Chapter 3
Preventing and Intervening in Delinquency

OJJDP recognizes the importance of taking aggressive steps to stop delinquency before it happens and of intervening swiftly and appropriately when it does. During FY 2002, the Office continued to support a variety of activities that help communities and states develop and implement effective prevention and intervention programs.

Many of these programs stress the importance of coordinating community and agency services and resources. Coordination not only helps eliminate duplication of efforts, it also helps governments and organizations stretch their dollars as budgets shrink. The federal government has its own tool to help coordinate federal delinquency prevention programs—the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. During FY 2002, OJJDP took steps to ensure that the federal agencies that make up the Council work in tandem on programs to more efficiently help the nation's children.

Several of the Office's prevention programs also involve community support. Examples include the Drug-Free Communities Support Program, the Juvenile Mentoring Program, and the Title V Community Prevention Grants Program. Each draws heavily on community involvement and strives to implement programs that help keep young people out of the juvenile justice system. Another initiative, Safe Schools/Healthy Students, helps school districts link prevention activities with community-based services.

Young people themselves can play an important role in intervention activities. OJJDP's youth court program, in which nonviolent offenders are judged by their peers, is one example of youth involvement. The youth court program had many accomplishments in FY 2002, including international recognition at the United Nations' Special Session on Children.

Although it is important to help communities implement prevention and intervention strategies, it is just as important to make sure that these strategies work. That is why OJJDP continued to fund national evaluations of several of the programs highlighted here.

The research, demonstration, and training and technical assistance activities described in this chapter reflect OJJDP's commitment to helping communities intervene early and effectively in children's lives, before delinquency becomes a pattern of behavior that leads to involvement in the juvenile justice system.

Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

Numerous federal agencies have programs and policies in place to serve the nation's youth. Who keeps track of all these programs and policies? Who ensures that they are responsive to the nation's needs? Given the number of agencies, activities, and individuals involved, a mechanism is needed to monitor the scope and policy implications of these efforts. The Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (the Council) is that mechanism.

Established by the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (JJDP) Act of 1974, as amended, the Council is an independent body within the executive branch of the federal government. The Council comprises ex officio members from nine federal agencies and nine practitioner members appointed by the President, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House. The Attorney General serves as chairperson of the Council, and the Administrator of OJJDP serves as vice chairperson.

The Council meets regularly to exchange information, ideas, and research findings. The meetings, which are open to the public, are announced in the Federal Register and on OJJDP's Web site. An agenda and a meeting summary are posted on the Web site following each meeting.

Developing faith- and community-based initiatives was the topic of the Council meeting held on November 30, 2001. Speakers included James Davids, Deputy Director of DOJ's Faith-Based Task Force, and Stanley Carlson-Thies, Associate Director, White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.

Topics of the Council meeting held on May 17, 2002, were OJP's Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative and the Weed and Seed program. Weed and Seed is a community-based grant program that encourages local and state governments, citizens, and nonprofit agencies to work with law enforcement to "weed" neighborhoods of criminals and "seed" these communities with human services programs.

A Council meeting held on November 8, 2002, spotlighted an antidrug initiative and also reviewed research findings from an OJJDP study of child delinquency. The Marijuana Initiative: Call to Action, developed by the Office of National Drug Control Policy's Demand Reduction Office, educates the public about the negative consequences of marijuana use. OJJDP's Study Group on Very Young Offenders investigated child delinquency, in particular the development, intervention, and service needs of very young offenders.

To enhance the Council's ability to investigate youth issues and make recommendations about youth to the President and Congress, the OJJDP Administrator has created subcommittees that will provide opportunities for progress between the Council's quarterly meetings. These subcommittees will help the Council assess member agencies' existing programs and expand the use of technology (such as mapping tools) to identify service gaps and target limited resources where they are needed most. The first subcommittees will focus on five areas: drugs/alcohol, education, family health, technology and research, and tribal youth.

