Proposed Comprehensive Plan for Fiscal Year 1997

SUMMARY: The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is

publishing this notice of its Proposed Comprehensive Plan for fiscal

year 1997.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 28, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to Shay Bilchik, Administrator,

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Room 742, 633

Indiana Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20531.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eileen M. Garry, Special Assistant to

the Administrator, at 202-307-5911. [This is not a toll-free number.]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Office of Juvenile Justice and

Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) is a component of the Office of Justice

Programs in the U.S. Department of Justice. Pursuant to the provisions

of Section 204 (b)(5)(A) of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency

Prevention Act of 1974, as amended, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 5601 et seq. (JJDP

Act), the Administrator of OJJDP is publishing for public comment a

Proposed Comprehensive Plan describing the program activities that

OJJDP proposes to carry out during fiscal year 1997. The Proposed

Comprehensive Plan includes activities authorized in Parts C and D of

Title II of the JJDP Act, codified at 42 U.S.C. Sec. 5651-5665a, 5667,

5667a. Taking into consideration comments received on this Proposed

Comprehensive Plan, the Administrator will develop and publish a Final

Comprehensive Plan describing the particular program activities that

OJJDP intends to fund during fiscal year 1997, using in whole or in

part funds appropriated under Parts C and D of Title II of the JJDP

Act.

Notice of the official solicitation of grant or cooperative

agreement applications under the Final Comprehensive Plan will be

published at a later date in the Federal Register. No proposals,

concept papers, or other forms of application should be submitted at

this time.

Overview

This is a critical time for juvenile justice, a time of both

opportunity and challenge. Earlier this year, the Department of Justice

announced a reduction in overall juvenile violent crime (3 percent) and

a significant drop in juvenile homicide arrests (14 percent) between

1994 and 1995, the first downturns we have seen in 9 years. A National

Center for Juvenile Justice analysis of the 1995 Uniform Crime Report

data reveals that this decrease in overall juvenile crime arrests was

driven by decreased arrests of juveniles 14 and under, an encouraging

sign. While these younger juveniles were responsible for 30 percent of

juvenile violent crime arrests in 1995, they accounted for more than

half of the reported decline in juvenile violent crime arrests. All of

the 2 percent decline in property arrests is attributable to these

younger juveniles.

In order to ensure that these positive trends continue, we must

continue to focus our efforts on establishing a continuum of

prevention, early intervention, and graduated sanctions programs;

strengthening the juvenile justice system; and building stronger, safer

communities. These efforts are needed because we are still confronted

with unacceptably high rates of juvenile crime. Juveniles still account

for 18 percent of all arrests, some 2.7 million in 1995. Even with the

1995 decline in juvenile violent crime arrests noted above, the number

is still 12 percent greater than the 1991 level and 67 percent above

the 1986 level. Juveniles were involved in 32 percent of all robbery

arrests, 23 percent of weapon arrests, and 15 percent of murder and

aggravated assault arrests in 1995.

In the troubling area of drug use, juveniles were involved in 13

percent of all drug arrests in 1995, and the number of juvenile drug

arrests has increased 138 percent since 1991. According to the 22d

national survey in the Monitoring the Future study, illicit drug use

among schoolchildren rose again in 1996. Since 1991, the proportion of

students using any illicit drug in the 12 months prior to the survey

has increased steadily. For 8th graders alone, the proportion has more

than doubled (from 11 percent to 24 percent) since 1991. Since 1992,

the proportion among 10th graders has nearly doubled (from 20 percent

to 38 percent), and among 12th graders, it has risen by about half

(from 27 percent to 40 percent).

Federal leadership in responding to the problems confronting

juvenile justice is vested in OJJDP. Established in 1974 by the JJDP

Act, OJJDP is the Federal agency responsible for providing a

comprehensive, coordinated approach to preventing and controlling

juvenile crime and improving the juvenile justice system. OJJDP

administers State Formula Grants and State Challenge Grants Programs in

States and territories, funds more than 100 projects through its

Special Emphasis Discretionary Grant Program and its National Institute

for Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and coordinates

Federal activities related to juvenile justice and delinquency

prevention.

OJJDP serves as the staff agency for the Coordinating Council on

Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; coordinates the

Concentration of Federal Efforts Program; and administers the Title IV

Missing and Exploited Children's Program, the Title V Community

Prevention Grants Program, and programs under the Victims of Child

Abuse Act of 1990, as amended, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 13001 et seq.

Fiscal Year 1997 Program Planning Activities

The OJJDP program planning process for fiscal year 1997 is

coordinated with the Assistant Attorney General, Office of Justice

Programs (OJP), and the four other OJP program bureaus: the Bureau of

Justice Assistance (BJA), the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), the

National Institute of Justice (NIJ), and the Office for Victims of

Crime (OVC). The program planning process involves the following steps:

Internal review of existing programs by OJJDP staff.

Internal review of proposed programs by OJP bureaus and

Department of Justice components.

Review of information and data from OJJDP grantees and

contractors.

Review of information contained in State comprehensive

plans.

Review of comments made by youth service providers,

juvenile justice practitioners, and researchers, to receive input in

proposed new program areas.

Consideration of suggestions made by juvenile justice

policymakers concerning State and local needs.

Consideration of all comments received during the period

of public comment on the Proposed Comprehensive Plan.

Discretionary Program Activities

Discretionary Grant Continuation Policy

OJJDP has listed on the following pages continuation projects

currently funded in whole or in part with Part C and Part D funds and

eligible for continuation funding in fiscal year

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1997, either within an existing project period or through an extension

for an additional project period. A grantee's eligibility for continued

funding for an additional budget period within an existing project

period depends on the grantee's compliance with funding eligibility

requirements and achievement of the prior year's objectives. The amount

of award is based on prior projections, demonstrated need, and fund

availability.

The only projects described in this Proposed Program Plan are those

that are eligible to receive fiscal year 1997 continuation funding and

programs OJJDP is considering for new awards in fiscal year 1997.

Consideration for continuation funding for an additional budget or

project period for previously funded discretionary grant programs will

be based upon several factors, including the following:

The extent to which the project responds to the applicable

requirements of the JJDP Act.

Responsiveness to OJJDP and Department of Justice fiscal

year 1997 program priorities.

Compliance with performance requirements of prior grant

years.

Compliance with fiscal and regulatory requirements.

Compliance with any special conditions of the award.

Availability of funds (based on program priority

determinations).

In accordance with Section 262 (d)(1)(B) of the JJDP Act, as

amended, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 5665a, the competitive process for the award of

Part C funds shall not be required if the Administrator makes a written

determination waiving the competitive process:

1. With respect to programs to be carried out in areas in which the

President declares under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and

Emergency Assistance Act codified at 42 U.S.C. Sec. 5121 et seq. that a

major disaster or emergency exists, or

2. With respect to a particular program described in Part C that is

uniquely qualified.

OJJDP Funding Policy

OJJDP seeks to focus its assistance on the development and

implementation of programs with the greatest potential for reducing

juvenile delinquency and improving the juvenile justice system by

establishing partnerships with State, Native American, Native Alaskan,

and local governments and public and private organizations. To that

end, OJJDP has set three goals that constitute the major elements of a

sound policy that assures public safety and security while establishing

effective juvenile justice and delinquency prevention programs:

To promote delinquency prevention and early intervention

efforts that reduce the flow of juvenile offenders into the juvenile

justice system, the numbers of serious and violent offenders, and the

development of chronic delinquent careers. While removing serious and

violent juvenile offenders from the street serves to protect the

public, long-term solutions lie primarily in taking aggressive steps to

stop delinquency before it starts or becomes a pattern of behavior.

To improve the juvenile justice system and the response of

the system to juvenile delinquents, status offenders, and dependent,

neglected, and abused children.

To preserve the public safety in a manner that serves the

appropriate development and best use of secure detention and

corrections options, while at the same time fostering the use of

community-based programs for juvenile offenders.

Underlying each of the three goals is the overarching premise that

achievement of these goals is vital to protecting the long-term safety

of the public from increased juvenile delinquency and violence. The

following discussion addresses these three broad goals.

Delinquency Prevention and Early Intervention

A primary goal of OJJDP is to identify and promote programs that

prevent or reduce the occurrence of juvenile offenses, both criminal

and noncriminal, and to intervene immediately and effectively when

delinquent or status offense conduct first occurs. A sound policy for

juvenile delinquency prevention seeks to strengthen the most powerful

contributing factor to socially acceptable behavior'a productive place

for young people in a law-abiding society. Delinquency prevention

programs can operate on a broad scale, providing for positive youth

development, or can target juveniles identified as being at high risk

for delinquency with programs designed to reduce future juvenile

offending. OJJDP prevention programs take a risk and protective factor-

focused delinquency prevention approach based on public health and

social development models.

Early interventions are designed to provide services to juveniles

whose noncriminal misbehavior indicates that they are on a delinquent

pathway or to first-time nonviolent delinquent offenders or nonserious

repeat offenders who do not respond to initial system intervention.

These interventions are generally nonpunitive but serve to hold a

juvenile accountable while providing services tailored to the

individual needs of the juvenile and the juvenile's family. They are

designed to both deter future misconduct and reduce the negative or

enhance the positive factors present in a child's life

Improvement of the Juvenile Justice System

A second goal of OJJDP is to promote improvements in the juvenile

justice system and facilitate the most effective allocation of system

resources. This goal is necessary for holding juveniles who commit

crimes accountable for their conduct, particularly serious and violent

offenders who sometimes slip through the cracks of the system or are

inappropriately diverted. This includes assisting law enforcement

officers in their efforts to prevent and control delinquency and the

victimization of children through community policing programs and

coordination and collaboration with other system components and with

child caring systems. Meeting this goal involves helping juvenile and

family courts, and the prosecutors and public defenders who practice in

those courts, to provide a system of justice that maintains due process

protections. It requires trying innovative programs and carefully

evaluating those programs to determine what works and what does not

work. It includes a commitment to involving crime victims in the

juvenile justice system and ensuring that their rights are considered.

In this regard, OJJDP will continue to work closely with the Office

for Victims of Crime to further cooperative programming, including the

provision of services to juveniles who are crime victims or the

provision of victims services that improve the operation of the

juvenile justice system. Improving the juvenile justice system also

calls for building an appropriate juvenile detention and corrections

capacity and for intensified efforts to use juvenile detention and

correctional facilities when necessary and under conditions that

maximize public safety, while providing effective rehabilitation

services. It requires encouraging States to carefully consider the use

of expanded transfer authority that sends the most serious, violent,

and intractable juvenile offenders to the criminal justice system,

while preserving individualized justice. It necessitates conducting

research and gathering statistical information in order

[[Page 11958]]

to understand how the juvenile justice system works in serving children

and families. And finally, the system can only be improved if

information and knowledge are communicated, understood, and applied for

the purpose of juvenile justice system improvement.

Corrections, Detention, and Community-Based Alternatives

A third OJJDP goal is to maintain the public safety through a

balanced use of secure detention and corrections and community-based

alternatives. This involves identifying and promoting effective

community-based programs and services for juveniles who have formal

contact with the juvenile justice system and emphasizing options that

maintain the safety of the public, are appropriately restrictive, and

promote and preserve positive ties with the child's family, school, and

community. Communities cannot afford to place responsibility for

juvenile delinquency entirely on publicly operated juvenile justice

system programs. A sound policy for combating juvenile delinquency and

reducing the threat of youth violence makes maximum use of a full range

of public and private programs and services, most of which operate in

the juvenile's home community, including those provided by the health

and mental health, child welfare, social service, and educational

systems.

Coordination of the development of community-based programs and

services with the development and use of a secure detention and

correctional system capability for those juveniles who require a secure

option is cost effective, will protect the public, reduce facility

crowding, and result in better services for both institutionalized

juveniles and those who can be served while remaining in their

community environment.

In pursuing these broad goals, OJJDP divides its programs into six

key categories: public safety and law enforcement; strengthening the

juvenile justice system; delinquency prevention and intervention; child

abuse, neglect, and dependency courts; and missing and exploited

children. A six category, overarching programs, contains programs that

have significant elements common to more than one category.

Introduction to Fiscal Year 1997 Program Plan

In 1996, the U.S. Department of Justice announced new national

statistics showing a 3-percent decline in the 1995 overall juvenile

violent crime (murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault)

arrest rate, reversing an upward trend that had lasted for a decade. An

even greater decline (14 percent) occurred in the juvenile murder

arrest rate, which had also fallen significantly in the previous year.

These declines are in sharp contrast to the 10-year climb between 1985-

1994 when arrests of juveniles for all violent crimes rose by 75

percent and arrests of juveniles for murder rose 150 percent. Based on

those trends and population projections, demographers were predicting

that juvenile arrests for violent crimes would more than double by the

year 2010.

The positive news released in 1996 must not lead to a relaxation of

efforts to lower unacceptably high rates of juvenile violence and

crime. Instead, this partial success should lead the Nation to

intensify its commitment to reducing juvenile crime and to sustain the

1995 decline in arrest rates. This commitment must focus on

strengthening the ability of communities to provide for their immediate

safety through law enforcement and correctional strategies, to develop

and implement both prevention and intervention programs, and to provide

those services that will enable children to grow up as healthy and

productive citizens in nurturing homes, safe schools, and peaceful,

caring communities. To be effective, however, this commitment must be

rooted in a comprehensive approach to the problems of juvenile

delinquency, violence, and victimization.

Over the past 4 years, OJJDP has developed a framework for an

improved, more effective juvenile justice system. The foundation was

laid in 1993 with the publication of OJJDP's Comprehensive Strategy for

Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Offenders. The Comprehensive

Strategy uses statistics, research, and program evaluations as the

basis for a set of sound principles for establishing a continuum of

care for the Nation's children. The Comprehensive Strategy emphasizes

the importance of local planning teams that assess the influences or

factors putting youth at risk for delinquency, determine available

resources, and put prevention programs in place to either reduce those

risk factors or provide protective factors that buffer juveniles from

the impact of risk factors. The Comprehensive Strategy also stresses

the importance of early intervention for juveniles whose behavior puts

them on one or more pathways to delinquency and a system of graduated

sanctions that can ensure immediate and appropriate accountability and

treatment for juvenile offenders.

In 1995, OJJDP published its Guide for Implementing the

Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile

Offenders, a resource to help States, cities, and communities implement

the Comprehensive Strategy. Early in 1996, the Coordinating Council on

Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, of which OJJDP is a

member, published Combating Violence and Delinquency: The National

Juvenile Justice Action Plan. The Action Plan prioritizes Federal

activities and resources under eight critical objectives that must be

addressed to effectively combat delinquency and violence. Research and

the findings of numerous commissions support the choice of these

objectives as central to reducing and preventing juvenile violence,

delinquency, and victimization. The objectives are to (1) provide

immediate intervention and appropriate sanctions and treatment for

delinquent juveniles; (2) prosecute certain serious, violent, and

chronic juvenile offenders in criminal court; (3) reduce youth

involvement with guns, drugs, and gangs; (4) provide opportunities for

children and youth; (5) break the cycle of violence by addressing youth

victimization, abuse, and neglect; (6) strengthen and mobilize

communities; (7) support the development of innovative approaches to

research and evaluation; and (8) implement an aggressive public

outreach campaign on effective strategies to combat juvenile violence.

