, Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, and Oregon). Funds were also
awarded to a national contractor to provide technical assistance to
assist both the pilot sites and other States, evaluate their efforts,
and share relevant information.
In FY's 1994 and 1995, OJJDP made additional Special Emphasis
discretionary funds available to nonpilot States that had completed
data gathering and assessment in order to provide initial funding for
innovative projects designed to address DMC.
These efforts to address DMC have yielded an important lesson: that
systemic, broad-based interventions are necessary to address the issue.
In recognition of the continued need to improve the ability of States
and local jurisdictions to address DMC, OJJDP issued a competitive
solicitation in FY 1997 for innovative proposals to implement a 3-year
national training, technical assistance, and information dissemination
initiative focused on the disproportionate confinement of minority
youth.
In FY 1997, through a competitive selection process, OJJDP awarded
a 3-year contract to implement the DMC training program to Cygnus
Corporation, Inc. Project objectives for the first year were: (1) To
disseminate to States, localities, OJJDP staff, and key OJJDP grantees
a review and synthesis of the existing knowledge base and research on
DMC that includes State and local practices designed to address DMC;
(2) to develop a training curriculum for policymakers, decisionmakers,
and practitioners in the juvenile justice system; (3) to develop and
deliver technical assistance to OJJDP grantees and to incorporate DMC
issues, practices, and policies; (4) to develop and begin the process
of assisting DMC grantees to implement and institutionalize their DMC
programs; (5) to collaborate with OJJDP's Formula Grants program
technical assistance contractor, Community Research Associates, and
OJJDP staff to help States improve their DMC compliance plans and their
strategic planning as it addresses DMC; (6) to plan, develop, and
implement a national dissemination and education effort to facilitate
development of effective DMC efforts at the State and local levels; and
(7) to convene an advisory group to support the project team on current
DMC policy, practice and progress.
This project will be implemented by the current grantee, Cygnus
Corporation, Inc. No additional applications will be solicited in FY
1998.
Juvenile Probation Survey Research
OJJDP will continue its effort to track nonresidential probation.
This project complements OJJDP's program to statistically track
juveniles in residential custody. Experience has shown that in order to
understand fully the dynamics and characteristics of residential
placement, it is necessary also to understand the dynamics of
nonresidential sanctions. To that end, the Office began a program to
monitor the most important, most salient attributes of juvenile
probation. Work to date has involved enhancing our understanding of the
structure of juvenile probation and the most important response level.
The project has tracked the types of juvenile probation offices in
operation and has to catalog these offices. From this catalog, OJJDP
will develop an effective and complete frame for conducting either
surveys or censuses.
In 1996, OJJDP convened a meeting of probation practitioners and
researchers in the area of probation to fully discuss the issues of
probation and the most important statistics a national reporting
program should provide. The information and ideas from this meeting
yielded a broad and important set of statistical needs to inform the
future of juvenile probation. Among the issues identified are the
effectiveness of probation, the costs of probation, and the most
appropriate population for probation. Each issue will be explored in
this project to determine how best to capture the information. The
combination of statistical and research projects will be determined in
conjunction with the development of this survey.
In FY 1997, the project focused on development of a complete list
of juvenile probation offices, including suboffices and head offices.
This information will prove vital when determining the specific
response level that will give the desired level of information. For
example, should OJJDP determine to gather information on each probation
officer, a survey of head offices may suffice. However, if OJJDP
proposes to collect information on each juvenile probationer, a survey
all suboffices may be necessary. Also in FY 1997, OJJDP and the Bureau
of the Census continued background work to develop the questionnaire to
be used for this survey. The specifics of the questionnaire will depend
upon the resolution of several important methodological aspects.
The project will be implemented in FY 1998 through an interagency
agreement with the Bureau of the Census. No additional applications
will be solicited in FY 1998.
Training for Juvenile Corrections and Detention Management Staff
This training program for juvenile corrections and detention
management staff began in FY 1991 under a 3-year interagency agreement
with the National Institute of Corrections (NIC). The program offers a
core curriculum for juvenile corrections and detention administrators
and midlevel management personnel in such areas as leadership
development, management, training of trainers, legal issues, cultural
diversity, the role of the victim in juvenile corrections, juvenile
programming for specialized-need offenders, and managing the violent or
disruptive offender. Because of the continuing need for the executive
level training NIC provides, the agreement was renewed for an
additional 3-year term in FY 1994 and renewed again in FY 1997 for a 2-
year term. In FY 1997, NIC conducted 8 training seminars, 2 workshops,
1 satellite video conference and made 14 technical assistance awards,
reaching more than 6,000 participants.
In FY 1998, OJJDP will continue to support the development and
implementation of a comprehensive training program for juvenile
corrections and detention management staff through the interagency
agreement with NIC. It is anticipated that in FY 1998 the project will
provide 6 seminars to more than 150 executives and management staff and
technical assistance related to training to a number of juvenile
corrections and detention agencies. The training is conducted at the
NIC Academy and regionally.
[[Page 6361]]
The program will be implemented by the current grantee, NIC. No
additional applications will be solicited in FY 1998.
Training for Line Staff in Juvenile Detention and Corrections
Training is a cost-effective tool for helping to improve conditions
of confinement and services for youth detained or confined in
residential facilities. In FY 1994, the National Juvenile Detention
Association (NJDA) was awarded a competitive 3-year project period
grant to establish a training program to meet the needs of the more
than 38,000 line staff serving juvenile detention and corrections
facilities. In FY 1995 and FY 1996, NJDA developed eight training
curriculums, including a corrections careworker curriculum and a train-
the-trainer curriculum. In addition, NJDA conducted 42 separate
trainings, developed lesson plans, and provided technical assistance to
juvenile justice agencies.