Drug-Free Communities Support Program

The Drug-Free Communities Support Program (DFCSP) helps local community coalitions develop and implement programs to prevent and reduce the illegal use of alcohol, drugs, and tobacco by youth. During FY 2002, OJJDP awarded 70 new DFCSP grants totaling $6,809,909. In addition, 462 programs received continuation grants totaling nearly $38.5 million. Now in its fifth year of funding, this program is supporting 532 community coalitions in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. OJJDP administers DFCSP through an interagency agreement with the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

The 70 new DFCSP sites were selected through a competitive review process from a pool of 448 applicants. Award amounts range from $61,989 to $100,000. Participating coalitions are made up of youth and parents; business and media representatives; school and law enforcement officials; youth services, religious, and civic or volunteer organizations; health professionals and government agencies with expertise in the field of substance abuse; and others involved in reducing substance abuse. Award amounts, contact information, and individual project summaries are available on the DFCSP section of OJJDP's Web site.

OJJDP also is funding a national evaluation of DFCSP. The longitudinal study is assessing the coalitions' efforts to improve prevention infrastructure and community conditions and to address youth risk and resiliency factors and substance abuse patterns. A total of 214 grantees make up the national evaluation sample; 21 of these sites serve as intensive study sites. Now in its fifth year, the evaluation is being conducted by Caliber Associates of Fairfax, VA.

During FY 2002, researchers analyzed grantees' progress reports, data obtained during site visits with the 21 intensive study grantees, and other information—such as school-based survey data and public access databases—provided by individual grantees. Findings indicate that successful coalition development often includes the involvement of major community sectors in prevention efforts, a strategy that promotes both commitment and the efficient use of available resources. Researchers also found that DFCSP grantees have been highly successful in involving multiple community sectors. Nearly all (99 percent) of the grantees partner with schools, and most (94 percent) collaborate with more than 12 community partners. Government agencies participate in 92 percent of the coalitions. More than half (56 percent) of grantees reported an increase in the number of active individuals involved in their coalition between 2000 and 2002. Many (60 percent) of the intensive study sites reported that collaboration reduced duplication of effort. However, only 20 percent reported avoiding duplication of existing services.

Juvenile Mentoring Program

Juvenile mentoring programs provide adult support and positive role models to help at-risk youth overcome the challenges they face. During FY 2002, OJJDP's Juvenile Mentoring Program (JUMP) awarded more than $14 million in grants to juvenile mentoring programs across the nation. These grants are helping more than 5,000 at-risk youth in 38 states and the District of Columbia receive one-to-one mentoring aimed at keeping them in school and away from drugs and crime. The 3-year grants range from $156,000 to $220,000. OJJDP has been awarding JUMP grants since 1995.³ The new awards in FY 2002 bring the total number of JUMP-funded sites to 269 in 48 states and 2 territories.

OJJDP selected the new sites through a competitive review process from a pool of 863 applicants.⁴ The selected mentoring sites are focusing on three goals: improving academic performance, reducing school dropout rates, and preventing delinquent behavior. All sites are required to coordinate their activities with local education agencies. The new mentoring projects are working with children who have an incarcerated parent, minority youth, American Indians, children in foster care, youth in special education, and homeless youth. The projects have recruited a wide range of mentors, including military personnel, college students, representatives of faith-based organizations, business professionals, tribal leaders, and law enforcement personnel.

The grantees are equally distributed throughout the nation, with about a quarter of the FY 2002 grants going to each of the four geographical regions. More than 54 percent of the sites are in urban areas, almost 38 percent are in rural areas, and close to 8 percent are in suburban areas. Twelve percent of the grants were awarded to faith-based organizations.

To help strengthen the quality of JUMP, OJJDP created and supports the National Mentoring Center at the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory in Portland, OR. The center provides training and technical assistance to JUMP grantees and other mentoring programs, produces publications and newsletters, and offers an online lending library of mentoring resources. The center's FY 2002 activities included a workshop on how to collaborate with faith-based organizations in developing mentoring programs. Information from the workshop will be used to develop materials on managing mentoring programs in faith-based settings.

