Chapter 9
Getting the Word Out
Sharing information with juvenile justice practitioners, policymakers, and the public—information about research, statistics, and programs that work—is a longstanding priority at OJJDP. During 2002, the Office began shifting its focus from primarily printed documents to electronic ones. In connection with this shift, OJJDP moved forward with major redesign work on the Office's Web site and on an ancillary page, the "Statistical Briefing Book." The year also marked the introduction of a popular new bimonthly newsletter.
Other dissemination activities included inauguration of a series of Bulletins on youth violence research and continuation of a series that addresses crimes against children and another series that updates statistics about juvenile offenders and victims. OJJDP also began work on Spanish translations of two major guides for families of missing children and victims of international parental kidnapping.
These and the other activities discussed in this chapter were all designed to help keep the juvenile justice field informed about research findings, juvenile justice statistics, and promising programs.
New Approach to Information Dissemination
Although still committed to sharing critical juvenile justice information with the field, OJJDP began updating and streamlining its approach to dissemination in FY 2002 by relying more on its Web site and exploring electronic publishing activities. As part of this effort, the Office started targeting its mailings of publications and grant announcements to more carefully defined audiences, limiting the number of printed copies. Electronic versions of all publications and solicitations may be viewed and downloaded from the Office's Web site.
OJJDP also began looking to online publication as an alternative to print for disseminating certain information. For example, statistics and other time-sensitive materials are a natural for the Web, where they can be published more quickly, updated more easily (and therefore more frequently), and presented without the physical constraints of print media. As a result of the Office's new approach to dissemination, the juvenile justice field is benefiting from quicker, more focused access to the information it needs, and the federal government is making better use of taxpayer dollars.
I . . . would like to applaud you on your move from mostly paper to mostly online. I have "subscribed" to and received hundreds of wonderful study and statistical summaries, but feel your new method of distribution is a great way to reduce printing and mailing costs, in addition to other distribution costs. Professor |
One of OJJDP's major accomplishments in FY 2002 was the development
of OJJDP News @ a Glance, a bimonthly newsletter—disseminated
in print and electronic versions—that provides up-to-date notices
of OJJDP's activities, recent publications, funding opportunities,
and upcoming events. The newsletter is a cornerstone in OJJDP's growing
emphasis on electronic dissemination.
In addition to regular features, the newsletter issues produced during FY 2002 included special articles on a number of topics, including OJJDP's new administrator, major OJJDP conferences, missing children's issues and related activities, and youth court programs. The newsletter garnered 1,000 subscribers in the first 5 months after its launch, and that number grew to almost 2,000 within a year. Both electronic and print subscriptions are available. Instructions for subscribing are available on OJJDP's Web site.
Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse
OJJDP's Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse (JJC) is a one-stop shop that provides toll-free telephone and online access to a wealth of information about juvenile justice, delinquency prevention, and child protection. Clearinghouse clients include policymakers, practitioners, researchers, parents, youth, members of the media, and representatives of community organizations. Operated by Aspen Systems Corporation of Rockville, MD, JJC offers easy access to up-to-date research and statistics, program descriptions, publications, practical guides and manuals, information about grants and funding opportunities, and many other useful resources. The Clearinghouse is a component of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS).
The Clearinghouse produces many of OJJDP's publications, including research and statistical reports and training and technical assistance manuals. JJC also maintains a toll-free number (800–851–3420). During 2002, JJC distributed more than 1 million documents and responded to 35,323 telephone, fax, and e-mail requests.
Juvenile justice publications, videotapes, and other materials can be ordered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, through the NCJRS Online Ordering System (puborder.ncjrs.org). In FY 2002, JJC received 6,502 orders for juvenile justice products through the NCJRS system. NCJRS also maintains a comprehensive database of approximately 180,000 titles, 55,000 of which are devoted to juvenile justice, delinquency prevention, and child protection issues.
The Clearinghouse administers JUVJUST, OJJDP's popular electronic mailing list that provides timely information about OJJDP and other youth-service-related publications, events, and funding opportunities. The number of JUVJUST subscribers continues to grow, increasing from 7,881 to 9,069 between October 2001 and September 2002. (The mailing list had approximately 2,000 subscribers in 1997.) OJJDP posted 79 JUVJUST announcements during FY 2002. Archived JUVJUSTs for the most recent 12 months and instructions for subscribing to JUVJUST are available on OJJDP's Web site.