In FY 1997, NJDA was funded to provide training and technical
assistance services to State agencies and organizations in 16 States,
assist regional groups and local organizations, directly train nearly
700 line staff, and respond to telephone requests for technical
assistance services. NJDA also established Web site connections with
OJJDP, the American Correctional Association, and other organizations.
A community college in Michigan is adapting two of the NJDA
curriculums, Juvenile Detention Careworker Curriculum and Juvenile
Corrections Careworker Curriculum, for academic credit.
In FY 1998, OJJDP proposes to award continuation funding to NJDA.
In formal partnership with the National Association of Juvenile
Correctional Agencies, Juvenile Justice Trainers Association, and the
School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University, NJDA proposes
that FY 1998 goals include the continuing delivery of line staff
training and technical assistance, conducting training evaluation in
conjunction with the newly developed National Training and Technical
Assistance Center (NTTAC) protocols, providing pilot training for
trainers, developing action plans for two new curriculums, drafting
line staff professional development models, and disseminating training
materials and services through the NTTAC and the Internet.
This project would be implemented by the current grantee, NJDA. No
additional applications would be solicited in FY 1998.
Training and Technical Support for State and Local Jurisdictional Teams
To Focus on Juvenile Corrections and Detention Overcrowding
The Conditions of Confinement: Juvenile Detention and Correctional
Facilities Research Report (1994), completed by Abt Associates under an
OJJDP grant, identified overcrowding as the most urgent problem facing
juvenile corrections and detention facilities. Overcrowding in juvenile
facilities is a function of decisions and policies made at the State
and local levels. The trend toward increased use of detention and
commitment to State facilities, which has been seen in many
jurisdictions, has been reversed when key decisionmakers, such as the
chief judge, chief of police, director of the local detention facility,
head of the State juvenile correctional agency, and others who affect
the flow of juveniles through the system, agree to make decisions
collaboratively and modify existing practices and policies. In some
instances, modification has occurred in response to court orders.
Compliance with court orders can be improved with the support of
enhanced interagency communication and planning among those agencies
impacting the flow of juveniles through the system.
In addressing the problem of overcrowded facilities, OJJDP
considered the recommendations of the Conditions of Confinement study
regarding overcrowding, the data on overrepresentation of minority
youth in confinement, and other information that suggests crowding in
juvenile facilities is a national problem. Policymakers can address
this issue by increasing capacity, where necessary, or by taking other
steps to control crowding.
This project, competitively awarded to the National Juvenile
Detention Association (NJDA) (in partnership with the San Francisco
Youth Law Center) in FY 1994 for a 3-year project period, provides
training and technical assistance materials for use by State and local
jurisdictional teams. After information collection and preparation of
training and technical assistance materials in FY's 1994 and 1995, NJDA
selected three jurisdictions in FY 1996 for onsite development,
implementation, and testing of procedures to reduce crowding. The sites
are Camden, New Jersey; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and the Rhode Island
Juvenile Corrections System. In FY 1997, project accomplishments
included the following: (1) Development of a resource guide, Juvenile
Detention and Training School Crowding: Court Case Summaries, and a
training tool, ``Crowding in Juvenile Detention Centers: A Problem-
Solving Manual'' (in draft); (2) delivery of comprehensive technical
assistance to two detention centers and limited technical assistance to
two State juvenile corrections systems; and (3) training presentations
to the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and other
groups.
In FY 1998, OJJDP proposes to award continuation funding to NJDA to
continue efforts to reduce overcrowding in facilities where juveniles
are held, through systemic change within local juvenile detention
systems or statewide juvenile corrections systems. Among the specific
activities proposed for FY 1998 are: (1) Publication of a special
edition of the NJDA Journal for Juvenile Justice and Detention focused
exclusively on jurisdictional teamwork to reduce overcrowding in
juvenile detention and corrections (jurisdictional teams consist of
designated NJDA/Youth Law Center project staff working with key
juvenile justice officials in the sites selected for technical
assistance); (2) completion of a strategy to deliver comprehensive
technical assistance to the Nebraska Health and Human Services Agency;
(3) identification of additional sites for comprehensive training and
technical assistance; (4) development of a desktop guide on juvenile
facility overcrowding; (5) further refinement of the jurisdictional
team training and technical assistance package; (6) development of a
national videoconference on crowding issues; (7) education and
information dissemination to the juvenile justice community; and (8)
exploration of public/private partnerships.
This project would be implemented by the current grantee, NJDA. No
additional applications would be solicited in FY 1998.
National Program Directory
In FY 1998, OJJDP proposes to support the maintenance of this
directory that identifies and categorizes juvenile justice agencies,
facilities, and programs in the United States to allow for routine
statistical data collections covering these agencies and programs. The
directory project has developed lists of juvenile detention,
correctional, and shelter facilities. This list, which includes all
public and private facilities that can hold juveniles who are in the
juvenile justice system in a residential setting (i.e., with sleeping,
eating, and other necessary facilities), has served as the frame for
OJJDP's Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement and would serve as
the frame for OJJDP's Juvenile Residential Facility Census.
[[Page 6362]]
The directory project has also begun development of a list of juvenile
probation offices to serve as the frame for OJJDP's Survey of Juvenile
Probation.
Beyond developing the computer structure, this project developed
the actual sampling frame or address list. The development of complete
frames for any segment of the juvenile justice system required many
different approaches. The Census Bureau used contacts with professional
organizations to compile a preliminary list of juvenile facilities,
courts, probation offices, and programs. The Census Bureau will seek
contacts in each State for further clarification of the lists,
following up until a complete list of all programs of interest has been
compiled.
This program would be continued in FY 1998 through an interagency
agreement with the Census Bureau. No additional applications would be
solicited in FY 1998.
