Although national statistics continue to point to a decrease in juvenile crime, OJJDP recognizes this is not the time to let up on national efforts to prevent juvenile victimization and respond swiftly and appropriately to juvenile delinquency. During FY 1998, OJJDP continued to work aggressively to develop and fund programs and activities that prevent and intervene in delinquency, strengthen the juvenile justice system, protect children and the public, and enhance law enforcement.
The Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Offenders guided much of OJJDP's work during the past year. This strategy calls for community-based prevention programs to reduce risk factors for juvenile crime and provide buffering protective factors. The Office also implemented four major new programs established by Congress: Combating Underage Drinking (CUD), which provides funds to help communities develop comprehensive approaches to the problem of underage drinking, with an emphasis on increasing law enforcement activity; Drug-Free Communities Support, which helps community-based coalitions fight juvenile drug use; Juvenile Accountability Incentive Block Grants (JAIBG), which is encouraging accountability-based reforms in State and local jurisdictions; and Training and Technical Assistance for a Drug Prevention Program, which will help jurisdictions implement a proven drug prevention program. Other accomplishments include the continued support of the Balanced and Restorative Justice program, which recognizes the restoration of both victims and offenders as critical goals of community justice; the Juvenile Mentoring Program; a variety of gang initiatives; and the Model Court program, which is helping courts improve how they handle child abuse and neglect cases.
OJJDP's Missing and Exploited Children's Program (MECP) also had many accomplishments. The program launched a Web site in 1998 that features Tips for Kids, which tell children where they should go if they are scared, lost, or need help. OJJDP also created a major new program and awarded grants to 10 jurisdictions to help State and local law enforcement agencies implement regional task forces to address and combat Internet crimes against children. The MECP continued to fund the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The center operates a 24-hour toll-free hotline and established a CyberTipline in 1998 to collect and forward to law enforcement agencies information from citizens about computer-facilitated sexual exploitation of children. MECP also continued to provide a variety of training and technical assistance to law enforcement, prosecutors, and health and family services professionals. Research activities supported by MECP include the second National Incidence Studies of Missing, Exploited, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children; a study of effective community-based approaches for dealing with missing and exploited children; an analysis of more than 550 missing child homicide cases; and expanded research to broaden law enforcement's understanding of how homicidal pedophiles select and lure victims, plan activities, and elude prosecution.
Recognizing the importance of keeping juvenile justice practitioners and policymakers informed about OJJDP activities and of providing information about promising programs, OJJDP continued to make dissemination a priority during FY 1998. The Office developed and distributed more than 70 publications, hosted a national conference, and sponsored several satellite videoconferences. The Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse, which offers toll-free telephone and online access to information, remained OJJDP's major vehicle for distributing information.
A major portion of OJJDP's annual appropriation supports five formula and block grant programs that provide funds directly to the States, U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia. These programs are the Formula Grants Program, Title V Incentive Grants for Local Delinquency Prevention Program, State Challenge Activities Program, JAIBG, and CUD. The Formula Grants Program has spurred State and local reforms of the juvenile justice system and has resulted in States deinstitutionalizing status offenders and nonoffenders, separating juveniles from adults in institutional settings, removing juveniles from adult jails and lockups, and addressing the disproportionate confinement of minority juveniles in secure facilities. It is especially encouraging that States are spending a large portion of their formula grants on delinquency prevention programs. The Title V Program continues to help communities by providing funds to develop comprehensive and coordinated delinquency prevention strategies that focus on risk and protective factors. The State Challenge Activities Program encourages States to improve their juvenile justice systems by addressing 1 or more of 10 program areas specified by Congress. During FY 1997, most States addressed at least 2 activities; 12 States addressed 3; and 1 State addressed 4. OJJDP moved quickly to implement the new JAIBG program in FY 1998 and awarded block grants to 56 eligible jurisdictions (States, five U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia). The States are using the funds to address four specific system changes that hold young offenders accountable at every stage of the juvenile justice system. Finally, the CUD Program provided block grants to each State and the District of Columbia to fund activities to curb underage drinking and encourage enforcement of underage drinking laws.
OJJDP also supported a number of new and continuation activities related to juvenile detention and corrections. One of these, the Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement, was conducted for the first time on October 29, 1997. The census determined that 125,805 youth resided in 1,121 public and 2,310 private residential facilities on that date. The census also provided information about the race, gender, and age of offenders and about the types of offenses they were charged with or adjudicated for. OJJDP is developing several new surveys to help local, State, and Federal policymakers and practitioners monitor the juvenile detention and corrections field. The new Juvenile Residential Facility Census will routinely collect information on how facilities operate; the Survey of Youth in Residential Placement will provide information about youth in juvenile justice facilities, including past offending behavior, pathways to delinquency, family and social environments, and experiences in custody; and the Survey of Juvenile Probation will estimate the number of juveniles on probation nationally at a specific time, the nature of their offenses, and the conditions of their probation.
The variety of activities OJJDP undertook in FY 1998 illustrates the continuum of programming called for in the Comprehensive Strategy. Such programs are necessary to address serious juvenile crime and build on the declining juvenile crime rate. Many of OJJDP's programs also are designed to help States and localities assess their needs and problems and develop solutions targeted specifically at those needs. These programs and OJJDP's other efforts in FY 1998 represent OJJDP's commitment to provide national leadership to prevent and intervene in juvenile delinquency.
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| OJJDP Annual Report 1998 | October 1999 | |