The center also conducted an orientation meeting for and needs assessment of new JUMP grantees, published and distributed more than 5,000 copies of two technical assistance packets, and produced three newsletters. The newsletters focused on the use of technology, diversity in mentoring, and capacity strengthening. The center maintains a Web site (www.nwrel.org/mentoring), which received approximately 120,000 visits during FY 2002. In addition, the center responded to more than 500 requests for technical assistance.

Since 1997, OJJDP has funded an evaluation of JUMP. The evaluation, which is being conducted by Information Technology International (ITI) of Potomac, MD, is scheduled to run through 2003. During FY 2002, researchers reviewed the approved evaluation design and used this review to develop and expand evaluation activities. One continuing activity, development of a publication to help local projects conduct their own evaluations, has as its goals improving the sustainability of the projects and generating additional lessons learned. ITI also expanded a special study of local education agencies and their role in JUMP projects. In addition, researchers continued to implement a study of the impact of mentoring on youth. This study, which is gathering post-mentoring assessment data on selected youth for 12-month periods, is designed to measure the effectiveness of mentoring programs in preventing delinquency, gang involvement, and school-related problems (academic failure and dropping out). Final findings are expected to be released in 2005.

Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative

OJJDP, in collaboration with several other federal agencies, continues to support the Safe Schools/Healthy Students (SS/HS) initiative, which helps urban, rural, suburban, and tribal school districts link prevention activities with community-based services. The SS/HS initiative is an unprecedented collaborative effort of the U.S. Departments of Education (ED), Justice (DOJ), and Health and Human Services (HHS). During FY 2002, these agencies awarded grants totaling more than $80 million to 46 communities, bringing to 97 the number of SS/HS projects funded over the past 3 years. A list of grantees is available from the U.S. Department of Education Web site (www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2002/09/safehealthystudents.html).

The SS/HS initiative encourages school districts to develop comprehensive plans to prevent violence and encourage positive child development. To receive funding, the districts are required to work with law enforcement officials, local mental health authorities, juvenile justice officials, and communitybased organizations in developing the plans.

To support SS/HS projects, ED, OJJDP, and HHS awarded a cooperative agreement in 1999 to the National Mental Health Association of Alexandria, VA, to establish the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Action Center (www.sshsac.org). The center provides training and technical assistance to SS/HS grantees and is managed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of HHS.

To help determine the effectiveness of the SS/HS initiative, OJJDP, in collaboration with ED and HHS, awarded a cooperative agreement in 1999 for a national evaluation to be conducted by Research Triangle Institute of Research Triangle, NC, and RMC Research Corporation of Portland, OR. The evaluation is designed to provide information on how coalitions and collaborations at the community level developed strategies to address the six required elements of the SS/HS initiative. Specifically, the evaluation is examining two overarching questions:

• How, and at what costs, did the SS/HS initiative affect the local planning and implementation of comprehensive, integrated strategies to provide for healthy child and adolescent development and a safe school environment?
  
  
• What is the impact of the SS/HS initiative on healthy child and adolescent development and a safe school environment?

Researchers are conducting a national cross-site evaluation, which will demonstrate how community collaborative efforts develop, function, and facilitate change within community institutions and within individuals. The evaluation has two components: process and outcome. The process evaluation will provide information on how the initiative was implemented in the participating states. Findings will generate insights about site attributes and procedures that can enhance or impede successful implementation. The outcome evaluation will investigate the impact of the initiative on issues such as alcohol and substance use, violence, and "school climate." Integrating findings from the two evaluation components will result in a fuller understanding of the impact of the initiative. Evaluation data are being gathered in four waves, during spring 2001–2004. An interim report is expected in 2003, a final report in 2005.

