The United States is in the top ten out of 108 countries for the highest juvenile offender percentage (Harrendorf, Heiskanen, & Malby, 2010). Interaction with the juvenile court system has significant iatrogenic effects (Steinberg, Chung, & Little, 2004; Gatti, Tremblay, & Vitaro, 2009; McCord, 1992; Gatti, Tremblay, & Vitaro,…

This report describes the results of an exploratory study of juvenile justice programs where managers and practitioners are attempting to build youth interventions with strength-based, positive youth development principles. Previous researchers have not adequately documented how such reforms take place, let alone whether they produce effective…

In 1972 the federal government created the Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Act that procured funding for various governmental programs to combat the sudden increase in juvenile crime. A provision of this Act set out the creation of mentoring programs to help decrease the juvenile crime rate and dropout rates in secondary schools. This…

The purpose of this guide is to identify the various opportunities available in most communities for delivering crime prevention services to youth so that they will be better prepared to reduce their vulnerability to crime, while enhancing their involvement in prevention efforts. It also serves to outline the benefits of programming with youth;…

During the past several years, national attention has focused increasingly on the many problems facing youth. The Federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (JJDP) Act of 1974 was passed to address this growing problem. The Act stipulates that every Federal agency that administers a juvenile delinquency program must produce a juvenile…

This report is designed to help community-based organizations, youth-serving agencies, and the criminal justice and juvenile justice systems recognize their common stake in supporting healthy and positive youth development, both to revitalize their neighborhoods and to control crime. It focuses on: "The Basics: Youth, Crime and Community…

This report describes lessons learned over the initial 3 years of the implementation of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's SafeFutures Program To Reduce Juvenile Delinquency and Youth Violence, a 5-year demonstration initiative designed to prevent and control juvenile delinquency through a continuum of care in communities.…

This report describes the economics of programs working to reduce crime in Washington State. For a variety of approaches, from prevention programs designed for young children to correctional interventions for juvenile and adult offenders, it systematically analyzes North American research studies from the past 25 years. For this review, the…

Youth violence and delinquency are problems that continue to challenge many communities across the U.S. For over a decade, Pennsylvania has been a national leader in confronting youth problem behaviors in a progressive and proactive fashion, investing heavily in supporting local community prevention coalitions and the use of proven-effective…

"Positive Support" examines potential benefits of matching high-risk youth with faith-based mentors. Drawing on surveys and interviews with young people who participated in the National Faith-Based Initiative, we found that mentored youth were less likely to show signs of depression than the youth who were not matched with a mentor. This in turn…

Over the past ten years, probation departments across the state of California have seen a number of important changes in the way they do business. Beginning with Title IV-A-EA in 1993, departments began a system-wide "sea change," from a focus on suppression, enforcement, and monitoring of youthful offenders to a focus on families and on…

Afterschool programs provide safe places for youth after school in addition to improving academic achievement and helping working families. Afterschool programs provide youth a safe, supervised environment that reduces their risk of committing or becoming a victim of violent crime. A recent report from Fight Crime: Invest in Kids has found that…

Believes that the drop in urban teenage crime can be attributed to the change in how communities meet the needs of children and teenagers. Compares the U.S. cities with successful youth programs to ones that lack resources. Recommends that suburban and rural communities should also adopt programs to combat youth crime and violence. (CMK)

Discusses the use of law-related education as an alternative to formal court in Kentucky's juvenile justice system focusing on the Court-Designated Worker (CDW) Program that processes public and status complaints on individuals under 18 years old. Encourages practitioners in similar settings to pilot a law-related education program. (CMK)

This seventh annual report describes activities and accomplishments of grant activities funded under Title V, the Community Prevention Grants Program; procedures for disseminating grant products and research findings; activities conducted to develop policy and coordinate federal agency and interagency efforts related to delinquency prevention; and…