Juvenile Sex Offender Typology
The juvenile justice system has struggled to address issues related
to juvenile sex offenders' dangerousness, the most appropriate level of
placement restrictiveness, the potential for rehabilitation, assessment
requirements, and intervention needs. Efforts to effectively address
these issues have been hampered by the lack of an empirically based
system for classifying this heterogeneous population into meaningful
subgroups. To respond to this need, OJJDP competitively awarded FY 1997
funding to two feasibility studies, one being conducted by the
University of Illinois-Springfield, the other by Health Related
Research. Each study is designed to determine the specific
methodologies best suited to generate an empirically validated typology
of the juvenile sex offender. The work on these grants will begin early
in FY 1998. Based on the results of these initial studies, OJJDP will
determine how best to support the development of the typology.
These studies will be implemented by the current grantees,
University of Illinois--Springfield and Health Related Research. No
additional applications will be solicited in FY 1998.
Interagency Programs on Mental Health and Juvenile Justice
In October 1996, OJJDP convened a Mental Health/Juvenile Justice
Working Group to discuss the mental health needs of juveniles and to
suggest funding priorities for OJJDP. In the 1997 program planning
process, OJJDP determined that with the minimal resources available it
would be cost effective to support several ongoing programs funded by
other Federal agencies that were consistent with the recommended areas
of activity. OJJDP therefore transferred funds to three Federal
agencies to support the enhancement of juvenile justice components or
research on at-risk youth in the mental health area.
First, OJJDP transferred funds to the Center for Mental Health
Services (CMHS), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to
support a 3-year effort to provide technical assistance to the 31
existing CMHS Child Mental Health sites. The project period began on
October 1, 1997, and will end on September 30, 2000. These funds will
be used to strengthen the capacity of the existing sites by providing
technical assistance on mental health services for juveniles in the
juvenile justice system and by including them in the continuum of care
that is being created in the sites.
OJJDP also transferred funds to the National Institute of
Corrections (NIC), which, along with the Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration, supports a program to provide technical
assistance with regard to programming and services for juvenile
offenders with co-occurring disorders. This is also a 3-year project
period that began on October 1, 1997, and will end on September 30,
2000. NIC will supplement the existing technical assistance provider,
the GAINS Center, to enable it to devote technical assistance resources
to support improved treatment and services programs for juvenile
offenders with co-occurring disorders in the juvenile justice system.
Previously, the focus of the grant had been on the provision of
technical assistance to the adult system.
Finally, OJJDP transferred funds to the National Institute of
Mental Health (NIMH) to partially support additional costs associated
with the conduct of an expanded and extended followup study of various
treatment modalities for attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD)
in children. The expanded followup will assess substance abuse and use
and related factors necessary for evaluating changes in ADHD children's
risk for subsequent substance use and abuse attributable to their
randomly assigned treatment conditions. In addition, the multimodal
treatment study of children with ADHD affords the opportunity to assess
the experience of study participants with the legal system, e.g.,
contacts with the juvenile justice system, acts of delinquency, court
referrals, and other criminal and/or precriminal activities.
In FY 1998, OJJDP will transfer additional funds to support
continuation of the NIC and CMHS technical assistance and the training
and research of NIMH. No new applications will be solicited in FY 1998.
Juvenile Residential Facility Census
In 1998, OJJDP proposes to continue to fund the development and
testing of a new census of juvenile residential facilities. This census
would focus on those facilities that are authorized to hold juveniles
based on contact with the juvenile justice system. During FY 1997, the
project conducted an extensive series of interviews with facility
administrators and facility staff onsite at 20 locations. The subjects
covered in these interviews included education, mental health and
substance abuse treatment, health services, conditions of custody,
staffing, and facility capacity. From these interviews, the project
staff have produced an extensive and detailed report for OJJDP
discussing how best to capture information on these topics and has
produced a draft questionnaire based on these results.
In FY 1998, the project staff would refine the draft instrument and
test it through a series of cognitive interviews onsite at
approximately 25 facilities. After another round of revision and
comment, the questionnaire would be tested for feasibility by
conducting a sample survey of 500 facilities. Again, the questionnaire
would go through a round of revision based on the test results before
being finalized.
This project would be conducted through an interagency agreement
with the Bureau of the Census, Governments Division and Statistical
Research Division. No new applications would be solicited in FY 1998.
The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 97
OJJDP proposes to support the second round of data collection under
the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 97 (NLSY97) through an
interagency agreement with the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). In
1994, BLS began its design and development work for a new National
Longitudinal Survey of Youth, similar to the ongoing National
Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979. Under the NLSY97, a nationally
representative sample of 10,000 youth ages 12 to 17 years old was
selected in order to study the school-to-work transition. However, BLS
has acknowledged the importance of collecting additional data on the
involvement of these youth in antisocial and other behavior that may
affect their
[[Page 6363]]
successful transition to productive work careers.
The breadth of topics covered by this survey provides a rich and
complementary source of information about risk and protective factors
that are also related to the initiation, persistence and desistance of
delinquent and criminal behavior. This interagency agreement
supplements the data collection by asking questions about delinquency,
guns, drug sales, and violent behavior. In addition to generating the
first national, cross sectional, estimates of self-reported delinquency
since the late National Youth Survey of the early 1980's, this new
longitudinal survey would also provide an opportunity to determine the
generalizability of the findings from OJJDP's Program of Research on
the Causes and Correlates of Delinquency and other city-specific
longitudinal studies across a nationally representative population of
youth.
The program would be implemented by the BLS under an interagency
agreement. No additional applications would be solicited in FY 1998.
National Academy of Sciences Study of Juvenile Justice
The growth of violent juvenile crime from the latter half of the
1980's to the mid-1990's created public anxiety and fueled debate about
the viability and effectiveness of this Nation's juvenile justice
system. This growing concern has led many States in recent years to
move away from rehabilitation and move toward deterrence and punishment
as primary objectives of their juvenile justice systems.