Title V Community Prevention Grants Program

The Title V Community Prevention Grants Program, established by the 1992 reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, helps communities develop and implement collaborative, community-based delinquency prevention plans. The plans focus on risk and protective factors related to aspects of children's lives that research has shown are critical to the onset of delinquent behavior. OJJDP awards Title V grants to states based on the relative size of their populations subject to original juvenile court jurisdiction. The states, in turn, award the funds to communities to implement delinquency prevention plans that meet their local needs. OJJDP also provides training and technical assistance to grantees and is funding a national evaluation of the program.

From 1994 through 2002, approximately 1,400 communities in 49 states, the District of Columbia, and 5 territories (referred to collectively herein as "states") have received Title V funding. In FY 2002, OJJDP awarded more than $26.7 million under the program, with allocations ranging from a minimum of $100,000 to a maximum of $3,403,000. (Four of the five territories were eligible to receive $33,000; Puerto Rico received $402,000, based on the size of its juvenile population.)

As part of the Title V Program, OJJDP provides training and technical assistance to help states and communities build their capacity to plan and implement effective research-based prevention strategies. Development Services Group, Inc. (DSG), of Bethesda, MD, has provided this support to Title V grantees since April 2000. During 2002, DSG instructed more than 200 communities in a training curriculum that emphasizes theory and evidence-based planning. The curriculum includes three training sessions: Community Team Orientation, Community Data Collection and Analysis, and Community Plan and Program Development. DSG also maintains a Title V listserv and produces a Title V newsletter, Community Prevention: Title V Update, for states and local subgrantees. Other OJJDP-sponsored training activities in 2002 were designed to increase the capacity of states in three areas: understanding Title V requirements and evaluating Title V applications, developing training curriculums to help local prevention policy boards evaluate and monitor subgrantees' activities, and developing scripts for training videos. Technical assistance activities focused on increasing delivery of assistance by telephone and on helping states review applications and strengthen requests for proposals.

During FY 2002, OJJDP continued to support communities in their efforts to identify promising and effective prevention programs. The Promising and Effective Programs (PEP) Guide was developed in 2001 to help communities select research-based prevention programs. In 2002, OJJDP began expanding the guide with new program categories and also began developing a searchable database of model programs. The updated guide and the database are expected to be available in 2003.

To help improve the Title V Program model and encourage its implementation in more communities, OJJDP has been evaluating the program's effectiveness since 1998. The national evaluation is being conducted by Caliber Associates of Fairfax, VA. Researchers are examining the viability and effectiveness of comprehensive, locally developed prevention programs, based on risk and protective factors, in 12 communities in 6 states (2 in each state): Hawaii, Michigan, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Virginia. Evaluators are examining two broad research questions:

• What is the impact of the Title V Program on risk and protective factors and on juvenile problem behaviors?
  
  
• What factors and activities lead to effective implementation of the Title V Program model and to positive outcomes?

Preliminary findings suggest that certain factors seem to make a difference in the effectiveness of risk-focused delinquency prevention programs. The findings also suggest that states and communities with access to certain resources and support systems may better understand the Title V model and, therefore, implement it with greater success. These findings are outlined in an OJJDP Fact Sheet, National Evaluation of the Title V Community Prevention Grants Program.

Researchers have made a special effort to balance evaluation activities between collecting data (including onsite interviews and observations) and providing evaluation training and technical assistance. Because of their frequency and intensity, training and technical assistance activities have played an integral role in building both the evaluation capacity of local communities and positive and lasting relationships between community members and the national evaluation team. As community members became more fully engaged in data collection efforts, they also began to identify areas in which they needed evaluation support and training. As a result, technical assistance and training activities have evolved throughout the evaluation effort from basic workshops on the Title V Community Self-Evaluation Workbook, to local evaluation planning, to training on topics such as developing local logic models and data collection methods, plans, and instruments. These activities have allowed the communities to participate fully in national evaluation data collection activities.

During FY 2002, the final year of the national evaluation, researchers visited three national evaluation sites, implemented a data analysis plan, and developed a publications plan for disseminating evaluation findings in 2002 and 2003. Findings are being disseminated through published articles, conference presentations, and a final evaluation report.