The OJJDP 1997 Proposed Program Plan is rooted in the principles of

the Comprehensive Strategy and the objectives of the Action Plan. Just

as in 1996, the Proposed Program Plan supports a balanced approach to

aggressively addressing juvenile delinquency and violence through

establishing graduated sanctions, improving the juvenile justice

system's ability to respond, and preventing the onset of delinquency.

The Proposed Program Plan also recognizes the need to ensure public

safety and support children's development into healthy, productive

citizens through a range of prevention, early intervention, and

graduated sanctions programs.

Four program areas were identified through a process of engaging

OJJDP staff, other Federal agencies, and juvenile justice practitioners

in an examination of existing programs, research findings, and the

needs of the field. OJJDP's national conference, ``Juvenile Justice at

the Crossroads,'' held in December 1996 was particularly helpful in

developing program priorities for fiscal year 1997. The new program

areas are school-based gang intervention

[[Page 11959]]

and prevention, juvenile sex offenders, mental health, and cost-benefit

analyses. In addition, OJJDP has identified for fiscal year 1997

funding a range of research and evaluation projects that will expand

knowledge about juvenile offenders; the effectiveness of prevention,

intervention, and treatment programs; and the operation of the juvenile

justice system. Specific evaluation initiatives will be undertaken

related to Boys and Girls Clubs of America's gang outreach efforts,

teen courts, the President's Crime Prevention Council's drug and

alcohol use prevention program, and gun violence reduction. Combined

with OJJDP programs being continued in fiscal year 1997, these new

demonstration and support programs form a continuum of programming that

supports the objectives of the Action Plan and mirrors the foundation

and framework of the Comprehensive Strategy.

These continuation activities and programs and the new fiscal year

1997 programs are at the heart of OJJDP's categorical funding efforts.

For example, while focusing on the development of assessment centers as

a new area of programming, continuing to offer training seminars in the

Comprehensive Strategy, and looking to the SafeFutures program to

implement the Comprehensive Strategy model, OJJDP will be exploring how

to better address juvenile sex offenders and the mental health needs of

juvenile offenders. Combined, these activities provide a more holistic

approach to prevention and early intervention programs while enhancing

the juvenile justice system's capacity to provide immediate and

appropriate accountability and treatment for juvenile offenders,

including those with special treatment needs.

OJJDP's Part D Gang Program will continue to support a range of

comprehensive prevention, intervention, and suppression activities at

the local level, evaluate those activities, and inform communities

about the nature and extent of gang activities and effective and

innovative programs through OJJDP's National Youth Gang Center.

Similarly, our new activities related to school-based gang programs and

the evaluation of the Boys and Girls Clubs gang outreach effort, along

with an evaluation of selected youth gun violence reduction programs,

will complement existing law enforcement and prosecutorial training

programs by supporting and informing grassroots community

organizations' efforts to address juvenile gangs and juvenile access

to, and carriage and use of, guns. This programming will build upon

OJJDP's youth-focused community policing, mentoring, and conflict

resolution initiatives and programming in the area of drug abuse

prevention, such as funding to the Race Against Drug program, the

Congress of National Black Churches, and the National Center for

Neighborhood Enterprise for schools, local church, and neighborhood-

based drug abuse prevention programs.

In support of the need to break the cycle of violence, OJJDP's

SafeKids/Safe Streets demonstration program, being implemented in

partnership with other OJP offices and bureaus, will improve linkages

between the dependency and criminal court systems, child welfare and

social service providers, and family strengthening programs and will

complement ongoing support of Court Appointed Special Advocates, Child

Advocacy Centers, and prosecutor and judicial training in the

dependency field, funded under the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990,

as amended.

The Plan's research and evaluation programming will support many of

the above activities by filling in critical gaps in knowledge about the

level and seriousness of juvenile crime and victimization, its causes

and correlates, and effective programs in preventing delinquency and

violence. At the same time, OJJDP's research efforts will also be

geared toward efforts that monitor and evaluate the ways juveniles are

treated by the juvenile and criminal justice systems and any trends in

this response, particularly as they relate to juvenile violence and its

impact.

OJJDP is also utilizing its national perspective to disseminate

information to those at the grassroots level--practitioners,

policymakers, community leaders, and service providers who are directly

responsible for planning and implementing policies and programs that

have an impact on juvenile crime and violence.

OJJDP will continue to fund longitudinal research on the causes and

correlates of delinquency, the findings of which are shared regularly

with the field through OJJDP publications; utilize state-of-the-art

technology to provide the field with an interactive CD-ROM on promising

and effective programs designed to prevent delinquency and reduce

recidivism; air national satellite teleconferences on key topics of

relevance to practitioners; and publish new reports and documents on

timely topics such as truants and dropouts, mentoring, home visitation

and parent training, youth-related community policing strategies, youth

gang homicides and drug trafficking, conflict resolution, collaborative

partnerships, sharing of information pursuant to the Federal

Educational Rights and Privacy Act, confidentiality of juvenile court

records, innovative sentencing options, and strategies to reduce youth

gun violence.

The various contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, and

interagency fund transfers described in the Program Plan form a

continuum of activity designed to address youth violence, delinquency,

and victimization. In isolation, this programming can do little.

However, the emphasis of OJJDP's programming is on collaboration. It is

through collaboration that Federal, State, and local agencies; Native

American tribes; national organizations; private philanthropies; the

corporate and business sector; health, mental health, and social

service agencies; schools; youth; families; and clergy can come

together to form partnerships and leverage additional resources,

identify needs and priorities, and implement innovative strategies.

Together, as the promising statistics published last year demonstrate,

we have made--and we can continue to make--a difference.

Fiscal Year 1997 Programs

The following are brief summaries of each of the new and

continuation programs scheduled to receive funding in fiscal year 1997.

As indicated above, the program categories are public safety and law

enforcement; strengthening the juvenile justice system; delinquency

prevention and intervention; child abuse, neglect, and dependency

courts; and missing and exploited children. However, because many

programs have significant elements of more than one of these program

categories, or generally support all of OJJDP's programs, they are

listed in an initial program category called Overarching Programs. The

specific program priorities within each category are subject to change

with regard to their priority status, sites for implementation, and

other descriptive data and information based on the review and comment

process, grantee performance, application quality, fund availability,

and other factors.

A number of programs contained in this document have been

identified for funding by Congress with regard to the grantee(s), the

amount of funds, or both. Such programs are indicated by an asterisk

(*). The 1997 Appropriations Act Conference Report for the Departments

of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies

Programs identified 12 programs for OJJDP to examine and fund if

warranted. Four of these programs (Coalition for Juvenile Justice,

KidsPeace--The National Center for Kids in Crisis, North America, Law-

[[Page 11960]]

Related Education, and Parents Anonymous, Inc.) are included in the

Plan for continuation funding. The remaining eight are receiving

careful consideration for funding in fiscal year 1997. They are:

Parents Resource Institute for Drug Education

Restorative Justice Challenge Grants

Institute on Violence and Destructive Behavior

Consortium on Children, Families, and the Law

Kansas Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center

Project O.A.S.I.S.

Savannah Youth Foundation

Teen Night Out

Fiscal Year 1997 Program Listing

Overarching

SafeFutures: Partnerships to Reduce Youth Violence and Delinquency

Evaluation of SafeFutures

Program of Research on the Causes and Correlates of Delinquency

Study Group on the Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Offender

National Academy of Sciences Study of Juvenile Justice

The Hamilton Fish National Institute on School/Community Violence*

OJJDP Management Evaluation Contract

Juvenile Justice Statistics and Systems Development

Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement

Cost-Benefit Analyses of Juvenile Justice Programs

Juvenile Justice Data Resources

National Juvenile Court Data Archive*

National Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Training and

Technical Assistance Center

Technical Assistance for State Legislatures

OJJDP Technical Assistance Support Contract--Juvenile Justice

Resource Center

Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse

Telecommunications Assistance

Coalition for Juvenile Justice*

Insular Area Support*

Public Safety and Law Enforcement

Comprehensive Community-Wide Approach to Gang Prevention,

Intervention, and Suppression Program

Evaluation of the Comprehensive Community-Wide Approach to Gang

Prevention, Intervention, and Suppression Program

Targeted Outreach With a Gang Prevention and Intervention Component

(Boys and Girls Clubs)

The Developmental Dynamics of Gang Membership and Delinquency

National Youth Gang Center

Evaluation of Youth Gun Violence Reduction Programs

The Chicago Project for Violence Reduction

Child-Centered Community-Oriented Policing

Law Enforcement Training and Technical Assistance Program

Violence Studies

Strengthening the Juvenile Justice System

Development of OJJDP's Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent,

and Chronic Juvenile Offenders

Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Offender Treatment Program

Juvenile Restitution: A Balanced Approach

Training and Technical Assistance Program to Promote Gender-Specific

Programming for Female Juvenile Offenders

Cook County Juvenile Female Offenders Project

Juvenile Transfers to Criminal Court Studies

Replication and Expansion of Fagan Transfer Study

Technical Assistance to Juvenile Courts*

Juvenile Court Judges Training*

The Juvenile Justice Prosecution Unit

Due Process Advocacy Program Development

Quantum Opportunities Program (QOP) Evaluation

Intensive Community-Based Aftercare Demonstration and Technical

Assistance Program

Evaluation of Intensive Community-Based Aftercare Demonstration and

Technical Assistance Program

Interventions To Reduce Disproportionate Minority Confinement in

Secure Detention and Correctional Facilities (The Deborah Ann

Wysinger Memorial Program)

State Justice Statistics Program for Statistical Analysis Centers

Juvenile Probation Survey Research

Performance-Based Standards for Juvenile Detention and Correctional

Facilities

Technical Assistance to Juvenile Corrections and Detention (The

James E. Gould Memorial Program)

Training for Juvenile Corrections and Detention Management Staff

Training for Line Staff in Juvenile Detention and Corrections

Training and Technical Support for State and Local Jurisdictional

Teams To Focus on Juvenile Corrections and Detention Overcrowding

National Program Directory

A Comprehensive Juvenile Sex Offender Typology

KidsPeace--The National Centers for Kids in Crisis, North America*

The Bethesda Day Treatment Program

Interagency Programs on Mental Health and Juvenile Justice

Delinquency Prevention and Intervention

Training In Risk-Focused Prevention Strategies

Youth Substance Use Prevention Programs (The President's Crime

Prevention Council)

Survey of School-Based Gang Prevention and Intervention Programs

Youth-Centered Conflict Resolution

Teens, Crime, and the Community: Teens in Action in the 90s*

Law-Related Education*

Communities in Schools--Federal Interagency Partnership

The Congress of National Black Churches: National Anti-Drug Abuse/

Violence Campaign (NADVC)

Risk Reduction Via Promotion of Youth Development

Community Anti-Drug Abuse Technical Assistance Voucher Project

Training and Technical Assistance for Family Strengthening Programs

Training and Technical Assistance To Promote Teen Court Programs

Evaluation of Teen Courts

Henry Ford Health System

Angel Gate Academy*

Suffolk County PAL (Police Athletic League)*

Do the Write Thing

Child Abuse and Neglect and Dependency Courts

Permanent Families for Abused and Neglected Children*

Parents Anonymous, Inc.*

Missing and Exploited Children

Jimmy Ryce Law Enforcement Training Center*

Overarching

SafeFutures: Partnerships To Reduce Youth Violence and Delinquency

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)

will award grants of up to $1.4 million to each of six communities,

initially funded with fiscal year 1995 funds, to assist with

comprehensive community programs designed to reduce youth violence and

delinquency. Boston, Massachusetts; Seattle, Washington; St. Louis,

Missouri; Contra Costa County, California; Imperial County, California;

and Fort Belknap, Montana (Native American site) were selected

competitively to receive 5-year awards under the SafeFutures project on

the basis of their substantial planning and progress in community

assessment and strategic planning to address delinquency.

SafeFutures seeks to prevent and control youth crime and

victimization through the creation of a continuum of care in

communities. This continuum enables communities to be responsive to the

needs of youth at critical stages of their development through

providing an appropriate range of prevention, intervention, treatment,

and sanctions programs.

The goals of SafeFutures are (1) to prevent and control juvenile

violence and delinquency in targeted communities by reducing risk

factors and increasing protective factors for delinquency; providing a

continuum of services for juveniles at risk of delinquency, with

appropriate immediate interventions for juvenile offenders; and

developing a full range of graduated sanctions designed to hold

delinquent youth accountable to the victim and the community, ensure

community safety, and provide appropriate treatment and rehabilitation

services; (2) to develop a more efficient, effective, and timely

service delivery

[[Page 11961]]

system for at-risk and delinquent juveniles and their families that is

capable of responding to their needs at any point of entry into the

juvenile justice system; (3) to build the community's capacity to

institutionalize and sustain the continuum by expanding and

diversifying sources of funding; and (4) to determine the success of

program implementation and the outcomes achieved, including whether a

comprehensive strategy involving community-based efforts and program

resources concentrated on providing a continuum of care has succeeded

in preventing or reducing juvenile violence and delinquency.

Each of the six sites will continue to provide a set of services

that builds on community strengths and existing services and fills in

gaps within their existing continuum. These services include family

strengthening, afterschool activities, mentoring, treatment

alternatives for juvenile female offenders, mental health services, day

treatment, graduated sanctions for violent and chronic offenders, and

gang prevention, intervention, and suppression.

A national evaluation is being conducted by The Urban Institute to

determine the success of the initiative and track lessons learned

throughout SafeFutures efforts at each of the six sites. OJJDP has also

committed a cadre of training and technical assistance (TTA) resources

to SafeFutures through OJJDP's National Training and Technical

Assistance Center, which has brought together more than 40 TTA

providers and dedicated a full-time TTA coordinator for SafeFutures.

The Center also assists the communities in brokering and leveraging

additional TTA resources. In addition, the U.S. Department of Housing

and Urban Development has provided interagency support of $100,000 for

training and technical assistance targeted to violence and delinquency

prevention for public housing areas in SafeFutures sites. Thus,

operations, evaluation, and TTA have been organized together to form a

joint team at the national level to support local site efforts.

SafeFutures activities will be carried out by the six current

SafeFutures grantees. No additional applications will be solicited in

fiscal year 1997.

Evaluation of SafeFutures

With fiscal year 1995 funds, OJJDP funded six communities under the

SafeFutures: Partnerships to Reduce Youth Violence and Delinquency

Program. The program sites are: Contra Costa County, California; Fort

Belknap Indian Community, Harlem, Montana; Boston, Massachusetts; St.

Louis, Missouri; Seattle, Washington; and Imperial County, California.

The SafeFutures Program provides support for a comprehensive

prevention, intervention, and treatment program to meet the needs of

at-risk juveniles and their families.

Up to approximately $8.2 million will be made available for annual

awards over a 5-year project period to support the efforts of these

jurisdictions to enhance existing partnerships, integrate juvenile

justice and social services, and provide a continuum of care that is

designed to reduce the number of serious, violent, and chronic juvenile

offenders.