In FY 1997, OJJDP initiated support for a 2-year study by the
National Academy of Sciences to examine research on the functioning of
the juvenile justice system over the past 10 years in the areas of
delinquency prevention and control. The purpose of this extensive
review is to provide a scientifically sound basis for planning a
multidisciplinary, multiagency agenda for research that not only
informs policymakers and practitioners about the nature and extent of
juvenile delinquency and violence but also identifies the most
effective strategies for preventing and reducing youth crime and
violence.
Issues of interest to the study include: (1) An assessment of the
status of research into youth violence, methodological approaches to
evaluate the effectiveness of youth violence prevention efforts, and
the efficacy of Federal, State, and local efforts to control youth
violence; (2) a review of research literature and data on juvenile
court practices during this period, including the experience with
Federal requirements regarding status offenders, detention practices,
and the impact of diversion strategies and waivers to criminal court
for certain offenders and offenses; (3) a review of research literature
and data on clients in the juvenile justice system including concerns
regarding disproportionate minority confinement and gender equity; (4)
an assessment of available evaluation literature on system programs and
prevention strategies and programs including identification of gaps in
the research and recommendations to strengthen it; and (5) the
relationship between the research on the causes and correlates of
juvenile delinquency and normal adolescent growth and development.
A project report, synthesizing materials gathered from discussions
and papers presented at workshops and expert panel meetings, will
provide an overview of the critical issues confronting the juvenile
justice field, gaps in current knowledge base, and future directions
for research and program development.
This program will be implemented by the current grantee, the
National Academy of Sciences. No additional applications will be
solicited in FY 1998.
TeenSupreme Career Preparation Initiative
In FY 1998, OJJDP, in partnership with the U.S. Department of
Labor's (DOL's) Employment and Training Administration, will provide
funding support to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America for
demonstration and evaluation of the TeenSupreme Career Preparation
Initiative. DOL will provide $2.5 million to support the program, and
OJJDP would provide $250,000 to support the initial costs of the
evaluation. This initiative will provide employment training and other
related services to at-risk youth through local Boys and Girls Clubs
with TeenSupreme Centers. The Boys and Girls Clubs of America currently
has 41 TeenSupreme Centers in local clubs around the country and may
consider expanding the number of centers in 1998. DOL funds will
support program staffing in the existing 41 TeenSupreme Centers and
provide intensive training and technical assistance to each site. These
funds will also be used by the Boys and Girls Clubs of America to
provide administrative and staffing support to this program from the
national office. OJJDP funds would be used to support the evaluation
component of the program. Boys and Girls Clubs of America would
contract with an independent evaluator to evaluate the program.
This jointly funded Department of Labor and OJJDP initiative would
be implemented by the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. No additional
applications would be solicited in FY 1998.
Technical Assistance to Native Americans
Native American programs for juveniles are facing increasing
pressures because of the growing number of youth who are involved in
drug abuse, gang activity, and delinquency. Many reservations are
experiencing the problems that plague communities nationwide: gang
activity, violent crime, use of weapons, and increasing drug and
alcohol abuse.
From FY 1992 to FY 1995, OJJDP funded four Native American sites to
support the development of community-based programs to deal with these
problems. These sites were the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona;
the Navajo Nation Chinle District in Arizona; the Red Lake Ojibwe in
Minnesota; and the Pueblo of Jemez in New Mexico. Each of these
communities implemented programs specifically designed to meet the
needs of the tribe. For example, in Gila River, an alternative school
was developed and implemented. The Navajo Nation expanded the Peace
Maker program to accommodate additional delinquent offenders, an
approach that was adopted by the Red Lake and Pueblo Jemez communities.
Additional programming, such as job skills development, was also
initiated in some of these communities to meet the needs of tribal
youth. Although these programs were well received, the sites also
needed to expand programming options such as gang and drug prevention
and intervention programs.
In FY 1997, American Indian Development Associates (AIDA) was
selected to implement OJJDP's national technical assistance program for
tribes and urban tribal programs across the country. This 3-year
program will support the development of additional program options for
the four tribes previously funded and extend technical assistance to
tribal communities and urban tribal programs nationwide. AIDA initially
developed a needs assessment instrument and provided other technical
assistance to Juvenile Detention Facilities in Indian Country under an
agreement to support the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) Corrections
Program Office's project with the Gila River and Yankton Tribes. AIDA
also
[[Page 6364]]
facilitated team learning activities during the Arizona Indian Youth
Gang Prevention Conference, coordinated the First Native American
Juvenile Justice Summit, and provided technical assistance to Indian
tribes on behalf of OJJDP, the Office of Tribal Justice, and the OJP
Indian Desk.
In FY 1998, AIDA will continue to provide technical assistance to
Native American and Alaskan Native communities. Technical assistance
will enable the tribes to further develop alternatives to detention,
specifically targeting juveniles who are first or nonviolent offenders;
design guidebooks for the tribal peacemaking process to be used in
addressing juvenile delinquency issues that are reported to Family
District Court systems; design and implement juvenile justice needs
assessments to assist tribes in responding to juvenile detention and
alternatives to detention needs; develop protocols to implement State
Children's Code provisions that affect Native American Children;
establish sustainable, comprehensive community-based planning processes
that focus on the needs of tribal youth; plan and conduct juvenile
justice training seminars; and assist John Jay College of Criminal
Justice to design and develop a Tribal Justice Training and Technical
Assistance Workshop under OJJDP's Law Enforcement Training Contract.
The workshop will emphasize juvenile probation, serious habitual
offenders, and tribal youth gangs.
This program will be implemented by the current grantee, American
Indian Development Associates. No additional applications will be
solicited in FY 1998.
Training and Technical Assistance To Promote Teen Court Programs
OJJDP considers teen courts, also called peer or youth courts, to
be a promising mechanism for holding juvenile offenders accountable for
their actions while promoting avenues for positive youth development.
Teen courts are included as a promising early intervention program in
OJJDP's Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and Chronic
Juvenile Offenders.