In 2003, Caliber will submit its final evaluation report to OJJDP. The report will highlight case study and cross-site findings from the national evaluation and both program- and evaluation-related "lessons learned."

As an additional component of the Title V national evaluation in each year since 1994, the Caliber team has prepared OJJDP's annual Title V Community Prevention Grants Program Report to Congress. The report describes the activities and accomplishments of Title V grantees nationwide and has been particularly useful in identifying successful approaches and making recommendations for future activities under the program. The 2001 Report to Congress was released in spring 2003.

Truancy Reduction Activities

In 1998, OJJDP, DOJ's Executive Office for Weed and Seed, and the U.S. Department of Education's Safe and Drug-Free Schools Office initiated the Truancy Reduction Demonstration Program (TRDP). The goal of the program is to encourage communities to develop comprehensive approaches to identifying and tracking truant youth and reducing truancy. Collaboration among community members is important in addressing truancy problems because it produces a shared vision, maximizes existing resources, and results in a blend of services that can address a variety of issues related to truancy. In TRDP, programs are overseen at the community level by a multiagency collaborative group that includes representatives from schools, social services agencies, health organizations, law enforcement, courts, probation, businesses, and faith-based organizations.

TRDP includes seven sites in six states: California (Department of Employment and Human Services, Contra Costa County); Florida (State Attorney's Office, Jacksonville); Hawaii (University of Hawaii, Honolulu); New York (Suffolk County Probation Department, Yaphank); Texas (Mayor's Anti-Gang Office, Houston); and Washington (King County Superior Court, Seattle, and Safe Streets Campaign, Tacoma). The sites vary in size—serving anywhere from 30 to 1,500 youth—and are diverse in geographic location, ethnic and sociodemographic makeup, and community-based leadership. TRDP has served more than 2,000 youth and more than 1,100 families.

Communities in the TRDP sites are implementing programs that link truant youth with community-based services and programs. Services vary among projects and include court diversions such as community truancy boards, truancy workshops, community awareness campaigns, and collaboration among community agencies. Truancy case managers usually work directly with youth and families, making home visits, monitoring school attendance, providing tutoring, and referring youth and families to community agencies as needed. All of the programs have strong family collaboration as a component.

OJJDP also is funding an evaluation of TRDP, conducted by the Colorado Foundation for Families and Children of Denver, CO, in collaboration with the demonstration sites. In FY 2002, all sites showed an improvement in the context, structure, and accomplishments of the community collaborative. The evaluation has found that maintaining the stability of the collaborative is critical to the success of truancy reduction efforts.

OJJDP has learned that a continuum of services (incentives, prevention, early intervention, intensive intervention, and "deep-end" consequences or sanctions) is important for successful program implementation and for program effectiveness. Early evidence suggests that programs offering a full continuum of services for children and their parents (in particular, the consequences component) are most effective.

The evaluation has identified the following key components for truancy reduction programs:

• Consistent policy and practice.
  
  
• Meaningful parental involvement.
  
  
• Public awareness.
  
  
• Continuum of supports, services, incentives, and consequences.
  
  
• Collaboration across the community.
  
  
• Programs to address related health issues.
  
  
• Effective and ongoing evaluation.

The data collected by the sites and the evaluator are also helping to describe the population of truant youth (and their families) targeted by the demonstration programs. Thousands of youth have had contact with these programs. Some received minimal intervention (such as education about attendance laws), some received tickets and attended truancy hearings, and some received home visits or attended workshops. Others were tracked and monitored with more intensive case management. The most common needs identified by the sites had to do with academic, mental health, and family problems.

During FY 2002, researchers reported early findings from the outcome component of the evaluation, in which students at TRDP sites are being tracked every 3 months for school attendance and academic performance. These findings indicate that after just 3 months of participation in programs, 60 percent of the students had fewer unexcused absences from school, about one-third had fewer excused absences, and about half improved their academic performance. (Findings for selected sites are highlighted in "Promising Results From Truancy Reduction Demonstration Programs")

In FY 2002, the ongoing demonstration program and evaluation produced a number of useful tools and resources for agencies and schools interested in confronting truancy in their own communities. Many of these tools and resources are available on the truancy Web site, "Promoting Truancy Prevention and School Success" (www.truancyprevention.org).