The Urban Institute received a competitive 3-year cooperative

agreement award with fiscal year 1995 funds to conduct a national

evaluation of the SafeFutures program. The evaluation will consist of

both process and impact components for each funded site. The evaluation

process includes an examination of planning procedures and the extent

to which each site's implementation plan is consistent with the

principles of a continuum of care model. The evaluation will identify

the obstacles and key factors contributing to the successful

implementation of the SafeFutures program. The evaluator is responsible

for developing a cross-site monograph documenting the process of

program implementation for use by other communities that want to

develop and implement a comprehensive community-based strategy to

address serious, violent, and chronic delinquency.

In fiscal year 1996, The Urban Institute developed a logic model,

held a cross-site cluster meeting, and visited each of the six

SafeFutures sites. The Urban Institute is working closely with local

evaluators to develop individual project logic models. In fiscal year

1997, the grantee will submit an evaluation plan and design and begin

implementation.

A fiscal year 1997 supplemental award will be made to the current

grantee, The Urban Institute, to complete second year funding. No

additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Program of Research on the Causes and Correlates of Delinquency

Three project sites participate in the Program of Research on the

Causes and Correlates of Delinquency: The University of Colorado at

Boulder, the University of Pittsburgh, and the State University of New

York at Albany. Results from this program have been used extensively in

the field of juvenile justice and have contributed to the development

of OJJDP's Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and Chronic

Juvenile Offenders and other program initiatives.

OJJDP began funding this program in 1986 and has invested

approximately $10.3 million to date. The program has addressed many

issues of juvenile violence and delinquency. These include developing

and testing causal models for chronic violent offending and examining

interrelationships among gang involvement, drug selling, and gun

ownership/use. To date, the Program has produced a massive amount of

information on the causes and correlates of delinquent behavior.

Although there is great commonality across the project sites, each

has unique design features. Additionally, each project has disseminated

the results of its research through a variety of publications, reports,

and presentations.

With fiscal year 1996 funding, each site of the Causes and

Correlates Program was provided additional funds to further analyze the

longitudinal data. New publications were developed, and both the role

of mental health in delinquency and pathways to delinquency were the

subject of further analyses.

In fiscal year 1997, the sites will continue their collaborative

research efforts. Site-specific research will also continue.

Additionally, the grantees will work on developing a cross-site data

access capability to provide quick access to data from all three sites.

This program will be implemented by the current grantees--Institute

of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado at Boulder; Western

Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh; and

Hindelang Criminal Justice Research Center, State University of New

York at Albany. No additional applications will be solicited in fiscal

year 1997.

Study Group on the Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Offender

In fiscal year 1995, OJJDP funded the Study Group on the Serious,

Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Offender to answer questions about these

offenders. The objective of the Study Group is to develop a report that

will include critical areas of interest including prevention,

intervention, gangs, and other topics. The report will include programs

that appear to be effective in responding to the violent juvenile

offender. The report is expected to be completed in the Spring of 1997.

Fiscal year 1997 funding would be provided for the Study Group to

develop research papers on cost-benefit analysis and

[[Page 11962]]

other topics that support the research on serious and violent juvenile

offenders. The Study Group, as an adjunct to their report, will also

undertake the development of a 5-year research plan for OJJDP's

Research and Program Development Division. The plan would include short

and long term research goals and objectives.

The project would be implemented by the current grantee, the

University of Pittsburgh. No additional applications would be solicited

in fiscal year 1997.

National Academy of Sciences Study of Juvenile Justice

The unprecedented increase in the rates of violent crime arrests of

youth between the ages of 12 and 17 through the mid 1990's, combined

with the projected growth of this population over the next decade,

portends an unwelcome increase in future violence by adolescents.

Public anxiety over the growing seriousness of juvenile violence has

led many States away from rehabilitation and toward deterrence and

punishment as the primary thrust of their juvenile justice efforts.

In fiscal year 1997, OJJDP would support a 24-month study by the

National Academy of Sciences to examine research on the functioning of

the juvenile justice system over the past 10 years in the area of

delinquency prevention and control. The purpose of this extensive

review would be to provide a scientifically sound basis for planning a

multidisciplinary, multiagency agenda for research that can not only

inform policymakers and practitioners about the nature and extent of

juvenile delinquency and violence but also identify the most effective

strategies for preventing and reducing youth crime and violence.

Issues of interest to the study include (1) an assessment of the

status of research into youth violence, methodological approaches to

evaluate the effectiveness of youth violence prevention efforts and the

efficacy of Federal, State, and local efforts to control youth

violence; (2) a review of research literature and data on juvenile

court practices during this period, including the experience with

Federal requirements regarding status offenders, detention practices,

and the impact of diversion strategies and waivers to criminal court

for certain offenders and offenses; (3) a review of research literature

and data on clients in the juvenile justice system including concerns

regarding disproportionate minority representation and gender bias; (4)

an assessment of available evaluation literature on system programs and

prevention strategies and programs, gaps in the research and

recommendations to strengthen it; and (5) the relationship between the

research on the causes and correlates of juvenile delinquency and

normal adolescent growth and development.

A project report, synthesizing materials gathered from discussions

and papers presented at workshops and panel meetings, would provide an

overview of the critical issues confronting the juvenile justice field,

gaps in current knowledge base, and future directions for research and

program development.

The program would be implemented by the National Academy of

Sciences. No additional applications would be solicited in fiscal year

1997.

The Hamilton Fish National Institute on School/Community Violence*

This consortium of eight universities will study violence in

schools and the relationship of violence in schools to violence in the

community. The consortium includes the George Washington University,

Morehouse School of Medicine, the University of Oregon, the University

of Kentucky, Florida State University, the University of Wisconsin,

Syracuse University, and the University of Kansas. The Institute will

be a research, development, and service organization committed to

assisting State and local policymakers, criminal justice officials,

school administrators, teachers, parents, and students to reduce the

present levels of violence in and around schools.

Each of the universities will establish a local community/schools/

university partnership committed to a long-term reduction in violence.

Each school, surrounding community, and a partner university will work

to diagnose specific problems of violence that occur in and around the

selected schools. After problem identification, the consortium and the

local community and schools will design and implement interventions for

the violence problems.

This program will be implemented by the George Washington

University. No additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year

1997.

OJJDP Management Evaluation Contract

The purpose of this contract, competitively awarded in fiscal year

1995 to Caliber Associates, is to provide an expert resource capable of

performing independent, management-oriented evaluations of selected

juvenile delinquency programs. These evaluations are designed to

determine the effectiveness and efficiency of either individual

projects or groups of projects. The contractor also assists OJJDP in

determining how to make the best use of limited evaluation resources

and how best to design and implement evaluations.

In fiscal year 1996, contract activities included: continued

evaluation of three OJJDP-funded boot camps; continued support for the

evaluation of Title V delinquency prevention programs at the local

level; assistance in preparing OJJDP's 1995 Title V Program Report to

Congress; assistance to OJJDP program development working groups;

assistance in the creation of an ``evaluation partnership for juvenile

justice'' designed to improve the number and quality of evaluations

conducted by Formula Grants Program grantees, other Federal agencies,

private foundations that fund evaluations, and State and local

governments; and conducting other short- or long-term evaluations as

required.

Evaluation activities under consideration for fiscal year 1997

include: (1) OJJDP's Pathways to Success program; (2) two law

enforcement training seminars, Managing Juvenile Operations and SAFE

POLICY; (3) continued impact evaluations of three OJJDP-funded

bootcamps; (4) continued evaluation of Title V programs; (5) assistance

to the OJJDP evaluation working group; (6) support to OJJDP Formula

Grants Program grantees; and (7) evaluating OJJDP's implementation of

the Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile

Offenders. The contract will be implemented by the current contractor,

Caliber Associates. No additional applications will be solicited in

fiscal year 1997.

Juvenile Justice Statistics and Systems Development

The Juvenile Justice Statistics and Systems Development (SSD)

program was competitively awarded to the National Center for Juvenile

Justice (NCJJ) to improve national, State, and local statistics on

juveniles as victims and offenders. The project has focused on three

major functions: (1) assessing of how current information needs are

being met with existing data collection efforts and recommending

options for improving national level statistics; (2) analyzing data and

disseminating information gathered from existing Federal statistical

series and national studies. (Based on this work, OJJDP released the

first Juvenile Offenders and Victims: A National Report in September

1995 and released Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1996 Update on

Violence in March 1996); and (3) providing of training and technical

[[Page 11963]]

assistance for local agencies in developing or enhancing management

information systems. A training curriculum, Improving Information for

Rational Decision Making in Juvenile Justice, was drafted for pilot

testing.

In this final phase of the SSD project, NCJJ would complete a long-

term plan for improving national statistics on juveniles as victims and

offenders, including constructing core data elements for a national

reporting program for juveniles waived or transferred to criminal

court; an implementation plan for integrating data collection on

juveniles by juvenile justice, mental health, and child welfare

agencies; and a report on standardized measures and instruments for

self-reported delinquency surveys. The project would also make

recommendations to fill information gaps in the areas of juvenile

probation, juvenile court and law enforcement responses to juvenile

delinquency, violent delinquency, and child abuse and neglect. In

addition, the SSD Project would provide an update of Juvenile Offenders

and Victims: A National Report, and work with the Office of Justice

Programs'' Crime Statistics Working Group and other Federal interagency

working groups on statistics. The project would be implemented by the

current grantee, NCJJ. No additional applications would be solicited in

fiscal year 1997.

Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement

This census of juveniles in residential placement would replace the

biennial Census of Public and Private Juvenile Detention, Correctional,

and Shelter Facilities, known as the Children in Custody census. This

newly designed census would collect detailed information on the

population of juveniles who are in juvenile residential placement

facilities as a result of contact with the juvenile justice system.

Over the past 3 years, OJJDP and the Bureau of the Census, with the

assistance of a Technical Advisory Board, have developed a census that

will more accurately represent the numbers of juveniles in residential

placement and describe the reasons for their placement. The new method

of data collection, tested in fiscal year 1996, involved gathering data

in a roster-type booklet format or by electronic means. The new methods

are expected to result in more accurate and useful data on the juvenile

population, with less reporting burden for facility respondents.

In fiscal year 1997, OJJDP would fund the initial implementation of

this census, including form preparation, mailout, and processing of the

census forms. Some follow-up would also be done under this agreement.

This program would be implemented through an interagency agreement with

the Bureau of the Census. No additional applications would be solicited

in fiscal year 1997.

Cost-Benefit Analyses of Juvenile Justice Programs

Finite resources require that hard choices be made among competing

programs. Juvenile justice practitioners are increasingly being asked

to justify their activities in terms of cost and effectiveness. Should

programs be continued, expanded, or discontinued? Cost-benefit analyses

are an important tool for policymakers and juvenile justice program

administrators. They can provide useful, quantifiable, and integrated

information. Accordingly, OJJDP proposes to support studies designed to

determine monetary program benefits of multiple but similar kinds of

programs, of single programs, and across different programs.

Submissions by juvenile justice agencies would be encouraged.

A competitive solicitation for up to two studies would be issued in

fiscal year 1997 to support cost-benefit analyses.

Juvenile Justice Data Resources

OJJDP has entered into an agreement with the Inter-University

Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) at the University

of Michigan to make OJJDP data sets routinely available to researchers.

Under this agreement, ICPSR assures the technical integrity of data and

develops a universal data format. The codebooks, along with the data,

provide clear guidance for additional analyses. Once prepared, ICPSR

provides access to these data sets to member institutions and the

public. Among the data sets previously processed and available through

ICPSR are the Children in Custody series; various data sets from the

Juvenile Court Statistics series; the Conditions of Confinement Study;

the National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and

Thrownaway Children (NISMART); and data from the Delinquency in a Birth

Cohort II study.

This program would be implemented under an interagency agreement

with ICPSR. No additional applications would be solicited in fiscal

year 1997.

National Juvenile Court Data Archive*

The National Juvenile Court Data Archive collects, processes,

analyzes, and disseminates automated data and published reports from

the Nation's juvenile courts. The Archive's reports examine referrals,

offenses, intake, and dispositions in addition to providing information

on specialized topics such as minorities in juvenile courts and

specific offense categories. The Archive also provides assistance to

jurisdictions in analyzing their juvenile court data.

In fiscal year 1996, the Archive enhanced the collection,

reporting, and analysis of detailed data on detention, dispositions,

risk factors, and treatment data using offender-based data sets from a

sample of juvenile courts. In support of OJJDP's National Forum on

Female Offenders, the Archive prepared a special statistics summary,

Female Offenders in the Juvenile Justice System.

In addition to preparing traditional reports, NCJJ prepared a

software package, Easy Access to Juvenile Court Statistics 1990-1994,

that allows users to quickly answer questions regarding a wide range of

case characteristics supported with national estimates. The software is

distributed free on diskette and is also available through OJJDP's

homepage on the World Wide Web.

The project will be implemented by the current grantee, NCJJ. No

additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

National Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Training and

Technical Assistance Center

The National Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Training

and Technical Assistance Center (NTTAC) was competitively funded in

fiscal year 1995 for a 3-year project period to develop a national

training and technical assistance clearinghouse, inventory and

coordinate integrated delivery of juvenile justice training/technical

assistance (TA) resources, and establish a data base of these

resources.

In fiscal year 1995, initial work involved organization and

staffing of the Center, orientation for OJJDP training/TA providers

regarding their role in the Center's activities, and initial data base

development. In fiscal year 1996, NTTAC provided coordinated TA support

for the OJJDP SafeFutures and gang program initiatives, continued to

promote collaboration among OJJDP training/TA providers, developed

training/TA materials, and completed the OJJDP Training and Technical

Assistance Resource Catalog. In addition, NTTAC assisted State and

local jurisdictions and other OJJDP grantees with specialized training,

including the development of training-of-trainers programs. NTTAC

continued to evolve as a central source for information pertaining to

the

[[Page 11964]]

availability of OJJDP-supported training/TA programs and resources.

In fiscal year 1997, in cooperation with OJJDP training/TA grantees

and contractors, NTTAC will complete jurisdictional team training/TA

packages for gender-specific services and juvenile correctional

services, field test the packages, and coordinate delivery upon

request. NTTAC will also update the Training and Technical Assistance

Resource Catalog, the repository of training/TA materials, and the

electronically maintained data base of training/TA materials. Another

task for 1997 will be to develop an additional jurisdictional team

training/TA package.

This project will be implemented by the current grantee, Community

Research Associates. No additional applications will be solicited in

fiscal year 1997.