To encourage the use of teen court programs to address problems
associated with delinquency, substance abuse, and traffic safety, OJJDP
provided funding in FY 1996 to supplement the existing Teen Court
Program of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
of the U.S. Department of Transportation. The NHTSA grant was awarded
in FY 1994 for a 3-year project period to the American Probation and
Parole Association (APPA) to develop a teen court guide and provide
training and technical assistance to develop or enhance teen court
programs. This NHTSA grant was supplemented with OJJDP FY 1996 and FY
1997 funds to support the development of the joint publication Peer
Justice and Youth Empowerment: An Implementation Guide for Teen Court
Programs and to provide an expanded technical assistance capacity.
The national response to APPA's training and technical assistance
and to the Guide has been very enthusiastic. A second printing of the
Guide will be available by April 1998. NHTSA and OJJDP have received
numerous requests to provide additional training seminars and technical
assistance based on the Guide.
In FY 1998, OJJDP is considering further collaboration with NHTSA,
HHS, and other interested agencies, to enhance the training seminars
with information on the possibility of teen courts being used as an
integral part of balanced and restorative justice initiatives and to
help address the growing problem of children who are being suspended
and expelled from school because of misbehavior, including misbehavior
related to learning problems. These activities would complement current
training on the use of teen courts to address youth possession and use
of alcohol and marijuana, issues of particular interest to these
agencies. Technical assistance would be provided to selected
jurisdictions with site-specific strategic planning for the program
organizers on developing, implementing, or enhancing teen court
programs, particularly in school-related areas. To be eligible for
technical assistance, recipients would need to have completed a teen
court training seminar. OJJDP would award a competitive grant to
implement a 3-year program.
Training and Technical Assistance Coordination for SafeFutures
Initiative
OJJDP is considering providing funding for long-term training and
technical assistance (TA) for the remaining 3 years of the SafeFutures
initiative. The purpose of this TA effort would be to build local
capacity for implementing and sustaining effective continuum of care
and systems change approaches to preventing and controlling juvenile
violence and delinquency in the six SafeFutures communities.
Project activities would include assessment, identification, and
coordination of the implementation of training and TA needs at each
SafeFutures site and administration of cross-site training.
School Safety
Since 1984, OJJDP and the U.S. Department of Education have
provided joint funding to a national organization to promote safe
schools--free of crime and violence through training and technical
assistance and the dissemination of information. This initiative has
focused national attention on cooperative solutions to problems that
disrupt the educational process. Because an estimated 3 million
incidents of crime occur in America's schools each year, it is clear
that this problem continues to plague many schools, threatening
students' safety and undermining the learning environment. OJJDP is
considering continuing this partnership with the Department of
Education by issuing a competitive solicitation for a cooperative
agreement with a private nonprofit organization to provide training and
technical assistance to communities and school districts across the
country. It is expected that these activities would be closely
coordinated with the ongoing review of literature, research, and
evaluation of school-based demonstration efforts being undertaken by
the Hamilton Fish National Institute on School and Community Violence
with OJJDP FY 1998 funding support.
Disproportionate Minority Confinement
OJJDP is interested in exploring additional work in the area of
disproportionate minority confinement in secure detention or
correctional facilities, adult jails and lockups, and other secure
institutional facilities. The proposed work would include a variety of
activities, including--but not limited to--demonstration programs,
national education efforts, and local program evaluations.
Disproportionate minority representation in secure juvenile
facilities and other institutions is a major problem facing the
juvenile justice system. While minorities represent 32 percent of the
juvenile population ages 12 to 17, they represent 68 percent of the
confined juvenile population.
OJJDP has previously funded programs designed to assist and enable
States to identify strategies to address the overrepresentation of
minority juveniles, including an evaluation of a county juvenile
court's efforts to reduce minority overrepresentation. Similar efforts,
particularly those that offer conceptual, indepth, capacity-building
approaches, would help to ensure that minority juvenile offenders
receive
[[Page 6365]]
appropriate treatment at all stages of the juvenile justice system
process. OJJDP would seek public/private partnerships and would
coordinate any new program efforts with the current training/technical
assistance provider, Cygnus Corporation (see the program descriptor for
the Training and Technical Assistance for National Innovations To
Reduce Disproportionate Minority Confinement).
Arts Programs in Juvenile Detention Centers
OJJDP is considering providing support for mentoring and skill
development for youth in juvenile detention centers through the
establishment of artist-in-residence programs. This initiative would
increase awareness of opportunities to establish visual, performing,
media, and literacy artist-in-residence programs in juvenile detention
centers.
OJJDP would encourage the development of these programs by
convening interested arts organizations and juvenile justice agencies
for the purpose of providing training in program development and
exposure to ``best practices'' among existing programs.
OJJDP is also interested in the development and dissemination of
technical assistance materials to support the establishment of artist-
in-residence programs in juvenile detention facilities.
If OJJDP funds this initiative, it would explore the possibility of
partnerships with other Federal agencies and would issue a competitive
solicitation in FY 1998.
``Circles of Care''--A Program To Develop Strategies To Serve Native
American Youth With Mental Health and Substance Abuse Needs
The Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) of the Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is developing a
Guidance for Federal Applicants that will result in the funding of a 3-
year program to 6-8 sites to plan and develop systems of care for
Native American youth who are seriously emotionally disturbed and/or
substance abusers. The grantees will engage in a structured process to
plan, develop, and test a system of care that achieves the outcomes
developed by American Indian, Alaskan Native, or urban nonprofit
organizations serving populations of American Indian or Alaskan Native
youth.
OJJDP is considering providing resources, including grant funds and
technical assistance, where appropriate, to assure that American
Indian/Alaskan Native youth who are in the juvenile justice system and
who are seriously emotionally disturbed or substance abusers are
planned for and made part of the service system. OJJDP would transfer
funds to CMHS/SAMHSA to assist with the development and implementation
of this program.