From a request for information and publications Thank you very much for your time and your help. I did not expect such a quick and complete response. I really appreciated it. Assistant Attorney General of Ohio |
JJC designed and maintains OJJDP's Web site (www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ojjdp). The site provides detailed information on OJJDP-sponsored programs, announces new publications, allows users to download nearly all OJJDP-produced publications, lists information about current and past funding opportunities, includes a calendar of events on upcoming OJJDP-sponsored conferences, and provides access to speeches given by the OJJDP Administrator. The site's "askjj@ncjrs.org" feature allows users to ask questions via e-mail and receive individualized responses from JJC staff.
One of OJJDP's and JJC's major Web site activities during FY 2002 was working with OJP in designing OJP's comprehensive reentry Web site for the Serious and Violent Offender Initiative. The reentry site provides a wealth of information, ranging from state and federal resources to publications to training and technical assistance.
OJJDP also began developing mini Web pages highlighting major conferences and other events. These pages allow OJJDP to inform the field promptly about speeches and activities that take place at these events. One example is the page developed after the White House Conference on Missing, Exploited, and Runaway Children.
Other highlights of the Web site include a "JJ Facts & Figures" section that provides information on juvenile justice, delinquency prevention, and violence and victimization. This section offers a diagram showing how cases proceed through the juvenile justice system. It also includes the "Statistical Briefing Book," which presents timely and reliable statistical answers to frequently asked questions about juvenile crime and victimization and the juvenile justice system. During FY 2002, OJJDP moved forward with a comprehensive redesign of the "Briefing Book," adding new topics (e.g., juvenile justice system structure and process, probation, and reentry/aftercare) and features (e.g., a compendium of national data sets, links to other statistical resources, and a statistical glossary) that will make the site even easier and quicker to use.
The OJJDP Web site also maintains separate pages for many of the programs the Office funds or administers. These include, among others, the Drug-Free Communities Support Program, Juvenile Accountability Incentive Block Grants program, and Juvenile Mentoring Program.
During 2002, the OJJDP Web site home page had more than 2 million visits, and the overall site had approximately 43 million visits (a 10-percent increase over 2001). OJJDP began redesigning the Web site in FY 2002 and plans to unveil the new site in 2003.
During FY 2002, OJJDP developed and produced new Fact Sheets, Bulletins, and Reports addressing a wide range of issues (see appendix). All of these publications are available from JJC. Nearly all may be downloaded from OJJDP's Web site.
Many of these new publications have been noted throughout this Report, including important documents related to missing and exploited children and a series of Bulletins about youth gang issues. In addition, the Office developed three new series of documents, described below.
Crimes Against Children Bulletin Series
The Crimes Against Children Series of Bulletins presents the latest information about child victimization, based on information from the FBI's National Incident-Based Reporting System. OJJDP released three new Bulletins in this series during FY 2002: The Criminal Justice System's Response to Parental Abduction, Homicides of Children and Youth, and Offenders Incarcerated for Crimes Against Juveniles. Topics of upcoming Bulletins in this series include child pornography, juvenile victims of intimate partner violence, explanations for the decline in child sexual abuse during the 1990s, and prostitution of juveniles.
National Report Bulletin Series
Approximately every 4–5 years, OJJDP publishes the Juvenile Offenders and Victims National Report. This popular document provides a comprehensive statistical picture of the problems of juvenile crime, violence, and victimization and the response of the juvenile justice system. The most recent Report was published in 1999. During the years between Reports, OJJDP publishes a series of updates (Fact Sheets and Bulletins) that provide the latest available information about juvenile offenders and victims. During FY 2002, the agency published two documents in this series:
- The Bulletin Law Enforcement and Juvenile Crime presents
statistics on the extent and characteristics of juvenile arrests
in 1999 and also includes trends from the 1980s.
- The Fact Sheet Juvenile Offenders in Residential Placement, 1997–1999, discusses findings from the second wave of data collection for the Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement.