Technical Assistance for State Legislatures

State legislatures are being pressed to respond to public fear of

juvenile crime and a loss of confidence in the capacity of the juvenile

justice system to respond effectively. Nearly every State has already

implemented, or is considering, statutory changes affecting the

juvenile justice system. For the most part, State legislatures have

lacked the information needed to properly address juvenile justice

issues. In fiscal year 1995, OJJDP awarded a 2-year grant to the

National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) to provide relevant,

timely information on comprehensive approaches in juvenile justice that

are geared to the legislative environment. In fiscal year 1995 and

fiscal year 1996, NCSL convened Leadership Forums for selected

legislators, organized focus groups, and established an information

clearinghouse function. In fiscal year 1997, OJJDP proposes to award

continuation funding to the NCSL to further identify, analyze, and

disseminate information to assist State legislatures to make more

informed decisions about legislation affecting the juvenile justice

system. A complementary task would involve supporting increased

communication between State legislators and State and local leaders who

influence decisionmaking regarding juvenile justice issues. NCSL would

provide intensive technical assistance to four States, continue

outreach activities, and maintain its clearinghouse function.

The project would be implemented by the current grantee, NCSL. No

additional applications would be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

OJJDP Technical Assistance Support Contract: Juvenile Justice Resource

Center

This 3-year contract, competitively awarded in fiscal year 1994,

provides technical assistance and support to OJJDP, its grantees, and

the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

in the areas of program development, evaluation, training, and

research. This program support contract will be extended in fiscal year

1997. The contract will be implemented by the current contractor, Aspen

Systems Corporation. A new competitive contract solicitation will be

issued during fiscal year 1997, and a new contract awarded in fiscal

year 1998.

Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse

A component of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service

(NCJRS), the Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse (JJC) is OJJDP's central

resource for collecting, maintaining, producing, and sharing

information on all aspects of juvenile justice. Types of information

managed by JJC include research and evaluation findings, State and

local juvenile delinquency prevention and treatment programs and plans,

availability of resources, training and educational programs, and

statistics. JJC reaches the entire juvenile justice community and other

interested persons, serving researchers, law enforcement officials,

judges, prosecutors, probation and corrections staff, youth-service

personnel, legislators, the media, and the public.

Among its support services, JJC offers toll-free telephone and

online access to information; prepares specialized responses to

information requests; produces, warehouses, and distributes OJJDP

publications; exhibits at national conferences; and maintains a

comprehensive juvenile justice library and data base. Because of the

critical need to inform juvenile justice practitioners and policymakers

of promising program approaches, JJC continually develops and

recommends new products and strategies to communicate more effectively

the research findings and program activities of OJJDP and the field.

The entire NCJRS, of which the OJJDP-funded JJC is a part, is

administered by the National Institute of Justice under a

competitively-awarded contract.

The contract will be implemented by the current contractor, Aspen

Systems Corporation. No additional applications will be solicited in

fiscal year 1997.

Telecommunications Assistance

Developments in information technology and distance training have

expanded and enhanced OJJDP's capacity to disseminate information and

provide training and technical assistance. These technologies have the

advantages of increased access to information and training for

professionals in the juvenile justice system, reduced travel costs to

conferences, and reduced time attending meetings requiring one or more

nights away from one's home or office. Additionally, the successful use

of live satellite teleconferences by OJJDP during the past 2 years has

generated an enthusiastic response from the field.

During 1996, OJJDP's grantee, Eastern Kentucky University (EKU)

produced five live satellite teleconferences on the following topics:

juvenile boot camps, conflict resolution for youth, reducing youth gun

violence, youth out of the education mainstream, and the viability of

the juvenile court.

In fiscal year 1997, OJJDP proposes to continue the competitively

awarded cooperative agreement to EKU in order to provide program

support and technical assistance for a variety of information

technologies, including audiographics, fiber optics, and satellite

teleconferences, producing five additional live national satellite

teleconferences. The grantee would also continue to provide technical

assistance to other grantees interested in using this technology and

explore linkages with key constituent groups to advance mutual

information goals and objectives.

This project would be implemented by the current grantee, EKU. No

additional applications would be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Coalition for Juvenile Justice*

The Coalition for Juvenile Justice supports and facilitates the

purposes and functions of each State's Juvenile Justice State Advisory

Group (SAG). Coalition members, acting as a statutorily authorized,

duly chartered Federal advisory committee, review Federal policies and

practices regarding juvenile justice and delinquency prevention and

prepare and submit an annual report and recommendations to the

President, Congress, and the Administrator of OJJDP. The Coalition also

serves as an information center for the SAG's and conducts an annual

conference to provide training for SAG members.

The program will be implemented by the current grantee, the

Coalition for Juvenile Justice. No additional

[[Page 11965]]

applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Insular Area Support*

The purpose of this program is to provide supplemental financial

support to the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Trust

Territory of the Pacific Islands (Palau), and the Commonwealth of the

Northern Mariana Islands. Funds are available to address the special

needs and problems of juvenile delinquency in these insular areas, as

specified by Section 261(e) of the JJDP Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C.

Sec. 5665(e).

Public Safety and Law Enforcement

Comprehensive Community-Wide Approach to Gang Prevention, Intervention,

and Suppression Program

This program supports the implementation of a comprehensive gang

program model in five jurisdictions. The program was competitively

awarded with fiscal year 1994 funds under a 3-year project period. The

demonstration sites implementing the model, which was developed by the

University of Chicago with OJJDP funding support, are Bloomington,

Illinois; Mesa, Arizona; Riverside, California; San Antonio, Texas; and

Tucson, Arizona. Implementation of the comprehensive gang program model

requires the mobilization of the community to address gang-related

violence by making available and coordinating social interventions,

providing social/academic/vocational and other opportunities, and

supporting gang suppression through law enforcement, probation, and

other community control mechanisms.

During the past year, the demonstration sites completed initial

gang violence problem assessments to identify the full nature and

extent of the gang problem in the community and its causes. The

assessment process has helped communities to understand causes of gang

violence in their community; identify key points for prevention,

intervention, and suppression; and identify benchmarks by which program

success may be measured. The demonstration sites also participated in

training and technical assistance activities, including cluster

conferences sponsored by OJJDP and visits to a program in Chicago where

the model has been implemented and demonstrated positive initial

results through a 4-year evaluation. In addition, the demonstration

sites began strategy implementation and service provision and made

progress in community mobilization, either through existing planning

structures or by creating new structures.

In fiscal year 1997, demonstration sites will receive third-year

funding to continue implementation of the model program and build upon

the sustained mobilization, planning, and assessment processes.

Additionally, the demonstration sites will continue to target youth

prone to gang violence through continuing implementation of the program

model and work with the independent evaluator of this demonstration

program. No additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year

1997.

Evaluation of the Comprehensive Community-Wide Approach to Gang

Prevention, Intervention and Suppression Program

The University of Chicago, School of Social Services

Administration, received a competitive cooperative agreement award in

fiscal year 1994. This 4-year project period award supports the

evaluation of OJJDP's Comprehensive Community-Wide Approach to Gang

Prevention, Intervention, and Suppression Program. The evaluation

grantee assisted the five program sites (Bloomington, Illinois; Mesa,

Arizona; Tucson, Arizona; Riverside, California; and San Antonio,

Texas) in establishing realistic and measurable objectives, documenting

program implementation, and measuring the impact of a variety of gang

program strategies. It has also provided interim feedback to the

program implementors.

In fiscal year 1996, the grantee designed and implemented

organizational surveys and youth interviews; developed and implemented

program tracking and worker questionnaires and interviews; gathered and

tracked aggregate level offense/offender client data from police,

prosecutor, probation, school, and social service program sources;

developed and implemented uniform individual level criminal justice

data collection efforts; consulted with local evaluators on development

and implementation of local site parent/community resident surveys; and

coordinated ongoing efforts with local researchers conducting special

surveys of gang youth in the program.

In fiscal year 1997, the grantee will continue to gather data

required to evaluate the program and provide ongoing feedback to

project sites.

This project will be implemented by the current grantee, the

University of Chicago, School of Social Services Administration. No

additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Targeted Outreach With a Gang Prevention and Intervention Component

(Boys and Girls Clubs)

This program is designed to enable local Boys and Girls Clubs to

prevent youth from entering gangs, intervene with gang members in the

early stages of gang involvement, and divert youth from gang activities

into constructive activities and programs. In fiscal year 1996, Boys

and Girls Clubs of America provided ongoing training and technical

assistance to 30 existing gang prevention and 4 intervention sites and

expanded the gang prevention and intervention program to 23 additional

Boys and Girls Clubs, including clubs located in OJJDP's SafeFutures

program sites.

In fiscal year 1997, Boys and Girls Clubs of America proposes to

provide training and technical assistance to 20 new gang prevention

sites, 3 new intervention sites, and the 6 SafeFutures sites and

initiate a national evaluation of the Targeted Outreach: Gang

Prevention and Intervention Program.

This program would be implemented by the current grantee, the Boys

and Girls Clubs of America. No additional applications would be

solicited in fiscal year 1997.

The Developmental Dynamics of Gang Membership and Delinquency

The Seattle Social Development Project (SSDP) is a longitudinal

gang prevention study conducted in collaboration with Seattle Public

Schools. Initially funded under a competitive field-initiated research

program, the analysis of gangs in the SSDP data set has examined

juveniles ages 10-18 to identify risk and protective factors for gang

membership. Analysis details predictors of gang membership, age of

initiation, length, desistance from gang membership, and consequences,

measured at age 18, of gang membership during early and mid-

adolescence.

In fiscal year 1996, the research study revealed the extent of gang

membership in the SSDP sample, the types and proportion of crime

committed in the sample that are committed by gang members, the extent

of gang crime increases, when youth join gangs or already delinquent

youth join gangs, the length of time youth stay active members, the

childhood predictors of joining a gang in adolescence, and the

developmental risk factors that best predict joining a gang.

In fiscal year 1997, the SSDP would obtain official criminal

records for a

[[Page 11966]]

sample group, ages 18-21 years, and integrate them into the

longitudinal data set from the SSDP. Additional data analysis would

examine (1) the individual, peer, family, school, and neighborhood

predictors of early initiation into gangs; (2) the predictors of

sustained gang involvement; and (3) the effects of criminal justice

system involvement on gang membership.

This project would be implemented by the current grantee, the

University of Washington. No additional applications would be solicited

in fiscal year 1997.

National Youth Gang Center

The proliferation of gang problems in large inner cities, smaller

cities, suburbs, and even rural areas over the past two decades led to

the development by OJJDP of a comprehensive, coordinated response to

America's gang problem. This response involved five program components,

one of which was the implementation and operation of the National Youth

Gang Center (NYGC). The NYGC was competitively funded with fiscal year

1994 funds for a 3-year project period. NYGC was created to expand and

maintain the body of critical knowledge about youth gangs and effective

responses to them. NYGC assisted State and local jurisdictions in the

collection, analysis, and exchange of information on gang-related

demographics, legislation, research, and promising program strategies.

The Center also coordinated activities of the OJJDP Gang

Consortium--a group of Federal agencies, gang program representatives,

and service providers. Under the sponsorship of OJJDP, the National

Institute of Justice, the Bureau of Justice Assistance, and members of

the Regional Information Sharing Systems Program, the NYGC coordinated

a National Youth Gang Symposium in June 1996, with over 700

participants in attendance. Results of the first NYGC National Youth

Gang Survey were compiled and analyzed in fiscal year 1996.

Other major NYGC tasks in fiscal year 1996 included analysis of

gang legislation and coordination of the OJJDP Youth Gang Consortium.

The Consortium is developing information that will provide an overview

of Federal agencies, including the development of a matrix to include

information on planning cycles, contacts, and gang-related programs.

In fiscal year 1997, NYGC will prepare the matrix of the program

planning cycle, information resources, contacts, and programs of the

Consortium members and promote collaboration so State and local youth-

serving agencies will be able to coordinate resources available from

Federal agencies. Also, NYGC would hold additional focus group meetings

to review the results of the first National Youth Gang Survey and to

plan the format of followup surveys.

Fiscal year 1997 funds will support third-year funding of the NYGC

cooperative agreement to the current grantee, the Institute for

Intergovernmental Research. No additional applications will be

solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Evaluation of Youth Gun Violence Reduction Programs

In response to the problem of juvenile gun violence, OJJDP and the

International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) have identified

promising programs designed to reduce gun violence by youth. Currently,

numerous communities have implemented or are in the process of

implementing youth gun violence reduction programs. However, not enough

is known about the effectiveness of such programs.

In fiscal year 1997, OJJDP proposes to evaluate a select number of

promising youth gun violence reduction programs currently under way in

communities across the country, as identified by IACP. OJJDP would work

with the grantee to select which of these programs have a sound

theoretical foundation and are structured to support a rigorous

evaluation. This program would encourage a collaborative research

approach between practitioners and researchers. If these youth gun

violence reduction programs prove to be effective in reducing gun

violence committed by juveniles, the program models could be replicated

in other jurisdictions or technical assistance developed and offered to

jurisdictions to implement programs that have been proven effective in

communities.

The Chicago Project for Violence Prevention

The Chicago Project for Violence Prevention's primary goal is the

development of a citywide, accelerated, long-term effort to reduce

violence in Chicago. Secondly, the Chicago Project demonstrates a

comprehensive, citywide violence prevention model. Overall project

objectives include reductions in homicide, physical injury, disability

and emotional harm from assault, domestic abuse, sexual abuse and rape,

and child abuse and neglect.

The Chicago Project is a partnership among the Chicago Department

of Public Health, the Illinois Council for the Prevention of Violence,

the University of Illinois, and Chicago communities. It began in

January 1995 as a public health initiative with OJJDP funding. The

project currently provides technical assistance to a variety of

community-based and citywide organizations involved in violence

prevention planning. The majority of technical assistance supports

community level work and agencies working to directly support the

community plan.

In fiscal year 1996, technical assistance was provided to the

central planning group for the Austin community-based coalition,

leadership and staff of the Westside Health Authority in the Austin

community, and to other selected groups involved in the Austin plan for

the development of their components (e.g., to Northwest Austin Council

for the development of the afterschool and drug treatment components of

the Austin plan). These groups are members of the violence consortium

in Austin.

In fiscal year 1997, the Chicago Project would further refine the

violence prevention strategy developed in the Austin community and

begin implementation of the strategy and continue to provide technical

assistance to the Logan Square and Grand Boulevard communities as they

develop their violence prevention strategy.

The Chicago Project for Violence Prevention would be implemented by

the current grantee, the University of Illinois, School of Public

Health. No additional applications would be solicited in fiscal year

1997.

Child-Centered, Community-Oriented Policing

In fiscal year 1993, OJJDP provided support to the New Haven,

Connecticut, Police Department and the Yale University Child

Development Center to document a child-centered, community-oriented

policing model being implemented in New Haven, Connecticut. The basic

elements of the model are a 10-week training course in child

development for all new police officers and child development

fellowships for all community-based district commanders who direct

neighborhood police teams. The fellowships provide 4 to 6 hours of

training each week over a 3-month period at Yale's Child Study Center.

The program also includes (1) a 24-hour consultation from a clinical

professional and a police supervisor to patrol officers who assist

children who have been exposed to violence; (2) weekly case conferences

with police officers, educators, and child study center staff; and (3)

open police stations located in

[[Page 11967]]

neighborhoods and accessible to residents for police and related

services, community liaison, and neighborhood foot patrols.

