Title: National Evaluation of the Title V Community Prevention Grants Program Series: Fact Sheet Author: Susan Chibnall Published: November 2001 Subject: Juvenile delinquency prevention, Community justice, Funding resources 6 pages 9,000 bytes ------------------------ 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. ----------------------- National Evaluation of the Title V Community Prevention Grants Program by Susan Chibnall In the 1992 reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, Congress established Title V--Incentive Grants for Local Delinquency Prevention Programs (Pub. L. 93-415; 42 U.S.C. 5601 et seq.), known as the Community Prevention Grants Program.[1] Title V grants support the implementation of collaborative and community-based delinquency prevention plans. These plans focus on risk and protective factors to address those aspects of children's lives that research has shown are critical to the onset of delinquent behavior. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) awards Title V discretionary grants to States based on the relative size of their population subject to original juvenile court jurisdiction. The States, in turn, award the funds to qualified units of local government (i.e., a city, county, town, borough, parish, village, or Indian tribe that performs law enforcement functions) to implement delinquency prevention plans that meet their local needs. Since 1998, OJJDP has conducted a national evaluation of the program's effectiveness, so as to improve the Community Prevention Grants Program model and encourage its implementation in more communities. Caliber Associates is conducting the evaluation, which has evolved significantly during the past 3 years--broad program descriptions of Title V communities nationwide have led to increasingly detailed investigations of program implementation and outcomes in 11 participating study sites in 6 States. The information gathered from these sites helps OJJDP understand how different types of communities can best create conditions that are conducive to effective prevention planning and programming. National Evaluation Design and Activities To assess the efficacy of the Title V model, the evaluation addresses the following research questions: o What impact does Title V have on community planning, service delivery, risk and protective factors, and juvenile problem behaviors? o What factors and activities lead to the effective implementation of the Title V program model? To address these research questions, evaluators are: o Assessing conditions within each State through interviews with State Advisory Group members, State juvenile justice specialists, and other State-level stakeholders. o Assessing community planning and implementation characteristics through ongoing collection and review of grant applications, program activity and evaluation plans, and interviews with Prevention Policy Board (PPB) members, project coordinators and directors, and program staff. Training and technical assistance activities that develop local evaluation capacity are part of the national evaluation design. To date, the evaluation team has conducted training and technical assistance on a variety of topics in participating communities. The team has also developed data collection guides, forms, and other tools to help the communities collect and submit local evaluation data. Although these tools initially were developed for collecting data in national evaluations, communities can also use the tools to evaluate other local projects and programs. Future evaluation activities are listed below: o Ongoing collection of community-level process and outcome data. o Continued training and technical assistance to States and communities to build local evaluation capacity. o Development and dissemination of an empirical Title V survey to validate case study findings in a large national sample. o Dissemination of evaluation findings through OJJDP Fact Sheets, Bulletins, and the annual Title V Report to Congress. In combination, these activities provide a framework for understanding the processes and outcomes of the Title V model. Preliminary Findings Findings based on a preliminary analysis of the evaluation data suggest that certain factors seem to make a difference to effective risk-focused delinquency prevention. 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. The following factors seem to affect program success at the State level: o A designated State Title V coordinator or specialist whose primary responsibility is to organize and oversee Title V planning, implementation, and evaluation activities. o State commitment to and understanding of the Title V model and conveyance of this information to local subgrantees. o State support for planning activities, including State-sponsored planning grants and training and technical assistance to support the implementation of a data-driven planning process. o State support for timely training activities, through which potential Title V subgrantees can readily apply newly acquired information and skills to planning activities and have sufficient time to develop their 3-year plans that incorporate planning, implementation, and evaluation. o State support for evaluation activities, including State Title V and prevention staff who understand basic evaluation concepts and can support local subgrantees in developing and implementing evaluation plans. Factors that seem to affect program success at the community level include the following: o A local Title V coordinator whose primary responsibilities are to organize and oversee Title V planning, implementation, and evaluation activities. o Local commitment to and understanding of the Title V model by local government representatives, PPB members, and Title V project directors and coordinators. o Local support for the planning process, including access to information and support for completing a data-driven planning process that links planning, implementation, and evaluation activities in the 3-year plan. o Local leadership, such as a strong lead agency or organization with experience conducting data-driven risk assessments and planning and implementing comprehensive, community-based initiatives. o Local support for the evaluation, including access to ongoing training and technical assistance and support to develop and implement evaluation plans. o Access to ongoing resources, including financial, material, and in-kind resources. In sum, conducting both a process and outcome evaluation is enabling researchers and practitioners to learn not only what works in delinquency prevention but also why it works. Ultimately, findings from the national evaluation will help OJJDP refine the Title V model and supplement the growing body of research on effective delinquency prevention strategies. --------------------- For Further Information For more information on the Title V Incentive Grants for Local Delinquency Prevention Programs, contact Heidi Hsia, Program Manager, State and Tribal Assistance Division, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 810 Seventh Street NW., Washington, DC 20531, 202-616-3667, 202-307-2819 (fax), hsiah@ojp.usdoj.gov. For more information on the national evaluation of Title V, contact Susan Chibnall, Project Manager, Caliber Associates, 10530 Rosehaven Street, Suite 400, Fairfax, VA 22030, 703- 385-3200, 703-385-3206 (fax), chibnall@calib.com. --------------------- Susan Chibnall, Ph.D., is a Senior Associate and Project Manager for the Title V National Evaluation at Caliber Associates, OJJDP's evaluation management contract provider. --------------------- 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. --------------------- 1 For more information about the Title V Community Prevention Grants Program, visit http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org/titleV. -------------------- FS 200137