Title: Blueprints: A Violence Prevention Initiative Series: OJJDP Fact Sheet #110 Author: Janine Muller and Sharon Mihalic Published: Office for Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, June 1999 Subject: Juvenile delinquency prevention, drug abuse 4 pages 9,000 bytes Figures, charts, forms, and tables are not included in this ASCII plain-text file. To view this document in its entirety, download the Adobe Acrobat graphic file available from this Web site or order a print copy from NCJRS at 800-638-8736. ------------------------------- Blueprints: A Violence Prevention Initiative by Janine Muller and Sharon Mihalic In 1996, the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV) at the University of Colorado at Boulder initiated a project to identify juvenile violence prevention programs that could provide the nucleus for a national violence prevention initiative. As of the date of the publication of this Fact Sheet, CSPV has identified 10 prevention and intervention programs that meet scientific standards of proven program effectiveness and is in the process of identifying additional programs. The 10 model programs, called Blueprints, have been effective in reducing adolescent violent crime, aggression, and substance abuse. CSPV and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) have entered into a cooperative agreement to provide training and technical assistance to community organizations and program providers interested in implementing one of these programs. Blueprints Program Selection Criteria CSPV staff and an advisory board of experts in the field of violence prevention review potential Blueprints programs according to a "gold" standard of proven program effectiveness. This standard includes four criteria: an experimental or quasi-experimental design with random assignment or matched control group; evidence of a statistically significant deterrent effect on delinquency, drug use, and/or violence; replication in at least one additional site with demonstrated effects; and evidence that the deterrent effect was sustained for at least 1 year following treatment. Blueprints Program Descriptions The 10 Blueprints programs identified to date are described in detail in individual publications that document the theoretical rationale for the programs, their core components, implementation issues, evaluation designs and results, and experiences encountered during their implementation at multiple sites. The cost for each Blueprints publication is $10 (plus shipping and handling), which covers the cost of publishing. A brief description of each program is provided below. Prenatal and Infancy Nurse Home Visitation is a program that sends nurses into the homes of at-risk pregnant women bearing their first child to ensure the health of the mother and child. Home visits promote the physical, cognitive, and emotional development of the children and provide general support and parenting instruction to the parents from the prenatal period to 2 years after the birth of the child. The Bullying Prevention Program is a school-based initiative designed to reduce victim/bully problems among primary and secondary school children. The program identifies and addresses incidents from teasing and taunting to intimidation and physical violence and attempts to restructure the school environment to reduce opportunities and rewards for bullying behavior. Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies is a multiyear, school-based prevention model for elementary school youth designed to promote emotional and social competence, including the expression, understanding, and regulation of emotions. Big Brothers Big Sisters of America mentoring program primarily serves 6- to 18-year-old disadvantaged youth from single-parent households. The goal is to provide a consistent and stable mentoring relationship. A mentor meets with his or her assigned youth at least three times a month for 3 to 5 hours. Quantum Opportunities is an educational incentives program for disadvantaged teens. It provides educational, developmental, and service activities combined with a sustained relationship with a peer group and a caring adult during the high school years. The goal of the program is to help high-risk youth from poor families and neighborhoods graduate from high school and attend college by improving basic academic skills. Multisystemic Therapy (MST) targets specific factors in a youth's ecology (that is, family, peers, school, neighborhood, and support network) that contribute to antisocial behavior. MST is a short-term, intensive program by credentialed therapists that has been proven effective for decreasing antisocial behavior of violent and chronic juvenile offenders. Functional Family Therapy (FFT) is a family treatment model designed to engage and motivate youth and families to change their communication, interaction, and problem-solving patterns. FFT has been applied successfully to a variety of problem youth (with problems ranging from conduct disorder to serious criminal offenses such as theft or aggravated assault). The Midwestern Prevention Project is a comprehensive, community-based program designed to prevent the use of cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana among junior high and middle school students. The program introduces five intervention strategies in sequence over a 5-year period; the strategies involve mass media, school, parents, community organizations, and health policy change to combat drug use in the community. Life Skills Training is a 3-year primary prevention program that targets the use of cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana (the initial year includes 15 lessons; booster sessions are provided in years 2 and 3). The program provides general life skills and social resistance skills training to junior high and middle school students to increase knowledge and improve attitudes about drug use. Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care is an effective alternative to residential treatment for adolescents who have problems with chronic delinquency and antisocial behavior. Youth are placed in well-supervised foster families for 6 to 9 months and undergo weekly individualized therapy. Foster families receive weekly group supervision and daily telephone monitoring. Biological parents learn behavior management techniques to ensure that gains made in the foster setting are maintained after the youth return home. Technical Assistance CSPV is providing training and technical assistance to 50 sites selected to participate in the Blueprints initiative through an OJJDP cooperative agreement. To apply for training and technical assistance, contact CSPV staff and request an application. Applications will be accepted until all 50 sites have been chosen. Currently, some programs have selected the maximum number of sites available through this cooperative agreement. Training and technical assistance are not available under this cooperative agreement for the Midwestern Prevention Project. In addition, technical assistance to implement the Life Skills Training program is available under OJJDP's Drug Abuse Prevention program. Contact CSPV to determine program availability. Technical assistance includes training, site visits to troubleshoot problems, telephone consultations, and a process evaluation. For Further Information To receive information on the Blueprints for Violence Prevention project or to order any of the Blueprints publications, contact: Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence University of Colorado at Boulder Institute of Behavioral Science, #10 Campus Box 442 Boulder, CO 80309-0442 303-492-8465; 303-443-3297 (fax) Internet: www.colorado.edu/cspv/blueprints/ Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Training and Technical Assistance Division 810 Seventh Street NW. Washington, DC 20531 202-307-5940; 202-353-9095 (fax) Internet: www.ojjdp.ncjrs.org ------------------------------- Janine Muller is the Blueprints Program Manager in OJJDP's Training and Technical Assistance Division. Sharon Mihalic is the Blueprints Project Director at CSPV. ------------------------------- The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, and the Office for Victims of Crime. FS-99110