In fiscal year 1994, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) community

policing funds helped support the first year of a 3-year training and

technical assistance grant to replicate the program nationwide. These

funds supported the development of criteria for a request for

proposals, protocols for consultation, training-for-trainers sessions

for New Haven police and clinical faculty, and the development of a

multimodel strategy for data collection and program evaluation. Fiscal

year 1995 OJJDP funds supported initiation of program replication

efforts in Buffalo, New York; Charlotte, North Carolina; Nashville,

Tennessee; and Portland, Oregon. Fiscal year 1996 funds supported the

implementation of the five-phase replication protocol in the four

selected sites. Fiscal year 1997 continuation funding from OJJDP would

further support replication, site data collection and analysis

activities, and development of a detailed casebook about the model and

program.

This project would be implemented by the current grantee, the Yale

University School of Medicine, in collaboration with the New Haven

Department of Police Services. No additional applications would be

solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Law Enforcement Training and Technical Assistance Program

Juvenile crime and victimization present some major challenges to

practitioners who are responsible for prevention, intervention, and

enforcement efforts. Increasing rates of violent crime committed by

juveniles, rising juvenile involvement in gangs and drugs, and

decreasing fiscal resources are just some of the challenges facing

juvenile justice practitioners today.

OJJDP is committed to helping State and local agencies,

organizations, and individuals face these challenges through a

comprehensive program of training and technical assistance that is

designed to enhance the juvenile justice system's ability to respond to

juvenile crime and delinquency. This assistance targets many audiences,

including law enforcement representatives, social service workers,

school staff and administrators, prosecutors, judges, corrections and

probation personnel, and key community and agency leaders.

Beginning in fiscal year 1997, the Law Enforcement Training and

Technical Assistance Program will be implemented by a national training

contractor under a 3-year contract with OJJDP.

Upon the completion of the ongoing competitive selection process,

fiscal year 1997 funds will support the continuation of OJJDP's Chief

Executive Officer Youth Violence Forum; the Managing Juvenile

Operations (MJO) workshop; the Gang, Gun, and Drug POLICY workshop; the

School Administrators for Effective Police, Prosecution, Probation

Operations Leading to Improved Children and Youth Services (SAFE

POLICY) workshop; the Serious Habitual Offender Comprehensive Action

Program (SHOCAP); the Youth Oriented-Community Policing workshop; and

the Tribal Law Enforcement Training and Technical Assistance workshop.

No additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Violence Studies

The 1992 Amendments to the JJDP Act directed OJJDP to fund 2-year

studies on violence in three urban and one rural jurisdiction. Building

on the results of OJJDP's Program of Research on the Causes and

Correlates of Delinquency, these studies were to examine the incidence

of violence committed by or against juveniles in urban and rural areas

of the United States. In fiscal year 1994, OJJDP initiated a University

of Wisconsin study of homicides by and of youth in Milwaukee,

Wisconsin. In that same year, under a grant to the University of South

Carolina, OJJDP funded a cross-site study in rural areas in South

Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. In fiscal year 1995, in Los Angeles,

California, and Washington, D.C., the University of Southern California

and the Institute for Law and Justice initiated additional violence

studies.

These four studies are providing valuable information regarding

community violence patterns, with a particular focus on homicide and

firearm use involving juveniles. Their results will assist the juvenile

justice system by identifying strategic law enforcement responses to

juvenile violence and by identifying diversion, prevention, and control

programs that ameliorate juvenile violence.

In fiscal year 1996, the University of Wisconsin and the University

of South Carolina analyzed their data and made their project findings.

The Institute for Law and Justice collected and analyzed aggregate data

from various juvenile justice providers and from a series of interviews

with agency staff serving adjudicated juveniles. The University of

Southern California received funds to identify violence prevention

programs, conduct a household survey, and interview adolescents and

their caregivers in Los Angeles County.

In fiscal year 1997, OJJDP proposes to provide limited funding to

the University of Southern California to complete its study. The

program would be implemented by the current grantee, the University of

Southern California. No additional applications would be solicited in

fiscal year 1997.

Strengthening the Juvenile Justice System

Development of OJJDP's Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and

Chronic Juvenile Offenders

The National Council on Crime and Delinquency and Developmental

Research and Programs, Inc., have completed Phases I and II of a

collaborative effort to support development and implementation of

OJJDP's Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and Chronic

Juvenile Offenders. Phase I involved assessing existing and previously

researched programs in order to identify effective and promising

programs that can be used in implementing the Comprehensive Strategy.

In Phase II, a series of reports were combined into a Guide for

Implementing the Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and

Chronic Juvenile Offenders. Phase II also included convening a forum,

``Guaranteeing Safe Passage: A National Forum on Youth Violence,'' and

holding two regional training seminars for key leaders on implementing

the Comprehensive Strategy.

In fiscal year 1996, Phase III of the project was funded to

provide: targeted dissemination of information on the Comprehensive

Strategy at national conferences; intensive training for selected

States to implement the Comprehensive Strategy in up to six local

jurisdictions; the six SafeFutures sites; technical assistance to a

limited number of individual jurisdictions interested in implementing

the Comprehensive Strategy; and continued development of Comprehensive

Strategy implementation materials.

In fiscal year 1997, the grantees will continue to target

dissemination of the Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and

Chronic Juvenile Offenders and hold regional training seminars in the

Southeast and Midwest; provide training and technical assistance to

additional state and local jurisdictions interested in implementing the

Comprehensive Strategy; and provide intensive training and technical

[[Page 11968]]

assistance in 5 competitively-selected Comprehensive Strategy States--

Florida, Iowa, Maryland, Rhode Island, and Texas.

The program will be implemented by the current grantees, the

National Council on Crime and Delinquency and Developmental Research

and Programs, Inc. No additional applications will be solicited in

fiscal year 1997.

Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Offender Treatment Program

The Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Offender Treatment

Program is designed to assist local jurisdictions in the development

and implementation of a comprehensive strategy for the intervention,

treatment, and rehabilitation of juvenile offenders. The program was

initially funded in 1993 under the Accountability-Based Community (ABC)

Intervention program. Under the ABC initiative, Pittsburgh,

Pennsylvania, and Washington, DC, were competitively funded to plan and

implement a comprehensive graduated sanctions strategy.

In fiscal year 1994, under a second competitive announcement, OJJDP

awarded funds under the Serious, Violent, and Chronic Offender

Treatment Program to three additional jurisdictions (Boston,

Massachusetts; Jefferson Parish, Louisiana; and Richmond, Virginia) to

develop and implement a comprehensive graduated sanctions plan. The

plan's basic elements included the following: (1) assess the existing

continuum of secure and nonsecure intervention, treatment, and

rehabilitation services in each jurisdiction; (2) define the juvenile

offender population; (3) develop and implement a program strategy; (4)

develop and implement an evaluation; (5) integrate private nonprofit,

community-based organizations into the provision of offender services;

(6) incorporate an aftercare program as an integral component of all

residential placements; (7) develop a resource plan to enlist the

financial and technical support of other Federal, State, and local

agencies, private foundations, or other funding sources; and (8)

develop a victim assistance component using local organizations.

In fiscal year 1996, each of the three fiscal year 1994 grantees

received awards to continue implementation activities. Boston and

Richmond will complete operations during fiscal year 1997. Jefferson

Parish will receive a final 6-month award in fiscal year 1997.

No additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Juvenile Restitution: A Balanced Approach

OJJDP proposes to continue support of the juvenile restitution

training and technical assistance program in fiscal year 1997. The

project design is based on practitioner recommendations regarding

juvenile justice program needs and the best methods for integrating and

institutionalizing restitution and community service as key components

of juvenile justice system dispositions. In fiscal year 1992, a

practitioner working group helped map out a plan for optimum

development of the components of restitution programs. Plan components

included community service, victim reparation, victim-offender

mediation, offender employment and supervision, employment development,

and other program elements designed to establish restitution as a key

element in improving the juvenile justice system. This project is

guided by balanced and restorative justice (BARJ) principles, which

include the need to provide a balance of (1) community protection, (2)

offender competency development, and (3) offender accountability to

individual victims and communities. The project helps juvenile justice

agencies to introduce these elements in programs for sanctioning and

controlling juvenile offenders.

In fiscal year 1995, the project assisted three local jurisdictions

(Allegheny County, Pennsylvania; Dakota County, Minnesota; and West

Palm Beach County, Florida) to implement the ``balanced approach,''

participated in presenting a series of regional roundtables for States

interested in adopting the BARJ model, and provided ad hoc technical

assistance. In fiscal year 1996, the project continued training,

technical assistance, and development of guideline materials, including

a Balanced and Restorative Justice Project Resource Guide and a

Curriculum Guide on the BARJ model.

In fiscal year 1997, the project would provide training-of-trainers

programs on the BARJ model based on the Curriculum Guide and the

Resource Guide. The grantee would also continue to offer technical

assistance to the increasing number of State and local jurisdictions

interested in pursuing balanced and restorative justice.

This project would be implemented by the current grantee, Florida

Atlantic University. No additional applications would be solicited in

fiscal year 1997.

Training and Technical Assistance Program To Promote Gender-Specific

Programming for Female Juvenile Offenders

The 1992 Amendments to the JJDP Act addressed, for the first time,

the issue of gender-specific services. The Amendments require States

participating in OJJDP's State Formula Grants Program to conduct an

analysis of gender-specific services for the prevention and treatment

of juvenile delinquency, including the types of services available, the

need for such services, and a plan for providing needed gender-specific

services for the prevention and treatment of juvenile delinquency.

In fiscal year 1995, the OJJDP Gender-Specific Services Program

focused on providing training and technical assistance directly to

States and on providing and promoting the establishment of gender-

specific programs at the State level. Training and technical assistance

were provided to a broad spectrum of policymakers and service providers

regarding services for juvenile female offenders through direct grants,

sponsorship of national conferences, and inclusion of a gender-specific

service component in OJJDP's SafeFutures program.

In fiscal year 1996, building upon these past efforts, OJJDP

awarded a 3-year competitive grant to Greene, Peters and Associates

(GPA) to provide a comprehensive framework for assisting policymakers,

service providers, educators, parents, and the general public in

addressing the complex needs of female adolescents who are at risk for

delinquent behavior. The project's objectives are to develop and test a

training curriculum for policymakers, advocacy organizations, and

community-based youth-serving organizations that conveys the need for

effective gender-specific programming for juvenile females and the

elements of such programs; to develop, test, and deliver a technical

assistance package on the development of gender-specific programs; to

inventory female-specific programs, identifying those program models

designed to build upon the gender-specific needs of girls, and prepare

a monograph suitable for national dissemination; to design and test a

curriculum for line staff delivering services to juvenile females; to

design and implement a public education initiative on the need for

gender-specific programming for girls; and to design and conduct

training for trainers. Because the grant was awarded at the end of

fiscal year 1996, work on the project is in its initial stages.

[[Page 11969]]

The program will be implemented by the current grantee, GPA. No

additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Cook County Juvenile Female Offenders Project

In fiscal year 1995, OJJDP awarded a competitive grant to enable

Cook County to plan programs for juvenile female offenders in the Cook

County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center. A Steering Committee formed

to oversee the project included community and government agency

representatives working together to effectuate change in the way

juvenile female offenders are handled. To coordinate efforts, the

committee organized a task force of 30 government and community-based

agencies to promote gender equity and fairness.

The Steering Committee, with the assistance of task force members,

accomplished several key objectives during their planning effort. They

(1) developed a gender-specific needs and strengths assessment

instrument and a risk assessment instrument for juvenile female

offenders through a consulting contract with the National Council on

Crime and Delinquency; (2) provided training in implementing gender-

appropriate programming to more than 300 management and line staff

representing more than 100 local public and private agencies; (3)

compiled a directory of gender-specific services available in Cook

County; (4) assessed the strengths and interactions, and the areas for

improvement of interaction, among the five custodial agencies involved

in legal responsibilities for juvenile female offenders in Cook County

(the Chicago Police Department, Cook County Juvenile Temporary

Detention Center, Illinois Department of Children and Family Services,

Illinois Department of Corrections-Juvenile Division, and Cook County

Juvenile Probation); and (5) designed a pilot program that includes a

community-based continuum of care with a unique case management system.

In fiscal year 1997, the project proposes to join Federal, State,

and local resources to implement the pilot program. Under the program,

each juvenile female offender would have a case manager who will follow

her throughout her involvement in the juvenile justice system. The case

manager would advocate for services to meet the juvenile's needs in a

timely and consistent manner.

This program would be implemented by the current grantee, the Cook

County Board of Commissioners. No additional applications would be

solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Juvenile Transfers to Criminal Court Studies

States are increasingly enacting juvenile code revisions broadening

judicial waiver authority, providing prosecutor direct file authority,

and mandating transfer of older, more violent juveniles to criminal

court. Many States are also developing innovative procedures, such as

blending traditional features of juvenile and criminal justice

sentencing practices, through statutes that categorize juvenile

offenders into different classes according to the seriousness of the

offense, designating juvenile or criminal court for each class, or

providing judges with discretion to make these judgments at sentencing.

Studies of the impact of criminal court prosecution of juveniles have

yielded mixed conclusions. Solid research on the intended and

unintended consequences of transfer of juveniles to criminal court will

enable policymakers and legislatures to develop statutory provisions

and policies and improve judicial and prosecutorial waiver and transfer

decisions.

To address the shortage of recent research results, OJJDP

competitively funded two juvenile waiver and transfer research projects

in fiscal year 1995. The first, awarded to the National Center for

Juvenile Justice, compares juvenile and criminal court handling of

juveniles in four States that authorize judicial waiver of serious and

violent juvenile offenders and mandate criminal court handling for

specified categories of juvenile offenders. The second study, awarded

to the Florida Juvenile Justice Advisory Board, evaluates Florida's

system of blending the option of criminal and juvenile justice system

sentencing for serious and violent juvenile offenders. Additional

funding was provided in fiscal year 1996 to enable the projects to

collect case specific information on sentence completion and recidivism

data in order to provide a more definitive assessment of the impact of

criminal versus juvenile justice system handling of serious and violent

offender cases.

In fiscal year 1997, OJJDP proposes to provide limited continuation

funding in jurisdictions that were part of one or both of these studies

and provide promising opportunities for longitudinal study. The

projects would be implemented by the current grantees, the National

Center for Juvenile Justice and the Florida Juvenile Justice Advisory

Board. No additional applications would be solicited in fiscal year

1997.

Replication and Extension of Fagan Transfer Study

OJJDP proposes to award a grant to Columbia University to conduct a

study, ``The Comparative Impact of Juvenile Versus Criminal Court

Sanctions on Recidivism Among Adolescent Felony Offenders: A

Replication and Extension.'' This study would be a replication and

expansion of an original study and would be conducted by the Principal

Investigator, Dr. Jeffrey Fagan. His 1986 New York/New Jersey study was

the first transfer study comparing four contiguous counties matched on

social, economic, and criminogenic factors and offender cohorts with

essentially identical offense profiles. It was also the first such

study to go beyond comparing sentences to studying the deterrent

effects of the sanction and court jurisdiction on recidivism rates in

juvenile versus criminal court.