Youth Violence Research Series
OJJDP and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control are working together to reduce youth violence. One component of their partnership is a series of Youth Violence Research Bulletins, which present the most recent research findings on topics related to youth violence. The first Bulletin in the series, Short- and Long-Term Consequences of Adolescent Victimization, was published in FY 2002. This Bulletin analyzes National Youth Survey data to explore how being a victim of crime during adolescence affects the likelihood of certain negative outcomes in adulthood, including offending and victimization (both violent and property crimes), domestic violence perpetration and victimization, drug use, and mental health problems.
Satellite videoconferencing is a cost-effective way to help practitioners, policymakers, and researchers keep abreast of developments in the field without having to travel far from home. OJJDP has sponsored satellite videoconferences since 1995 through its grantee, Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) of Richmond, KY. A typical videoconference reaches some 500 sites and approximately 15,000 individuals at downlink sites and computers. During FY 2002, OJJDP sponsored the videoconferences described below.
- "School Safety by Management and Design," presented on October
25, 2001, was the third in a series of satellite videoconferences
on school safety from the Hamilton Fish Institute of Washington,
DC. The videoconference featured demonstrations of school safety
programs coordinated by EKU, the Morehouse School of Medicine, and
the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
- "OJJDP: Direction and Focus for 2002 and Beyond" was broadcast
on December 6, 2001. This videoconference provided an overview of
the Office's direction and focus for the coming year.
- "Schoolwide Education for Violence Prevention," presented on April 11, 2002, was another in the Hamilton Fish Institute series on school safety. This videoconference highlighted several strategies used in programs the Institute has found to be effective for violence prevention. The videoconference also featured discussions of effective schoolwide strategies, including anger management, conflict resolution, social skills training, communications skills training, and use of mediation, police, and legal services.
In addition, OJP highlighted its Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative in a satellite videoconference on February 28, 2002. The broadcast was designed for criminal and juvenile justice practitioners, judges and court staff, policymakers, community leaders, prosecutors, defense attorneys, probation and parole officers, social service agencies, law enforcement agencies, and others interested in promoting public safety and helping former offenders live as law-abiding and contributing members of society.
Information about past and future videoconferences and instructions for purchasing tapes of past conferences are available on OJJDP's Web site. Archived broadcasts may be viewed free of charge at EKU's Web site (www.trc.eku.edu/jj/archive.html).
Electronic Bulletins and Fact Sheets
In keeping with its growing emphasis on electronic dissemination of information, OJJDP began development work in FY 2002 for a series of online Juvenile Justice Practices Bulletins, which will facilitate systems change by providing the juvenile justice field with the latest information on research and best practices in a variety of areas. The first Bulletin in the series, Aftercare Services, was posted on the Office's Web site in fall 2003. OJJDP also put in place plans to substitute online publications for many of its statistical Fact Sheets. The first online statistical Fact Sheets, summarizing the latest available juvenile court data, were also posted in fall 2003.
Major New Print Publications
Although OJJDP welcomes the efficiencies and cost savings associated with electronic publishing, it will continue to make many of its most popular publications available in print as well as electronic formats, to ensure that these important resources reach the widest possible audience. In FY 2002, planning and development work began for the next edition of Juvenile Offenders and Victims: National Report, which offers comprehensive information about juvenile crime, violence, and victimization and the response of the juvenile justice system to these problems. The Office also initiated plans to add several new titles to its series of Portable Guides for law enforcement and other professionals involved in investigating cases of child abuse and neglect. New topics will include basic information about child development, response to child abduction, commercial sexual exploitation of children, and investigation of child fatalities. An update of the guide on investigation of cases involving the use of computers in sexual exploitation of children is also planned.
Spanish Translations of Family Guides
Recognizing the importance of making its resources readily available to members of the Hispanic community, OJJDP began work in FY 2002 on Spanish translations of two major family guides published in FY 2002: When Your Child Is Missing: A Family Survival Guide (second edition) and A Family Resource Guide on International Parental Kidnapping. The translations, Cuando su Niño Desaparece: Una Guía para la Supervivencia de la Familia and Guía de Recursos de la Familia Contra el Secuestro Parental Internacional, were released in July 2003.