OJJDP plans to expand its truancy efforts in FY 2003 by strengthening the evaluation design (to collect more outcome data) and developing more tools and resources for communities planning to target truancy.

Youth Court Activities

Youth courts are one of the fastest growing crime intervention programs in the nation. In 1994, the United States had 78 youth courts. Today, more than 950 youth courts operate in 47 states and the District of Columbia. These courts, also known as teen courts and peer courts, offer an adjudicatory venue in which nonviolent juvenile offenders are sentenced by their peers. By involving the community and family members of offenders and victims, youth courts influence the lives of juveniles in a unique and positive way.

OJJDP established the National Youth Court Center (NYCC) in 1999. The center is managed by the American Probation and Parole Association of Lexington, KY, and is funded through OJJDP's Juvenile Accountability Incentive Block Grants Program in collaboration with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. NYCC serves as an information clearinghouse, provides training and technical assistance, develops resource materials on how to establish and enhance youth court programs, and maintains a Web site (www.youthcourt.net).

The year 2002 was a banner year for OJJDP's youth court project as the program received international recognition from the United Nations and NYCC sponsored several major activities. In May 2002, youth courts were recognized at the United Nations' Special Session on Children. Every 10 years, UN member countries meet to establish a global blueprint for the next decade. During the special session, which was modeled as a youth court hearing, OJJDP's Administrator and two young youth court volunteers—Robyn Gausman-Barnett (Montgomery County, MD, Teen Court) and Bryan Selchick (Colonie Youth Court, NY)—shared the positive effects that youth court activities are having on juveniles in the United States. A transcript of the Administrator's remarks is available on OJJDP's Web site.

To help promote youth courts and their achievements, activities, and volunteers, OJJDP and NYCC designated September 2002 as the first National Youth Court Month. The theme, "Positive Peer Pressure, Teens Helping Teens," was developed by Toby Steinmetz, a youth member of the Pottstown Area Teen Court in Stowe, PA. As part of the promotion, NYCC developed an action kit to help youth court programs publicize local community projects and activities through public education and community outreach.

Earlier in the year, more than 1,000 individuals, almost half of them youth, attended the National Youth Court Conference held April 14–16, 2002, in Arlington, VA. The conference included more than 63 workshops, which covered topics such as finding and retaining volunteers, involving victims in the youth court process, and incorporating restorative justice principles in youth court programs.

NYCC also developed several new resources, including the Youth Court Training Package, which received the Distinguished Achievement Award for Multimedia Instructional Materials, Young Adult Category, from the Association of Educational Publishers. The training package contains student training manuals for the different youth court models, an instructor's guide, a promotional video, and a CD–ROM.

NYCC also developed a new Web site (www.ycyouth.net) designed exclusively for youth court youth volunteers. The site includes online training on jury deliberation and case preparation, a youth volunteer newsletter, information on starting a youth court, answers to frequently asked questions about youth courts, and other resources.

On the Horizon

During FY 2002, OJJDP solicited competitive applications for a program to test the effectiveness of two school-based substance abuse programs: Project ALERT and Project SUCCESS. Through the Promising Programs for Substance Abuse Prevention: Replication and Evaluation Initiative, OJJDP hopes to determine whether the positive outcomes found in earlier evaluations of these programs can be replicated in other sites. OJJDP plans to fund the replication evaluation for 5 years.

³ Under the 2002 reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, mentoring and several other programs soon will be consolidated into a single Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Block Grant Program.

⁴The pool of applicants for FY 2002 was the largest in the history of JUMP. In FY 2003, rather than issuing a new solicitation, OJJDP is selecting grantees from unfunded, highly rated applications received in FY 2002. The Office anticipates making 30 additional JUMP grant awards in FY 2003.