The proposed replication and extension is the only research project

that can answer questions about how case processing decisions have

changed in the last decade. The new study would compare case

dispositional outcomes in 1981-82 with those cases processed in 1993-

94, a time period following sustained growth in the rates of youth

violence. In addition, a study component under the direction of Dr.

Barry Feld would explore whether there are factors being considered by

prosecutors, judges and defense attorneys that explain the variation in

sentences/dispositions and recidivism between groups of offenders

handled in different systems. This component would provide an analysis

of the organizational, contextual, or systemic factors involved in the

decision processes affecting both jurisdiction and punishment. The

study will also conduct interviews with selected offenders processed in

different systems to gain a perspective on the impact of criminal

versus juvenile system handling of such cases on further experiences

with the justice system. The project would also collaborate with the

other OJJDP Juvenile Transfers to Criminal Court Studies in sharing

data collection instruments and in planning joint analyses where

appropriate.

This program would be implemented by Columbia University. No

additional applications would be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

[[Page 11970]]

Technical Assistance to Juvenile Courts*

The National Center for Juvenile Justice (NCJJ), the research arm

of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, provides

technical assistance under this grant for juvenile court practitioners.

The focus of the technical assistance is on court administration and

management, program development, and special legal issues. During

fiscal year 1996, NCJJ responded to more than 850 requests for

technical assistance. In addition, NCJJ staff completed the Research

Report State Responses to Serious and Violent Juvenile Crime.

In fiscal year 1997, NCJJ will develop an online technical

assistance capability to improve program monitoring and evaluation. In

addition, a desktop guide for juvenile probation administrators will be

completed.

The program will be implemented by the current grantee, NCJJ. No

additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Juvenile Court Judges Training*

The primary focus of this project in fiscal year 1997 will be to

continue and refine the training and technical assistance program

offered by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges

(NCJFCJ). The objectives of the training are to supplement law school

curriculums by providing basic training to new juvenile court judges

and to provide experienced judges with state-of-the-art training on

developments in juvenile and family case law and effective

dispositional options. Emphasis is also placed on alcohol and substance

abuse, child abuse and neglect, gangs and violence, disproportionate

incarceration of minority youth, and intermediate sanctions. Training

is also provided to other court personnel, including juvenile probation

officers, aftercare workers, and child protection and community

treatment providers. In fiscal year 1996, some 12,775 judges and court

personnel received training through 74 different programs. In addition,

more than 800 training-related technical assistance requests were

completed.

The project will be implemented by the current grantee, NCJFCJ. No

additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

The Juvenile Justice Prosecution Unit

OJJDP has historically supported prosecutor training activities

through the National District Attorneys Association (NDAA). To continue

that work, OJJDP awarded a 3-year project period grant in fiscal year

1995 to the American Prosecutors Research Institute (APRI), the

research and technical affiliate of NDAA, to establish a Juvenile

Justice Prosecution Unit (JJPU). JJPU holds workshops on juvenile

justice-related policy, leadership, and management for chief

prosecutors and unit chiefs. JJPU also provides prosecutors with

background information on juvenile justice issues and programs,

training, and technical assistance.

The project is based on planning and input by prosecutors familiar

with juvenile justice needs. It draws on the expertise of working

groups of elected or appointed prosecutors and juvenile unit chiefs to

support project staff in providing technical assistance, juvenile

justice-related research, program information, and training to

practitioners nationwide. In 1995, APRI collected information from

prosecutors and sponsored a National Invitational Symposium on Juvenile

Justice. The Symposium provided a forum for prosecutors to exchange

ideas on programs, issues, legislation, and practices in juvenile

justice. In 1996, APRI conducted three workshops for elected and

appointed prosecutors and juvenile unit chiefs to help improve

prosecutor involvement in the prosecution and prevention of juvenile

delinquency. In 1997, APRI would conduct a second National Symposium,

present additional workshops, and develop new reference materials for

prosecutors.

The project would be implemented by the current grantee, APRI. No

additional applications would be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Due Process Advocacy Program Development

In fiscal year 1993, OJJDP funded the American Bar Association

(ABA), in partnership with the Juvenile Law Center (JLC) of

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the Youth Law Center (YLC) of San

Francisco, California, to develop strategies to improve due process and

the quality of legal representation in the juvenile justice system. The

goals of the program are to increase juvenile offenders' access to

legal services and to improve the quality of preadjudication,

adjudication, and dispositional advocacy for juvenile offenders. The

strategies that have been developed are being made available to State

and local defender organizations, State and local bar associations, and

other relevant organizations so that they can develop approaches to

increase the availability and quality of counsel for juveniles.

In fiscal years 1994 and 1995, the ABA, JLC, and YLC conducted an

assessment of the current state of the art with regard to legal

services, training, and education. This survey included a review of

literature, case law, and State statutes and a survey of public

defenders, court-appointed lawyers, law school clinical programs, and

judges. As a result of this survey work, the ABA developed and

published a report entitled A Call for Justice: An Assessment of Access

to Counsel and Quality of Representation in Delinquency Proceedings.

The report has been widely distributed to State and local bar

associations, Chairs of State Juvenile Justice Advisory Groups,

participants in the ABA survey, the National Association of Child

Advocates, and others.

In fiscal year 1996, training was initiated, beginning with the

States of Maryland, Tennessee, and Virginia. The structure and scope of

the training are tailored to fit the needs of each State.

In fiscal year 1997, a training manual would be completed, covering

key issues such as detention, transfer or waiver, and dispositional

advocacy. The curriculum in the manual would build on existing quality

training curriculums and inform defender organizations and others about

the best training curriculums available. The training manual would be

designed to fill gaps in existing training programs. The ABA and its

partners would also continue to develop networks with public defenders

offices, children's law centers, and others through the HANDSNET system

and mailings that provide program updates. In addition, the ABA and its

partners would provide or arrange for onsite technical assistance to

additional jurisdictions that are actively pursuing the goals of this

initiative.

This program would be implemented by the current grantee, ABA. No

additional applications would be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Quantum Opportunities Program (QOP) Evaluation

OJJDP proposes to fund an impact evaluation of the Quantum

Opportunities Program, which the U.S. Department of Labor, in

partnership with the Ford Foundation, is currently replicating in seven

sites across the United States. The purpose of the funding would be to

determine whether QOP reduces the likelihood that inner-city youth at

educational risk will enter the criminal justice system, including the

juvenile justice system. The QOP impact evaluation is designed to

[[Page 11971]]

measure the impact of QOP participation on such outcomes as high school

graduation and enrollment in postsecondary education and training.

Other student outcomes to be examined include academic achievement in

high school, misbehavior in school, self-esteem and sense of control

over one's life, educational and career goals, and personal decisions

such as teenage parenthood, substance abuse, and criminal activity.

Data on criminal activity is being collected from individual student

interviews.

This proposed evaluation enhancement to the Department of Labor-

funded evaluation would provide for the collection of analogous data

from the juvenile justice system, thus allowing estimates of the impact

of the QOP program on the likelihood of program youth becoming involved

in the criminal justice system. Initial attention would be focused on

identifying the appropriate governmental agencies responsible for the

data, dealing with confidentiality requirements, determining the

feasibility of collecting such information, preparing data collection

protocols for each site, and preparing a report outlining the data

collection design for implementation.

This program would be implemented through an interagency agreement

with the U.S. Department of Labor. No additional applications would be

solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Intensive Community-Based Aftercare Demonstration and Technical

Assistance Program

This initiative is designed to support implementation, training and

technical assistance, and evaluation of an intensive community-based

aftercare model in four jurisdictions that were competitively selected

to participate in this demonstration program. The overall goal of the

intensive aftercare model is to identify and assist high-risk juvenile

offenders to make a gradual transition from secure confinement back

into the community. The Intensive Aftercare Program (IAP) model can be

viewed as having three distinct, yet overlapping segments: (1)

prerelease and preparatory planning activities during incarceration;

(2) structured transitioning involving the participation of

institutional and aftercare staffs both prior to and following

community reentry; and (3) long-term reintegrative activities to insure

adequate service delivery and the required level of social control.

In fiscal year 1994, The Johns Hopkins University received a

multiyear grant to test their intensive community-based aftercare model

in four demonstration sites: Denver (Metro), Colorado; Clark County

(Las Vegas), Nevada; Camden and Newark, New Jersey; and Norfolk,

Virginia. Each of the four sites received funding in fiscal year 1996

to support program implementation. The Johns Hopkins University

contracts with California State University at Sacramento to assist in

the implementation process by providing training and technical

assistance and by making OJJDP demonstration funds available through

contracts to each of the four demonstration sites. Each of the sites

has developed risk assessment instruments for use in selecting high-

risk youth who need this type of intensive aftercare, hired and trained

staff in the intensive aftercare model, identified existing and needed

community support (intervention) services, and identified and collected

data necessary for the independent evaluation of the intensive

community-based aftercare program. In accordance with a strong

experimental research design, each of the sites uses a system of random

assignment of clients to the program. The Johns Hopkins University and

California State University at Sacramento have provided continuing

training and technical assistance to both administrators/managers and

line staff at the intensive community-based aftercare sites. Staff have

been fully trained in the theoretical underpinnings of the IAP model

and in its practical applications, such as techniques for identifying

juveniles appropriate for the program. Training and technical

assistance in this model have also been available to other States and

OJJDP grantees on a limited basis.

In fiscal year 1997, the sites will continue to implement and test

the aftercare model. An independent contractor is performing an

evaluation under a separate grant. The Johns Hopkins University will

provide ongoing training and technical assistance to the four selected

sites and also provide aftercare technical assistance services to

jurisdictions participating in the OJJDP/Department of the Interior

Youth Environmental Service (YES) initiative, OJJDP's six SafeFutures

program sites, and other programs, including the New York State

Division for Youth's Youth Leadership Academy in Albany, New York.

The IAP project will be implemented by the current grantee, The

Johns Hopkins University. No additional applications will be solicited

in fiscal year 1997.

Evaluation of Intensive Community-Based Aftercare Demonstration and

Technical Assistance Program

The National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD) received a 3-

year competitive fiscal year 1994 grant to conduct a process evaluation

and design an impact evaluation of the Intensive Community-Based

Aftercare Demonstration and Technical Assistance Program at sites in

Colorado, New Jersey, Nevada, and Virginia. NCCD's initial award funded

the design and implementation of the process evaluation, the design of

an impact evaluation, and start-up data collection. A report on the

process evaluation was submitted in the spring of 1996. Fiscal year

1996 funding enabled NCCD to begin the impact evaluation. Because of

the excellent progress made during the first two years on the process

evaluation, OJJDP extended this program for three additional years to

allow sufficient time for completion of the impact evaluation.

NCCD will use a true experimental design to answer the following

research questions: (1) is the nature of supervision and services

provided to Intensive Community-Based Aftercare (IAP) youth different

from that given to ``regular'' parolees?; (2) does IAP have an impact

on the subsequent delinquent or criminal involvement of program

participants?; (3) does IAP have an impact on the specific intermediate

outcomes such as reduction of substance abuse, improved peer

relationships, improved self-concept, and reduced delinquent or

criminal behavior?; and (4) is IAP cost-effective?

The project will be implemented by the current grantee, NCCD. No

additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Interventions To Reduce Disproportionate Minority Confinement in Secure

Detention and Correctional Facilities (The Deborah Ann Wysinger

Memorial Program)

In fiscal year 1995, under a national discretionary grant

initiative, OJJDP funded eight programs designed to enable States to

identify strategies to eliminate the overrepresentation of minority

juveniles in secure detention or correctional facilities, adult jails

and lockups, and other secure institutional facilities. One of the

eight awards was made to The Academy, Inc., in Columbus, Ohio, which

conducted an evaluation of the Franklin County (Ohio) Juvenile Court's

efforts to reduce minority overrepresentation.

The evaluation focuses on three areas: (1) staff issues such as

working

[[Page 11972]]

conditions, morale, and attitudes toward peers, supervisors,

administrative staff, and jurists; (2) treatment issues related to

reducing minority overrepresentation; and (3) broader implications for

research, particularly studies supported by Federal agencies.

This proposed project is an outgrowth of the research begun in the

Franklin County Juvenile Court. The Academy is concluding the

evaluation of a broad range of policy modifications undertaken by this

court to address minority overrepresentation at intake and in its

confinement facilities. In this project, the proposed research would

shift the focus from juvenile court to a study of similar circumstances

surrounding police policies and decisions to refer some juveniles to

the courts, release others to their parents, and/or divert still others

to community-based programs.

This program would be implemented by The Academy, Inc. No

additional applications would be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

State Justice Statistics Program for Statistical Analysis Centers

Through an interagency agreement with the Bureau of Justice

Statistics (BJS), OJJDP proposes to contribute funds to the BJS State

Justice Statistics Program for Statistical Analysis Centers (SAC). The

supplemental funding would be offered to State SAC's to encourage them

to undertake studies of juvenile transfers to criminal court for

prosecution and youth gang involvement in criminal activity.

Studies of juvenile transfers to criminal court for prosecution

include those studies that monitor the flow of cases involving

juveniles (by reason of age and/or offense and prior history) into the

criminal court and may focus on statewide or high-volume local

processes, outcomes, and impact of the decision to try the case in

criminal court. Preference would be given to those studies that provide

appropriate comparative samples with juveniles retained in the juvenile

justice system (or which have the capability to generate trends) and

those studies that can and are willing to collect data currently being

captured by OJJDP's studies of Juvenile Transfers to Criminal Court.

The second topic area proposed to be supported is youth gang

involvement in violence, drug sales, and weapons use and system

response. This area would support studies that monitor trends in such

behavior (violent crime, drug markets, and weapons use and sales) by

youth gangs; its concentration and migration among different

neighborhoods; and the law enforcement, criminal, and juvenile justice

system response to such behavior. Of particular interest would be

studies that demonstrate the utility of Geographic-Based Information

Systems (GIS) to monitor trends in behavior and system response

spatially.

No applications would be solicited by OJJDP in fiscal year 1997. To

acquire a copy of the BJS solicitation, contact Paul White, State

Justice Statistics (SJS) Program Manager, at 202-307-0771. The deadline

for the first cycle of applications to BJS is June 30, 1997.

Juvenile Probation Survey Research

Juvenile probation is one of the most critical areas of the

juvenile justice system. However, there is currently very little

information available on juveniles on probation. We do not know how

many juveniles are on probation, their demographic characteristics,

their offenses, or the conditions of their probation, including length,

residential confinement, electronic monitoring, restitution, etc. In

fiscal year 1996, this project conducted survey research and developed

a questionnaire to collect this important information. Because States

operate their juvenile probation systems in very different manners, the

project also examined how these differences affected the information

collected.

Also in fiscal year 1996, OJJDP held a national meeting to assess

the needs and scope of the future survey work to be undertaken. The

meeting included probation officers, national experts in juvenile

probation, and experts in the field of survey development.

In fiscal year 1997, the project will develop an interview protocol

for exploratory interviews, conduct interviews in 20 probation offices

around the country, develop an initial data collection instrument, and

provide a plan for testing.