Juvenile Defender Training, Technical Assistance, and Resource Center
In FY 1993, OJJDP competitively funded the American Bar Association
(ABA) to determine the status of juvenile defense services in the
United States, develop a report, and provide training and technical
assistance. The ABA--along with its partners, the Youth Law Center of
San Francisco, California, and the Juvenile Law Center of Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania--conducted an extensive survey of public defender offices,
court-appointed systems, law school clinics, and the literature. These
data were then analyzed and a report, entitled A Call for Justice, was
developed and published in December 1995.
The ABA has also developed and delivered specialized training to
juvenile defenders in several jurisdictions, such as the State of
Maryland, the State of Tennessee, Baltimore County, Maryland, and
several other States and localities, to assist in increasing the
capacity of juvenile defenders to provide more effective defense
services. In October 1997, the ABA and its partners organized and
implemented the first Juvenile Defender Summit at Northwestern
University in Chicago, Illinois. The Summit brought together public
defenders, court-appointed lawyers, law school clinic directors,
juvenile offender services representatives, and others for a 2\1/2\-day
meeting to examine the issues related to juvenile defense services and
recommend strategies for improving these services.
This work has served as a backdrop for an ABA recommendation to
develop a more permanent structure to support training and technical
assistance and to serve as a clearinghouse and resource center for
juvenile defenders in this country. Recognizing that a lack of
training, technical assistance, and resources for juvenile defenders
weakens the juvenile justice system and results in a lack of due
process for juvenile offenders, OJJDP is considering providing seed
money in FY 1998 to fund the initial planning and implementation of a
Juvenile Defender Center. In addition, OJJDP would, either directly or
through a competitively selected grantee, seek partners in the public
and private sector to help fund and sustain this effort. The Center
would be designed to provide both general and specialized training and
technical assistance to juvenile defenders in the United States. The
design would also incorporate a resource center for purposes such as
serving as a repository for the most recent litigation on key issues, a
brief bank, and information on expert witnesses. OJJDP anticipates
that, if funded, this program would be a 5-year effort.
Gender-Specific Programming for Female Juvenile Offenders
In 1996, one in four juvenile arrests was of a female, and
increases in arrests between 1992 and 1996 were greater for juvenile
females than juvenile males in most offense categories. Yet programs to
address the unique needs of female delinquents have been and remain
inadequate in many jurisdictions. The risk factors that females face
are not identical with those facing males. Major risk factors for girls
include abuse and exploitation, substance abuse, teen pregnancy and
parenting, low or damaged self-esteem, and truancy or dropping out of
school. Communities and their juvenile justice systems need to develop
programs designed to help female offenders overcome these risk factors.
OJJDP is considering funding programming in the area of gender-
specific services for female offenders to continue supporting efforts
modeled on the OJJDP-funded program in Cook County, Illinois, and
gender-specific components of the SafeFutures program sites.
Cook County, for example, used an FY 1995 competitive grant to
build a network of support for juvenile female offenders in Cook
County. The County's work in this area involved developing a gender-
specific needs and strengths assessment instrument and a risk
assessment instrument for juvenile female offenders, providing training
in implementing gender-appropriate programming, and designing a pilot
program that includes a community-based continuum of care with a unique
case management system.
OJJDP is considering supporting programs designed to build
infrastructure for programming for female juvenile offenders and to
move from development of basic tools through the provision of training
and technical assistance to the support of a program demonstration
including a focus on teen pregnancy issues. If funded, an evaluation of
this demonstration program would also be undertaken
[[Page 6366]]
through a competitive process in FY 1998.
Evaluation Capacity Building
The question of ``what works'' pervades discussions of juvenile
justice. To find answers, program administrators and agency personnel
need to conduct rigorous evaluations of programs of interest. OJJDP has
determined that a strong, cooperative arrangement between OJJDP and
State agencies responsible for juvenile justice and delinquency
prevention programming can most effectively provide answers to this
question. To that end, OJJDP is considering initiating a grant program
to build the capacity of State Formula Grants program agencies to
conduct rigorous evaluations of juvenile justice programs and projects
funded in their States with JJDP Act funds. OJJDP would then take the
lead in disseminating evaluation results and information to the field.
The intent of these awards would be to build capacity for
developing and sustaining such evaluations and to supplement State
funding to support the evaluation of programs and projects. OJJDP would
award funds to qualifying States that agreed to enhance their existing
evaluation capacity and that were able to demonstrate an evaluation
program that effectively combines State Formula Grants program funds
and OJJDP discretionary funds and that would produce solid evaluation
results over a 2-year period.
Field-Initiated Research
OJJDP's efforts to address the problems of juvenile offending are
enriched most through the thoughtful and dedicated efforts of
researchers in the field. Through the work of agencies, individuals,
and organizations, OJJDP has benefited from innovative thinking and new
directions. To encourage such innovative research in juvenile offending
and juvenile justice, OJJDP is considering offering grants in FY 1998
for research initiated by researchers in the field. Through this series
of grants, OJJDP would expect to learn new alternatives and options for
various problems facing the juvenile justice system.
OJJDP is particularly interested in research that addresses: (1)
The mental health needs of youth in custody, (2) the mental health
needs of youth at-risk for entering the juvenile justice system, (3)
the development of risk and needs assessments for use in the juvenile
justice system, (4) the reduction of substance abuse by juveniles, and
(5) the circumstances and needs of youth on probation.
Field-Initiated Evaluation
OJJDP's evaluation efforts have traditionally focused on the
evaluation of OJJDP-funded programs. However, to expand the base of
knowledge of effective programs, OJJDP is considering funding
evaluations of programs, including those not funded by OJJDP. With
scarce dollars going generally for program delivery and administration,
knowledge of what works best, and for whom, generally rests on
anecdotal evidence. Rigorous scientific evaluations can provide more
information about specific programs and alternatives that hold promise.
OJJDP is particularly interested in evaluations that examine (1)
Child Advocacy Centers, (2) youth recreation programs, and (3) gender-
specific programming.
