OJJDP News @ a Glance - March/April 2006

Printer-Friendly Version (March/April 2006)

OJJDP Presents Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report

Assistant Attorney General Regina Schofield announced the release of the Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report at the 33d National Conference on Juvenile Justice, held March 26-29, 2006, in Denver, CO (see related article). This OJJDP Report presents a comprehensive, reliable, user-friendly account of juvenile offending, victimization of juveniles, and the justice system's response to these problems.

The 260-page, full-color National Report compiles the latest available statistics from a variety of sources to answer questions frequently asked by juvenile justice professionals, policymakers, the media, and concerned citizens. The authors, Howard Snyder and Melissa Sickmund of the National Center for Juvenile Justice, present the data in hundreds of easy-to-read tables, graphs, and maps, accompanied by analysis in clear, nontechnical language.

"The policies and programs we create must be based on facts, not fears. Too often, the facts are unknown or not readily available. This Report is designed to remedy, at least in part, that information gap.…It is an indispensable resource for professionals who strive to shape the juvenile justice system today."

—J. Robert Flores, OJJDP Administrator

National Report readers will find baseline information on juvenile population trends; patterns of juvenile victimization, including homicide, suicide, and maltreatment; the nature and extent of juvenile offending, including data on antisocial behavior and arrest rates; and the structure, procedures, and activities of the juvenile justice system, including law enforcement agencies, courts, and corrections. The Report also offers the latest information on topics such as school crime, missing children, youth gangs, racial disparity in the juvenile justice system, reentry, and recidivism.

The print report is available free of charge through the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (www.puborder.ncjrs.gov). The expanded online version, which includes data points and PowerPoint slides for all graphs, can be accessed through OJJDP's Statistical Briefing Book.

*Some Questions the National Report* Answers**
	How much crime are juveniles involved in? What kinds of crimes do they commit?
	How often are juveniles victims of crime? What kinds of crimes are committed against them? Are some youth more at risk than others?
	How safe are students at school?
	What are the trends in drug and alcohol use by youth?
	How do courts handle juvenile cases? How many youth are placed on probation? What are the characteristics of youth sent to residential facilities?

Some Facts From the National Report
	Juvenile violent crime arrest rates have declined consistently from 1994 to 2003, although the female proportion of juvenile violent crime has increased.
	In 2002, homicide was the third leading cause of death for juveniles ages 12-17 and the fourth leading cause for children ages 1-11. An estimated 1,600 persons under age 18 were murdered in the United States that year—about 10 percent of all murder victims. Of the 46,600 juveniles murdered between 1980 and 2002, half were killed with a firearm.
	The national Relative Rate Index (RRI) measures levels of racial disparity at various decision points in the juvenile justice system. The RRI for 2002 showed more disparity at arrest and detention than at other decision points; however, the RRI declined between 1992 and 2002, especially for arrests and waivers to criminal court.
	The number of youth committed to juvenile residential facilities increased 28 percent between 1991 and 2003; however, after peaking in 1999, the number began to fall—for the first time in a generation.

Recent Conferences

Teaching Youth About the Law: National Training Institute

OJJDP Deputy Administrator Marilyn Roberts was on hand to welcome the participants and provide opening remarks at the OJJDP-sponsored Teaching Youth About the Law: National Training Institute, held March 13-15, 2006, in Philadelphia, PA. Presented by Youth for Justice, the training institute featured concurrent, interactive, and intensive small-group training tracks designed for particular professionals, including school resource officers, judges, lawyers, educators, and community leaders.

33d National Conference on Juvenile Justice

The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges held its 33d National Conference on Juvenile Justice on March 26-29, 2006, in Denver, CO. Assistant Attorney General Regina Schofield and OJJDP Administrator J. Robert Flores were among the many distinguished participants at the conference. Other special guests included Peter Carlisle, Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu, HI; children's book author and former Denver District Attorney Norman Early, Jr.; and Judge Stephen Rubin, President of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges.