OJJDP will provide second-year funding to complete this research

through an interagency agreement with the Bureau of the Census. No

additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Performance-Based Standards for Juvenile Detention and Correctional

Facilities

There is a need to increase the accountability of detention and

correctional agencies, facilities, and staff in performing their basic

functions. The development of performance-based standards has emerged

as a primary strategy for improving conditions of confinement. This

program supports the development and implementation of performance-

based standards for juvenile detention and corrections. The performance

measures and standards being developed will address both services and

the quality of life for confined juveniles. They will reflect the

consensus of a broadly representative group of national organizations

on the mission, goals, and objectives of juvenile detention and

corrections. OJJDP plans to promote nationwide adoption and

implementation of the measures and standards through a future training

and technical assistance program.

In fiscal year 1995, OJJDP awarded a competitive 18-month

cooperative agreement to the Council of Juvenile Corrections

Administrators (CJCA) to develop national performance-based standards

for juvenile detention and correctional facilities. A National

Consortium of major professional and advocacy organizations provided

technical advice and support in all aspects of the development and

implementation of the standards. The project focused on standards in

the areas of: safety; security; order; programming, treatment, and

education; health; and justice.

During fiscal year 1996, project working groups completed the

drafting of performance criteria and measures and assessment tools for

monitoring performance in all substantive areas. In addition, all

materials were field tested and revised as needed. A plan for

implementation was also completed.

In fiscal year 1997, a complete set of performance-based standards

and a measurement system will be completed, along with plans for an 18-

month period of intensive demonstration and testing of the performance-

based standards and their impact on juvenile corrections and detention

programming.

The program would be implemented in fiscal year 1997 by the current

grantee, CJCA. No additional applications would be solicited in fiscal

year 1997.

Technical Assistance to Juvenile Corrections and Detention (The James

E. Gould Memorial Program)

The primary purpose of the Technical Assistance to Juvenile

Corrections and Detention project is to provide specialized technical

assistance to juvenile corrections, detention, and community

residential service providers. The grantee, the American Correctional

Association (ACA), also plans and convenes an annual Juvenile

Corrections and Detention Forum. The Forum provides an opportunity for

juvenile corrections and detention leaders to meet and discuss issues,

problems, and solutions to emerging

[[Page 11973]]

corrections and detention problems. The ACA also provides workshops and

conferences on current and emerging national issues in the field of

juvenile corrections and detention, writes and solicits articles for

professional publications, conducts surveys, and offers technical

assistance through document dissemination. OJJDP awarded a fiscal year

1995 competitive grant to the ACA to provide these services over a 3-

year project period.

The project will be implemented by the current grantee, ACA. No

additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Training for Juvenile Corrections and Detention Management Staff

In fiscal year 1997, OJJDP proposes to continue its support for the

development and implementation of a comprehensive training program for

juvenile corrections and detention management staff through a new

interagency agreement with the National Institute of Corrections (NIC).

Initiated in 1991, the program is designed to offer a core curriculum

for juvenile corrections and detention administrators and midlevel

management personnel in such areas as leadership development,

management, training of trainers, legal issues, cultural diversity, the

role of the victim in juvenile corrections, juvenile programming for

special needs offenders, and management of the violent or disruptive

offender. In fiscal year 1996, NIC conducted 8 training seminars, 5

workshops, and 1 video conference and made 10 technical assistance

awards, reaching 3,302 participants.

In fiscal year 1997, it is anticipated that the project would

provide 8 seminars, 2 workshops at national conferences, and 1 national

video conference to reach a total of 6,000 practitioners. The training

would be conducted at the NIC Academy and regionally. No additional

applications would be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Training for Line Staff in Juvenile Detention and Corrections

In fiscal year 1994, the National Juvenile Detention Association

(NJDA) was awarded a competitive 3-year project period grant to

establish a training program to meet the needs of the more than 38,000

line staff of juvenile detention and corrections facilities. In fiscal

year 1996, NJDA developed and pilot tested the 40-hour Corrections

Careworker Curriculum, developed the 24-hour Train-the-Trainer for the

Corrections Careworker Curriculum, conducted 42 separate trainings for

2,700 participants, developed 2 new lesson plans in safety and conflict

resolution, and provided technical assistance to 37 agencies.

In fiscal year 1997, the third year of funding, NJDA will continue

to offer training to practitioners, including the new Corrections

Careworker Curriculum for juvenile corrections line staff.

Additionally, NJDA will deliver selected training programs for juvenile

detention and corrections line staff on current issues.

This project will be implemented by the current grantee, NJDA. No

additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Training and Technical Support for State and Local Jurisdictional Teams

To Focus on Juvenile Corrections and Detention Overcrowding

The Conditions of Confinement: Juvenile Detention and Correctional

Facilities Research Report (1994), completed by Abt Associates under an

OJJDP grant, identified overcrowding as the most urgent problem facing

juvenile corrections and detention facilities. Overcrowding in juvenile

facilities is a function of decisions and policies made at the State

and local levels. The trend toward increased use of detention and

commitment to State facilities, which has been seen in many

jurisdictions, has been reversed when key decisionmakers, such as the

chief judge, chief of police, director of the local detention facility,

head of the State juvenile correctional agency, and others who affect

the flow of juveniles through the system, agree to make decisions

collaboratively and modify existing practices and policies. In some

instances, modification has occurred in response to court orders.

Compliance with court orders can be improved with the support of

enhanced interagency communication and planning among those agencies

affecting the flow of juveniles through the system.

In addressing the problem of overcrowded facilities, OJJDP

considered the recommendations of the Conditions of Confinement study

regarding overcrowding, the data on overrepresentation of minority

youth in confinement, and other information that suggests crowding in

juvenile facilities is a national problem. Policymakers can address

this issue by increasing capacity, where necessary, or by taking other

steps to control crowding.

This project, competitively awarded to the National Juvenile

Detention Association (NJDA) (in partnership with the San Francisco

Youth Law Center) in fiscal year 1994 for a 3-year project period,

provides training and technical assistance materials for use by State

and local jurisdictional teams. In fiscal year 1995, the project

collected information on strategies to control crowding and prepared

training and technical assistance materials. Based on the demonstrated

need for assistance and related criteria, NJDA selected three

jurisdictions in fiscal year 1996 (Camden, New Jersey; Oklahoma City,

Oklahoma; and the Rhode Island Juvenile Corrections System) for onsite

development, implementation, and testing of procedures to reduce

crowding. In fiscal year 1997, the third year of funding, the project

will continue to provide training and technical assistance to these

sites, complete the development of technical assistance materials, and

assess the procedures used to control overcrowding.

This project will be implemented by the current grantee, NJDA. No

additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

National Program Directory

In fiscal year 1995, OJJDP initiated the development of a National

Program Directory, a national list of all juvenile justice offices,

facilities, and programs in the United States, through the Bureau of

the Census. The Census Bureau developed a directory format for juvenile

detention and correctional facilities, which contains the addresses and

phone numbers of localities, names and titles of directors, and

important classification information, classifies facilities by the

agency or firm that operates them, and lists the functions of the

facility. This structure was developed specifically to provide OJJDP

with the ability to conduct surveys and censuses of juvenile custody

facilities. The effort placed into developing this structure also

translated to other areas, such as a list of juvenile probation

offices.

Beyond developing the computer structure, this project developed,

in fiscal year 1996, the actual sampling frame or address list. The

development of complete frames for any segment of the juvenile justice

system required many different approaches. The Census Bureau used

contacts with professional organizations to compile a preliminary list

of juvenile facilities, courts, probation offices, and programs. The

Census Bureau will seek contacts in each State for further

clarification of the lists, following up until a complete list of all

programs of interest has been compiled.

This program will be continued in fiscal year 1997 through an

existing interagency agreement with the Census

[[Page 11974]]

Bureau. No additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year

1997.

A Comprehensive Juvenile Sex Offender Typology

The criminal justice system has struggled to address issues related

to juvenile sex offenders' dangerousness, the most appropriate level of

placement restrictiveness, the potential for rehabilitation, assessment

requirements, and intervention needs. Efforts to address these issues

effectively have been hampered by the lack of an empirically-based

system for classifying this heterogeneous population into meaningful

subgroups. OJJDP, in collaboration with other Federal agencies,

proposes to support a competitive research project to generate an

empirically validated typology of the juvenile sex offender that would

provide both the scientific basis for understanding differences between

groups of juvenile sex offenders and direction to guide judicial

decisionmaking.

KidsPeace--The National Centers for Kids in Crisis, North America*

The purpose of this program is to provide children in crisis,

specifically seriously disturbed children and adolescents, with

Individual Foster Care (IFC) in a therapeutic family setting. Fiscal

year 1996 accomplishments include opening up the family training

sessions to New Jersey foster parents and implementing outreach efforts

that resulted in several hundred calls from individuals interested in

working as foster parents. At present, five families are licensed and

approved. Another 10 families are in various stages of the 10-week

training and approval process. In the near future, a local television

station will broadcast a show featuring the services being offered

through this newly established program in Union, New Jersey.

KidsPeace will expand the program in fiscal year 1997 to additional

sites providing social, emotional, and educational growth and

development in the children served; initial out-of-home placement,

community reintegration from more restrictive residential programs, or

an alternative to failed foster family placements; and intensive family

treatment with professional training, supervision, and ongoing support

to enhance families' abilities to meet the needs of their IFC children.

The program also involves and challenges the family of origin to become

active participants in their child's treatment program (whenever deemed

appropriate by the courts). In fiscal year 1997, KidsPeace will develop

an outcome-based research component to better define the types of

children who are best served in the IFC program, improve the services

being offered, and track the progress of children following discharge

from care.

The program will be implemented by the current grantee, KidsPeace--

The National Centers for Kids in Crisis, North America. No additional

applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

The Bethesda Day Treatment Program

Bethesda Day Treatment is a program of the Bethesda Family Services

Foundation. OJJDP began funding the program in fiscal year 1993 to

establish a program in Philadelphia for serious juvenile offenders. The

program was expanded in fiscal year 1995 to replicate the Bethesda

model in 10 national jurisdictions. Since the original grant was made,

the Foundation has established programs in 17 localities. There are

programs currently operating in Arizona, Florida, Maryland, New Mexico,

New York, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania.

The Bethesda Day Treatment Program consists of comprehensive

community-based activities designed to safely reduce overcrowding in

secure facilities, provide treatment prior to adjudication, continue

treatment after adjudication or after release from secure treatment,

and provide a continuum of care.

Replication sites receive technical assistance in the development

of six distinct units of program service: day treatment services, a

prep-school, drug and alcohol abuse treatment, foster care, family

systems counseling, and parenting. Accepting juveniles between ages 10

and 17, the program uses 18 different treatment modalities, intensively

penetrating the home, the school, the job site, and the peer group in

order to interrupt antisocial behavior patterns.

The site replication aspect of this program would be continued in

fiscal year 1997 with a continuation award to enable the Bethesda

Family Services Foundation to complete technical assistance delivery to

selected sites. No additional applications would be solicited in fiscal

year 1997.

Interagency Programs on Mental Health and Juvenile Justice

In October 1996, OJJDP convened a Mental Health/Juvenile Justice

Working Group to discuss the mental health needs of juveniles and to

suggest funding priorities for OJJDP. The Mental Health/Juvenile

Justice Initiative addresses four of the eight ideas generated by the

working group. These areas include: (1) assessing screening instruments

and screening procedures to identify multi-needs children, adjudicative

competency, and other mental health issues; (2) examining the

effectiveness of organizational structure and how organizations deal

with providing mental health services on both a short-term and long-

term basis; (3) examining the relationship between mental health and

violence and co-occurring disorders; and (4) looking at best practices

such as the use of common funding streams.

OJJDP is interested in providing support in one or more of these

areas in fiscal year 1997 and requests input from the field on

suggested priorities, activities, and program support.

Delinquency Prevention and Intervention

Training in Risk-Focused Prevention Strategies

OJJDP will provide additional training in fiscal year 1997 to

communities interested in developing a risk and protective factor-

focused delinquency prevention strategy. This training supports OJJDP's

Title V Community Prevention Grants Program and the Comprehensive

Strategy for Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Offenders by

providing the knowledge and skills necessary for State, local, and

private agency officials and citizens to identify and address risk

factors that lead to violent and delinquent behavior in children. In

fiscal years 1994-1996, this training was offered to all States,

territories, and the District of Columbia that received discretionary

grants from OJJDP to implement the Title V program.

After initiating this training program in fiscal year 1994, OJJDP

awarded a competitive contract with fiscal year 1995 funds and

continued the contract in 1996 to perform ongoing tasks and provide

prevention training in the following areas: (1) orientation on risk-and

resiliency-focused prevention theories and strategies for local

community leaders; (2) identification, assessment, and addressing of

risk factors; (3) development and provision of training of trainers in

selected States to provide a statewide capacity to train communities in

risk-focused prevention; and (4) provision of technical assistance to

States and localities for needs identified through implementation of

the Title V program.

These services will be provided in fiscal year 1997 through third-

year funding of the contract awarded to Developmental Research and

Programs, Inc. A new competitive solicitation may

[[Page 11975]]

be issued late in fiscal year 1997 for award in fiscal year 1998.

Youth Substance Use Prevention Program (President's Crime Prevention

Council)

Due to the urgency of the problem of drug use among juveniles and

the importance of having Federal agencies undertake collaborative

efforts to make the most efficient and effective use of resources,

OJJDP has joined with the President's Crime Prevention Council (PCPC)

in issuing a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the Youth

Substance Use Prevention Program and the evaluation of that program.

The program will assist community-based, youth-led, and grassroots

organizations that sponsor activities designed to combat youth drug and

alcohol use and provide an evaluation of the funded programs. Up to $1

million will be made available from PCPC funds. OJJDP will administer

the program under an interagency agreement with PCPC. Interested

applicants for this program should obtain a copy of the NOFA from the

Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse at 800/638-8736 or the OJJDP homepage at

http://www/ncjrs.org/ojjhome.htm.

OJJDP will also issue a separate, competitive solicitation to

evaluate the Youth Substance Use Prevention Program. The substance use

prevention evaluation strategy used by the grantee must be theory

driven and based on sound research principles. Both a process and an

outcome evaluation will be performed. The outcome evaluation would

determine whether youth-led prevention programs are effective. The

process evaluation would define the critical elements of implementing a

successful youth-led prevention program.

Survey of School-Based Gang Prevention and Intervention Programs

This program would assess school-based gang prevention and

intervention programs to identify promising or successful models for

national demonstration and evaluation or replication and dissemination.

For example, one type of program of interest is a youth gang unit in

the school. The school youth gang unit serves as the first line of

defense against the problem of gangs. Some units address gang crimes

and school rule violations citywide. Another program of interest would

be entrepreneurial skills programs for youth to prevent them from

staying in gangs. Examples of this type of program are found in schools

that develop stores or gardens and train young people in marketable

skills, giving them high school or college credit for successfully

participating in the training.

OJJDP proposes to issue a competitive solicitation for this

initiative in fiscal year 1997.

