Because many of OJJDP's programs relate to more than one of the four themes addressed by other programs, they have been designated as "overarching" programs. These programs cover a range of topics and include demonstration and research activities. The SafeFutures program is the best example of an overarching program, because it encompasses the elements that must be present in an effective strategy to prevent and control delinquency, protect the public, and strengthen the juvenile justice system.
OJJDP has supported the SafeFutures: Partnerships To Reduce Youth Violence and Delinquency program since 1995. The Office awarded continuation grants of up to $1.4 million last year to each of six communities (Boston, MA; Contra Costa County and Imperial County, CA; Fort Belknap, MT; Seattle, WA; and St. Louis, MO) to help them implement comprehensive community programs designed to reduce youth violence, delinquency, and victimization by creating a continuum of services in their communities. This continuum enables communities to respond to the needs of youth at critical stages of their development through a range of prevention, intervention, treatment, and sanctions programs. Seattle's Youth Center, for example, provides a safe place with structured activities for teenagers experiencing the transitions of both adolescence and immigration. Fort Belknap's Youth Ranch helps youth integrate tribal traditions with life and job skills. Imperial County's Family Resource Center uses a multidisciplinary team approach to help meet the needs of youth in its area, providing mental health and substance abuse counseling, case management, and referrals to other services. OJJDP also continued to support a grant to The Urban Institute of Washington, DC, to evaluate the SafeFutures program. The evaluation is addressing the program's implementation process, performance measures, lessons learned, and accomplishments.
OJJDP also continued to support the Program of Research on the Causes and Correlates of Delinquency (Causes and Correlates). Since 1986, these longitudinal studies have addressed a variety of issues related to juvenile violence and delinquency and have produced a massive amount of information on the causes and correlates of delinquent behavior. The Causes and Correlates study encompasses three coordinated projects: the Denver Youth Survey, directed by the Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado at Boulder; the Pittsburgh Youth Study, directed by the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh, PA; and the Rochester Youth Study, directed by the Hindelang Criminal Justice Research Center, University at Albany, State University of New York. The sites pursue both collaborative and site-specific research. Results from the study have been used extensively in the field of juvenile justice and have contributed significantly to the development of OJJDP's Comprehensive Strategy. The Denver Youth Survey is based on a random sample of households in high-risk neighborhoods of Denver, CO. Survey respondents include 1,527 children who were age 7, 9, 11, 13, or 15 in 1987 and who were randomly selected from disadvantaged neighborhoods with high crime rates. The Pittsburgh Youth Study began with a random sample of boys in the first, fourth, and seventh grades of the public school system in Pittsburgh, PA. The Rochester Youth Development Study sample consists of 1,000 students who were in the seventh and eighth grades of the Rochester, NY, public schools during the spring semester of the 1988 school year.
The Study Group on Serious and Violent Juvenile (SVJ) Offenders (described in chapter2, Major Publications) determined that gathering more information about very young offenders is an important step in stemming the development of delinquent and criminal careers. In response to this finding, OJJDP convened a second study group, which is focusing on this population. Modeled after the SVJ study group, this group is exploring what is known about the prevalence and frequency of offending among youth under the age of 13. OJJDP supplemented a grant to the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic at the University of Pittsburgh, the grantee for the study group on SVJ Offenders, to conduct the study. The project will disseminate the results of its research to the public, policymakers, and practitioners.
All of the continuation programs funded by OJJDP in FY 1998 are described in greater detail in the Comprehensive Program Plan for Fiscal Year 1998 and Availability of Discretionary Program Announcements and Application Kit, published in the Federal Register on June 17, 1998.
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| OJJDP Annual Report 1998 | October 1999 | |