2006 Missing and Exploited Children Regional Training Opportunities

Fox Valley Technical College, through cooperative agreements with OJJDP and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, is offering a number of regional training programs in 2006. These programs include:

Child Abuse and Exploitation Investigative Techniques. This course is designed to enhance the skills of law enforcement and other justice system agencies including child protective services involved in the investigation of child abuse, sexual exploitation of children, child pornography, and missing children cases.
Child Abuse and Exploitation Team Investigative Process. An intensive program designed for teams of 4-6 members, this program promotes the development of a community-based interdisciplinary team process for the effective investigation of missing, abused, and exploited children.
Child Fatality Investigations. The purpose of this program is to provide law enforcement, child protective services workers, medical professionals, and other juvenile justice system professionals with comprehensive training on the detection, intervention, investigation, and prosecution of cases involving fatal child abuse and neglect.
Child Sexual Exploitation Investigations. This course is designed to provide law enforcement professionals with the information necessary to properly understand, recognize, investigate, and resolve child sexual exploitation.
Key Elements For Effective School Policing. This program provides instruction on selected key elements related to the most effective enforcement, intervention, and prevention practices in a school environment.
Managing Juvenile Services. This program presents management concepts to build leadership capacity and organizational competency in the planning and delivery of juvenile services
Protecting Children Online. The purpose of this program is to enhance law enforcement's ability to investigate computer crimes against children.
Responding To Missing And Abducted Children. This program provides law enforcement investigators with the information necessary to properly understand, recognize, investigate, and resolve missing and abducted children cases.
Safe Schools Interagency Team Planning Program. The purpose of the program is to facilitate the planning and implementation of a program of change to improve the overall safety of community schools.
School Resource Officer Leadership Program. The purpose of this program is to demonstrate standards of excellence and best practices in the enhanced role of school resource officers as leaders in planning and maintaining a safe school environment.

For more information and a complete schedule of these training opportunities, including eligibility and registration instructions, visit http://dept.fvtc.edu/ojjdp/index.htm.

National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Week

The week of February 6-10, 2006, was the nation's first National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Week. As part of its National Teen Dating Violence Prevention Initiative and with funding from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), the American Bar Association (ABA) developed an educational toolkit; 1,000 of these kits have been disseminated to high schools across the country.

As Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID), sponsor of the Senate resolution proclaiming National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Week, declared, "This deadly cycle must be stopped—for the sake of our kids, grandkids, and our communities." OJJDP Administrator J. Robert Flores concurred, "Research supported by OJJDP has consistently demonstrated that when a youth is exposed to or victimized by abuse it raises the risk of becoming delinquent. At a time when we are concerned with reducing violent crime by girls, we must take advantage of the opportunity to protect them from violence."

Key elements of the ABA toolkit may be downloaded at http://www.abanet.org/unmet/toolkitmaterials.html.

New Publications

All OJJDP publications may be viewed and downloaded at ojjdp.ncjrs.gov/publications. Print publications may also be ordered from the Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse (order online at puborder.ncjrs.gov or call 800-851-3420).

Now Available

Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report. Presents comprehensive statistical information on juvenile offending, victimization of juveniles, and the justice system's response to these problems. For details, see the top story in this issue of OJJDP News @ a Glance. (Report, March 2006, NCJ 212906)

Psychiatric Disorders of Youth in Detention. Draws on research conducted by the Northwestern Juvenile Project to examine the prevalence of alcohol, drug, and mental disorders among detained youth by gender, race/ethnicity, and age. (Bulletin, April 2006, NCJ 210331)

Funding Update

The following is a brief summary of OJJDP's recent funding activities. Be sure to check the Current Funding section of the OJJDP Web site for the latest news on OJJDP funding opportunities. To receive e-mail notification of new funding opportunities, subscribe to JUVJUST.