Analysis of Juvenile Justice Data
Funding for this new program is being considered as a means of
providing for the analysis and interpretation of diverse sources of
data and information on juvenile offending and the juvenile justice
system, beyond that currently funded for the analysis of OJJDP data
sets. This project would provide a source for identifying and reporting
important information from nontraditional sources. The project would
develop OJJDP's capacity to use and analyze data collections covering
such related areas as health, education, and employment. It would
provide a means for routinely publishing specialized reports that
assimilate such data sources. It would also support the management and
direction of OJJDP efforts through the contribution of analyses
directed towards the Office's priorities and initiatives.
Evaluation of the Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and
Chronic Juvenile Offenders
In FY 1998, OJJDP is considering beginning a multiyear, multisite
evaluation of the Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and
Chronic Juvenile Offenders. The evaluation would first look at the
lessons learned from the Comprehensive Strategy training and technical
assistance process that was provided in three pilot communities: Fort
Myers and Jacksonville, Florida, and San Diego, California. The
evaluation would then look at the effect of the 2-year training and
technical assistance process that is currently being provided in 5
States and 26 local jurisdictions and is about to commence in up to two
additional States. The training and technical assistance process is
designed to transfer the knowledge, skills, tools, and practices
necessary to develop a comprehensive strategic plan in each community.
The evaluation would document the effectiveness of the training and
technical assistance process in a sample of communities. The evaluation
would also look at the crime and delinquency outcomes and the level of
services being provided in each of the jurisdictions that have
successfully completed the training and technical assistance process
and are implementing their comprehensive strategic plan. In the first
year, the evaluation would also document baseline data in the States
and local communities.
Blueprints for Violence Prevention: Training and Technical Assistance
In a 1994 survey, more than half of the respondents identified
crime and violence as the most important problem facing this country,
and violence was unanimously identified as the ``biggest problem''
facing the Nation's public schools. Many communities are ready to take
meaningful action to combat these problems, but are struggling in
determining both ``what works'' and how to implement those effective
strategies and programs. As a result, many jurisdictions are moving
forward with insufficient knowledge on how to be successful in both of
these areas of focus.
To address this issue, OJJDP proposes to award a cooperative
agreement to the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV)
at the University of Colorado. CSPV has completed a study, begun in
1996, of 10 violence prevention programs that met a rigorous scientific
standard of program effectiveness and replicability--programs that
could be documented in ``blueprints'' that could be utilized for
further replication. Under this grant, CSPV would provide technical
assistance to community organizations and program providers to ensure
quality implementation of Blueprint model programs that have been
demonstrated to be effective in reducing adolescent violence, crime,
and substance abuse.
The specific goal of this project will be to assist in the
replication of these blueprint programs by: (1) Determining the
feasibility of program development for each community or agency request
for technical assistance in terms of a needs assessment and the
capacity for the community/agency to implement the program with
integrity and (2) providing training and technical assistance to
communities/agencies that are ready to begin the implementation
process. CSPV would both monitor and
[[Page 6367]]
assist the program during its first year of operation.
This project would be implemented by the Center for the Study and
Prevention of Violence because of its unique status as the developer of
the Blueprints for Violence Prevention project and previous research in
this specific area. No additional applications would be solicited in FY
1998.
Teambuilding Project for Courts
OJJDP, in conjunction with the State Justice Institute (SJI), is
interested in supporting projects to: (1) Explore emerging issues that
will affect juvenile courts as they enter the 21st century, and (2)
develop and test innovative approaches for managing juvenile courts,
securing resources required to fully meet the responsibilities of the
judicial branch, and institutionalizing long-range planning processes
across the multiple disciplines in the juvenile justice system. This
joint effort would test innovative programs and procedures for
providing clear and open communications between the judiciary, other
branches of government, and juvenile justice practitioners.
The primary goal would be to develop and implement a teambuilding
project designed to facilitate better coordination and information
sharing and foster innovative, efficient solutions to problems facing
juvenile courts. Activities may include: (1) Preparing and presenting
educational programs to foster development of effective
multidisciplinary teams; (2) delivering onsite technical assistance to
develop a team or enhance an existing partnership; (3) providing
information on teambuilding through a national resource center; and (4)
preparing manuals, guides, and other written and visual products to
assist in the development and operation of effective teams.
Competitive grants would be awarded to support demonstration
projects. Funds would be transferred to SJI to administer the program
through a cooperative agreement.
Child Abuse and Neglect and Dependency Courts
Safe Kids/Safe Streets: Community Approaches To Reducing Abuse and
Neglect and Preventing Delinquency
Reports of child victimization, abuse, and neglect in the United
States continue to be alarming. For example, in 1996 alone, an
estimated 3.1 million children were reported to public welfare agencies
for abuse or neglect. Nearly 1 million of those children were
substantiated as victims. Usually, abuse is inflicted by someone the
child knows, frequently a family member.
Numerous studies cite the connection between abuse or neglect of a
child and later development of violent and delinquent behavior.
Acknowledging this correlation and the need to both improve system
response and foster strong, nurturing families, several offices and
bureaus of the Office of Justice Programs joined in FY 1996 to develop
a coordinated program response. The resulting initiative, a 5\1/2\ year
demonstration program designed to foster coordinated community
responses to child abuse and neglect, was titled Safe Kids/Safe
Streets: Community Approaches to Reducing Abuse and Neglect and
Preventing Delinquency. (An accompanying evaluation program, Evaluation
of the Safe Kids/Safe Streets Program, was also developed.)
The purpose of the Safe Kids/Safe Streets program is to break the
cycle of early childhood victimization and later juvenile or adult
criminality and to reduce child and adolescent abuse and neglect and
resulting child fatalities. It strives to do this by providing fiscal
and technical support for efforts to restructure and strengthen State
and local criminal and juvenile justice systems to be more
comprehensive and proactive in helping children and adolescents and
their families. The program also has as a goal to implement or
strengthen coordinated management of abuse and neglect cases by
improving the policy and practice of the criminal and juvenile justice
systems and the child welfare, family services, and related systems.