Current Solicitation

Field-Initiated Research and Evaluation Program (Due Date: 6/19/2006). The purpose of this program is to support original, rigorous, scientific research and evaluation studies to inform the disciplines of juvenile justice and delinquency prevention and child maltreatment prevention and intervention. public agencies (including state agencies, units of local government, public universities and colleges, and tribal governments) and private organizations (including secular and faith-based nonprofit organizations) may apply.

Recent Solicitations

OJJDP is in the process of reviewing applications for the following recently-closed solicitations.

Enforcing the Underage Drinking Laws Discretionary Program: Initiative To Reduce Underage Drinking. This program seeks to reduce the availability of alcoholic beverages to and the consumption of alcoholic beverages by persons who are serving in the United States Air Force and are under the age of 21.

Field-Initiated Demonstration Program. The purpose of this program is to foster innovations and advancements in juvenile justice related practice at the local, state, and tribal government levels as part of OJJDP's overall effort to support programs that enhance juvenile justice and delinquency prevention.

Mentoring Initiative for System Involved Youth. This program will support the development and enhancement of mentoring programs for youth involved in the juvenile justice system, reentry, and foster care. The initiative seeks to promote collaboration among community organizations and agencies committed to supporting mentoring services for such system-involved youth.

Evaluation of Mentoring Initiative for System Involved Youth. This evaluation will assess the four mentoring sites receiving awards under OJJDP's Mentoring Initiative for System Involved Youth (see above). Tasks will include conducting a formal literature review that details previous research on mentoring with disadvantaged youth and conducting process and outcome evaluations of demonstration programs in four mentoring sites.

Training and Technical Assistance Program for Mentoring Initiative for System Involved Youth. This program will provide training and technical assistance for OJJDP's Mentoring Initiative for System Involved Youth (see above). Tasks will include providing training and technical assistance to four mentoring sites, facilitating the development and use of research-driven training and technical assistance materials by these demonstration sites, fostering the use of effective program design elements, and assisting in identifying, implementing, and sustaining community partnerships.

News From the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

The Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is an independent body within the executive branch of the federal government. The Council's primary functions are to coordinate federal juvenile delinquency prevention programs, federal programs and activities that detain or care for unaccompanied juveniles, and federal programs relating to missing and exploited children.

The Council's most recent meeting, hosted by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), was held March 3, 2006, at the White House Conference Center. The meeting included opening remarks from ONDCP Director John Walters and an overview of the Office's priorities, operations, and initiatives by John C. Horton, ONDCP's Associate Deputy Director of State and Local Affairs. The meeting also included presentations on random student drug testing by David W. Murray, Special Assistant to the Director, ONDCP, and ONDCP's Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign by the Campaign's Project Director, Laura-Ashley Overdyke.

The next Council meeting is scheduled for June 2, 2006, and will be hosted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. For meeting summaries, information about the Council's mission, and links to related resources, visit the Council's Web site at juvenilecouncil.gov.

The Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is chaired by the Attorney General and includes the Administrator of OJJDP (vice chairperson); the Secretaries of Labor, Education, Health and Human Services, and Housing and Urban Development; the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security; the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy; and the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service. Eight expert practitioners appointed by the President, the Senate Majority Leader, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives also serve as Council members.

News From the Federal Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice

The Federal Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice is a consultative body established by the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 2002 and supported by OJJDP. Composed of representatives nominated by the Governors, the Committee advises the President and Congress on matters related to juvenile justice, evaluates the progress and accomplishments of juvenile justice activities and projects, and advises the OJJDP Administrator on the work of OJJDP.

The Advisory Committee's 2005 Recommendations Report to the President and Congress of the United States is now available on the Committee's Web site. This 2005 Annual Report addresses some of the critical juvenile justice issues facing our country today and makes concrete recommendations on ways to address them.

For more information about the Advisory Committee, visit the Committee's Web site.

Back to Home