These goals require communities to develop, implement, and/or expand
cross-agency strategies.
OJJDP, the administering agency for the Safe Kids/Safe Streets
program, awarded competitive cooperative agreements in FY 1997 to five
demonstration sites and to a national evaluator. Funds are provided by
OJJDP, the Office of Victims of Crime (OVC) and the Violence Against
Women Grants Office (VAWGO). Recipients of the awards are the National
Children's Advocacy Center, Huntsville, Alabama; the Sault Ste. Marie
Tribe of Chippewa Indians in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan; Heart of
America United Way of Kansas City, Missouri; Toledo Hospital Children's
Medical Center in Toledo, Ohio; and the Community Network for Children,
Youth and Family Services of Chittenden County, Vermont. The national
evaluator is Westat, Inc., of Rockville, Maryland.
Four of the five funded demonstration sites are in the process of
developing implementation plans. The fifth is in the initial stages of
implementing its plans to improve the coordination of prevention,
intervention, and treatment services and to improve cross-agency
coordination. The national evaluator has begun the process of assessing
site needs and developing measurement variables. Each award has been
made under a 5\1/2\ year project period.
In FY 1998, Safe Kids/Safe Streets grantees will continue to
implement their plans. Continuation awards will be made to each of the
current demonstration sites. No additional applications will be
solicited in FY 1998.
National Evaluation of the Safe Kids/Safe Streets Program
To evaluate the Safe Kids/Safe Streets grant program, OJJDP
competitively awarded a grant to Westat, Inc. in FY 1997. The purpose
of the evaluation is to document and explicate the process of community
mobilization, planning, and collaboration that has taken place before
and during the Safe Kids/Safe Streets awards; to inform program staff
of performance levels on an ongoing basis; and to determine the
effectiveness of the implemented programs in achieving the goals of the
Safe Kids/Safe Streets program. The initial 18-month grant will begin a
process evaluation and determine the feasibility of an impact
evaluation. If it is determined that an impact evaluation is feasible,
additional funds may be awarded to implement such an evaluation in FY
1998.
The goals for Phase I of the Evaluation of the Safe Kids/Safe
Streets program are: (1) To understand the process of implementation of
the Safe Kids/Safe Streets program in order to strengthen and refine
the program for future replication; (2) to identify factors that
contribute to or impede the successful implementation of the program;
(3) to help develop or improve the capability and utility of local data
systems that track at-risk youth, including victims of child neglect or
abuse; (4) to build an understanding of the general effectiveness of
the Safe Kids/Safe Streets program approach and its program components;
and (5) to help develop the capacity of Safe Kids/Safe Streets sites to
evaluate what works in their communities.
The objectives of this initial phase of the evaluation are: (1) To
develop a detailed design, including data collection instruments, for a
process evaluation of the Safe Kids/Safe Streets program for
implementation in collaboration with all sites; (2) to develop
templates for capturing the data necessary for the national process
evaluation and to make those templates
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available for implementation at the sites; and (3) to provide
evaluation training and technical assistance for, and to collaborate
with, grantees at each of the sites in implementing a process
evaluation of the development and implementation of each Safe Kids/Safe
Streets program site.
This evaluation will be implemented by the current grantee, Westat,
Inc. No additional applications will be solicited in FY 1998.
Secondary Analysis of Childhood Victimization
In FY 1997, OJJDP awarded a two-year grant to the University at
Albany, State University of New York, to support secondary analysis of
data that were collected on 1,200 individuals as part of a National
Institute of Justice research project that began in 1986. The data set
includes extensive information on psychiatric, cognitive, intellectual,
social, and behavioral functioning. It also contains information on
documented and self-reported criminal and runaway behavior in a large
sample of unsubstantiated cases of early childhood physical and sexual
abuse and neglect and matched controls. The data base includes
information from archival juvenile court and probation department
records and law enforcement records and interview information on a
range of topics, including psychiatric assessment, intelligence, and
reading ability.
The initial set of secondary analyses, during the first year of the
OJJDP award, focused on childhood victimization as a precursor to
running away and subsequent delinquency. Initial research questions
focused on whether running away puts a child at increased risk for
becoming a violent offender and repeat violent offender as a juvenile
and whether abused and neglected children who run away are at greater
risk than children who have not been abused.
In FY 1998, the research will look at several other outcomes such
as out-of-home placements and drug use by children who run away. Gender
differences will also be explored. This research will also explore the
differential impact of childhood victimization by race/ethnicity.
This project is being conducted by Cathy Spatz Widom, principal
researcher, under a grant to the University at Albany, State University
of New York. No additional applications will be solicited in FY 1998.
Evaluation of Nurse Home Visitation in Weed and Seed Sites
OJJDP will administer the evaluation program of Nurse Home
Visitation programs in six Weed and Seed sites across the Nation with
FY 1997 funds transferred to OJJDP from the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services. Six Weed and Seed sites, one of which is a
SafeFutures site, are providing nurse home visitation services. These
sites have been designated for evaluation in order to determine the
impact of the specific program model of nurse home visitation
implemented within normal operating environments in communities. Nurse
home visitation has been found to be effective in reducing welfare
dependency, increasing employment, decreasing or delaying repeat
childbearing, reducing the incidence of child maltreatment, and
reducing crime and delinquency within the context of randomized
clinical trials.
OJJDP is considering supplementing this evaluation in FY 1998 to
enhance data collection and analysis.
The project would be implemented by the University of Colorado
Prevention Research Center. No additional applications would be
solicited in FY 1998.
Dated: January 30, 1998.
Shay Bilchik,
Administrator, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
[FR Doc. 98-2729 Filed 2-5-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-18-P