Youth-Centered Conflict Resolution

Increasing levels of juvenile violence have become a national

concern. Violence in and around school campuses and conflict among

juveniles in both schools and neighborhoods are problems for school

administrators, teachers, parents, community leaders, and the public.

Although experts may debate the merits and impact of the varied

contributing factors, they would agree that most school curriculums do

not provide for the systematic teaching of problem-and conflict-

resolving skills.

To address this issue, OJJDP awarded a competitive cooperative

agreement in fiscal year 1995 for a 3-year project period to the

Illinois Institute for Dispute Resolution (IIDR) to develop, in concert

with other established conflict resolution (CR) organizations, a

national strategy for broad-based education and training in the use of

conflict resolution skills. In support of this task, IIDR conducted

three regional conferences based on a joint publication developed by

the Departments of Justice and Education. IIDR also provided technical

assistance and disseminated information about CR programs to

individuals, organizations, and communities.

In fiscal year 1997, the project will conduct additional training

sessions as part of, or in conjunction with, established meetings or

conferences of national educational, justice, and youth-serving

organizations. IIDR will also develop a training manual and provide

training in CR education to administrators; school staff; and youth,

parents, and staff associated with arts-based programs for at-risk

youth. The arts component is funded by the National Endowment for the

Arts.

The project will be implemented by the current grantee, IIDR. No

additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Teens, Crime, and the Community: Teens in Action in the 90s*

This continuation program is conducted by the National Crime

Prevention Council (NCPC) in partnership with the National Institute

for Citizen Education in the Law (NICEL). Teens in Action in the 90s is

a special application of the Teens, Crime, and Community (TCC) program

that operates on the premise that teens, who are disproportionately the

victims of crimes, can contribute to improving their schools and

communities through a broad array of activities.

During fiscal year 1996, the TCC Program expanded through five

regional expansion centers located in New England, the Mid-Atlantic

States, the Mid-South, the Deep South, and the Pacific Northwest Coast.

These TCC projects utilized Boys and Girls Clubs of America and their

affiliates to become partners in TCC efforts in these regions.

More than 5,000 teachers, social service providers, juvenile

justice professionals, law enforcement officers, and other community

leaders participated in intensive training to help sites implement the

TCC curriculum in their communities. More than 1,000 individuals

benefited from technical assistance, materials, and consultation

regarding TCC in areas of program implementation, fund development, and

networking opportunities. In addition, NCPC and NICEL initiated the

implementation of the National Teens, Crime, and the Community Program

in the six SafeFutures sites. In fiscal year 1997, TCC will be

implemented in additional sites throughout the country.

The program will be implemented by the current grantee, NCPC. No

additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Law-Related Education (LRE)*

The national Law-Related Education (LRE) Program, Youth for

Justice, includes 5 coordinated LRE projects and programs operating in

48 States and 4 non-State jurisdictions. Youth for Justice provides

training and technical assistance to State and local school

jurisdictions that are designed to achieve the institutionalization of

quality LRE programs for at-risk juveniles. The major components of the

program are coordination and management, training and technical

assistance, assistance to local program sites, public information, and

program development and assessment. In 1996, the Youth for Justice

program continued to provide materials, training, and technical

assistance to its national network of statewide LRE centers and

sponsored youth summits in more than 40 States. The focus of the

program during fiscal year 1997 will be to continue linking LRE to

violence reduction efforts and to involve program participants in

finding solutions to juvenile violence. Planned activities for fiscal

year 1997 include a national teleconference and dissemination of

information about special applications of LRE developed for high-risk

segments of the population (middle school students and teen parents).

Youth for Justice will also produce and

[[Page 11976]]

disseminate a technical assistance compendium of LRE research and best

practices.

This program will be implemented by the current grantees, the

American Bar Association, the Center for Civic Education, the

Constitutional Rights Foundation, the National Institute for Citizen

Education in the Law, and Phi Alpha Delta. No additional applications

will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Communities In Schools--Federal Interagency Partnership

This program is a continuation of a national school dropout

prevention model developed and implemented by Communities In Schools,

Inc. (CIS). CIS, Inc., provides training and technical assistance to

CIS programs in States and local communities, enabling them to adapt

and implement the CIS model. The model brings social, employment,

mental health, drug prevention, entrepreneurship, and other resources

to high-risk youth and their families in the school setting. Where CIS

State organizations are established, they assume primary responsibility

for local program replication during the Federal Interagency

Partnership.

The Federal Interagency Partnership program is based on the

following strategies: (1) to enhance CIS, Inc., training and technical

assistance capabilities; (2) to enhance the organization's capability

to introduce selected initiatives to CIS youth at the local level; (3)

to enhance the CIS, Inc., information dissemination network capability;

and (4) to enhance the CIS, Inc., capability to network with Federal

agencies on behalf of State and local CIS programs.

Fiscal year 1996 accomplishments under the Federal Interagency

Partnership include the following: (1) continued support and expansion

of the CIS Youth Entrepreneurial Project, including 16 student-run

entrepreneurship programs; (2) expansion of a consulting program

consisting of a pool of CIS State and local program directors and other

experts to support programs that include community collaboration,

strategic planning, and working with at-risk youth; (3) production and

distribution of two issues of Facts You Can Use: Seeds of Help, a

technical publication concentrating on functional areas of importance

to local CIS programs and the sponsors of the Federal Interagency

Partnership; and (4) a 3-day training session featuring presentations

from Federal agencies on the financial and programmatic resources

available through their Departments.

Fiscal year 1997 proposals include: (1) provide continuing training

and technical assistance on family strengthening and parent

participation initiatives that will expand and enhance CIS family

service activities; (2) offer and provide training and technical

assistance, as requested, to the six SafeFutures sites; (3) work with

groups identified by the U.S. Department of Commerce to continue to

support the development of a CIS program serving a Native American

community in Rapid City, South Dakota; (4) support the continued

expansion of the CIS Youth Entrepreneurship initiative; (5) update and

produce the publication CIS: A History of Partnership and produce and

distribute the CIS Facts You Can Use technical bulletin quarterly; (6)

continue to identify violence prevention and gang prevention programs

appropriate for use by the CIS network; and (7) continue to incorporate

evaluated family strengthening programs in the Facts You Can Use

technical bulletin and the Federal Products Showcase.

The Federal Interagency Partnership program is jointly funded by

OJJDP and the Department of Commerce under an OJJDP grant. The program

would be implemented by the current grantee, Communities In Schools,

Inc. No additional applications would be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

The Congress of National Black Churches: National Anti-Drug Abuse/

Violence Campaign (NADVC)

OJJDP proposes to continue to fund the Congress of National Black

Churches' (CNBC) national public awareness and mobilization strategy to

address the problem of juvenile drug abuse and violence in targeted

communities. The goal of the CNBC national strategy is to summon,

focus, and coordinate the leadership of the black religious community,

in cooperation with the Department of Justice and other Federal

agencies and organizations, to mobilize groups of community residents

to combat juvenile drug abuse and drug-related violence.

The campaign now operates in 37 city alliances, having grown from 5

original target cities. The smallest of these alliances consists of 6

churches and the largest has 135 churches. The NADVC program involves

approximately 2,220 clergy and affects 1.5 million youth and the adults

who influence their lives. NADVC also provides technical support to

four statewide religious coalitions.

As a result of NADVC's technical assistance and training workshops,

project sites have been able to leverage more than $2 million in

private and government funding.

NADVC has contributed to the planning and presentation of numerous

technical assistance and training conferences on violence and substance

abuse prevention and produced a National Training and Site Development

Guide and a video to assist sites in implementing the NADVC model.

In addition, in fiscal year 1996, NADVC became a partner in the

Education Development Center's (EDC) Juvenile Hate Crime Initiative.

NADVC used EDC's hate crime curriculum to focus on prevention through

the networks and resources in the faith community to address the impact

and roles of juveniles and youth in engaging in and preventing hate

crimes. NADVC is currently providing training and technical assistance

in South Carolina, the location of the majority of the recent church

burnings in the United States.

The proposed expansion of activities in fiscal year 1997 would be

accomplished through NADVC's Regional Hate Crime Prevention Initiative,

the Campaign's model for anti-drug/violence strategies, and NADVC's

faith community network.

The program, which would continue to expand to new sites in fiscal

year 1997 and enhance efforts to address hate crime and family violence

intervention issues, would be implemented by the current grantee, CNBC.

No additional applications would be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Risk Reduction Via Promotion of Youth Development

Risk Reduction Via Promotion of Youth Development, located in South

Carolina, is a large-scale prevention trial involving hundreds of

children and several elementary schools located in lower socioeconomic

neighborhoods of Columbia, South Carolina. This program is the result

of an interagency agreement with the National Institute of Mental

Health (NIMH). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the

National Institute on Drug Abuse have also provided funding for the

program.

The trial involves a large-scale project designed to promote

coping-competence and reduce risk for conduct problems, substance use,

and school failure beginning in early elementary school. Interventions

include a classroom program, a schoolwide conflict management program,

peer social skills training, and home-based family programming. The

sample includes African American and Caucasian children attending

schools located in lower income neighborhoods. There is a sample of

high-risk children (showing early aggressive behavior at school entry)

and a second sample of lower risk

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children (residing in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods).

The interventions begin in first grade, and children are followed

longitudinally throughout the 5 years of the project. A major goal is

to reduce the development of conduct problems, aggression, and

subsequent delinquency and violence. The project also seeks to alter

home and school climates in order to reduce risk for adverse outcomes

and to promote positive youth development.

This program would be implemented through a fund transfer to NIMH

under an interagency agreement. No additional applications would be

solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Community Anti-Drug Abuse Technical Assistance Voucher Project

Through the Community Anti-Drug Abuse Technical Assistance Voucher

Project, the National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise (NCNE) awards

vouchers to grassroots organizations to purchase technical assistance

and training to effectively address the problem of juvenile drug abuse.

As a result of a large number of incoming applications, NCNE has

established a clearinghouse featuring 1,224 promising and proven anti-

drug programs. They are part of the NCNE National Clearinghouse of

Youth Anti-Drug Abuse Programs. Twenty-nine organizations received

voucher awards totaling $62,000 in fiscal year 1996. Awards ranged from

$1,000 to $10,000 per site.

The impact of technical assistance vouchers includes enhanced

organizational visibility, larger grant awards for indigenous groups,

and expanded and increased services resulting from technical assistance

in program development and staff training. In addition to awarding

vouchers for technical assistance, NCNE provides technical assistance

to applicants regarding the development of their mission, goals, and

objectives.

The Community Anti-Drug Abuse Technical Assistance Voucher Project

would be implemented by the current grantee, NCNE. No additional

applications would be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Training and Technical Assistance for Family Strengthening Programs

Prevention, early intervention, and effective crisis intervention

are critical elements in a community's family support system. In many

communities, one or more of these elements may be missing or programs

may not be coordinated. In addition, technical assistance and training

are often not available to community organizations and agencies

providing family strengthening services. In response, OJJDP awarded a

3-year competitive cooperative agreement in fiscal year 1995 to the

University of Utah's Department of Health and Education to provide

training and technical assistance to communities interested in

establishing or enhancing a continuum of family strengthening efforts.

In the first program year, the grantee drafted a literature review and

summaries of exemplary programs; conducted a national search for,

rated, and selected family strengthening models; planned 2 regional

training conferences to showcase the selected exemplary and promising

family strengthening programs; convened the first conference for 250

attendees in Salt Lake City, Utah; and developed an application process

for sites to receive followup training on specific program models. In

fiscal year 1997, the grantee will complete the literature review and

model program summaries; convene the second regional conference in

Washington, D.C.; conduct program-specific workshops; produce user and

training-of-trainers guides; and distribute videos of several family

strengthening workshops.

This program will continue to be implemented by the current

grantee, the University of Utah's Department of Health and Education.

No additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Training and Technical Assistance To Promote Teen Court Programs

OJJDP considers teen courts, also called peer courts, to be a

promising mechanism for holding juvenile offenders accountable for

their actions while promoting avenues for positive youth development.

Teen courts are included as a promising early intervention program in

OJJDP's Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and Chronic

Juvenile Offenders.

To encourage the use of teen court programs to address problems

associated with delinquency, substance abuse, and traffic safety, OJJDP

provided funding in fiscal year 1996 to supplement the existing Teen

Court Programs Project of the National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration (NHTSA) of the U.S. Department of Transportation. The

NHTSA grant was awarded in fiscal year 1994 for a 3-year project period

to the American Probation and Parole Association (APPA) to develop a

teen court guide and provide training and technical assistance to

develop or enhance teen court programs. This existing NHTSA grant and

OJJDP's fiscal year 1996 funds supported the development of the joint

publication Peer Justice and Youth Empowerment: An Implementation Guide

for Teen Court Programs and additional technical assistance to three

selected sites. Technical assistance to develop or enhance teen courts

was provided to Lane and Deschuttes Counties in Oregon; Minnesota

Planning, Inc., in St. Paul, Minnesota; and the Orange County Teen

Court Program in Orlando, Florida. The additional funds from OJJDP

enabled APPA to provide more onsite assistance to each of the three

agencies in the areas of identifying problems and overcoming barriers.

The national response to the training and technical assistance and

to the Guide has been enthusiastic. NHTSA and OJJDP have received

numerous requests to provide additional training seminars and technical

assistance based on the Guide. In fiscal year 1997, OJJDP proposes to

provide funding to NHTSA through an interagency agreement to supplement

the existing grant with APPA. This would enable APPA to provide six

intensive training seminars and site-specific technical assistance to

three additional sites in fiscal year 1997. The seminars would each

cover 2\1/2\ days of intensive training that is accredited by APPA for

1\1/2\ continuing education units to help maintain certification or for

employment or school requirements. Technical assistance would be

provided to three selected jurisdictions with site-specific strategic

planning for the program organizers on developing, implementing, or

enhancing teen court programs. To be eligible for technical assistance,

recipients need to have completed an APPA teen court training seminar.

A request for proposals would be sent to the six training seminar

participants and to participants who completed earlier teen court

training seminars held by APPA. Site selection for the training and

technical assistance would be determined by APPA project staff with

input and approval from OJJDP and NHTSA.

This project would be implemented by the current NHTSA grantee,

APPA. No additional applications would be solicited in fiscal year

1997.

Evaluation of Teen Courts

Teen courts constitute one approach to reducing underage drinking,

impaired driving, and other problem behaviors of youth such as

shoplifting and vandalism. Teen courts emphasize concepts such as

accountability, positive peer influence, competency development, and

youth empowerment

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and involvement. Teen court programs offer jurisdictions a potential

means for holding youthful offenders accountable for problem behaviors,

including those for which they previously may have received little or

no intervention.

In fiscal year 1997, OJJDP proposes to begin an evaluation of teen

court programs currently underway in communities across the country.

During this initial phase, OJJDP would award a competitive grant to

develop a strategy for selecting programs that have a sound theoretical

foundation and are structured to support a rigorous evaluation that

would help to refine that program model. This program would encourage a

collaborative research approach between practitioners and researchers.

Upon determination of the evaluation potential of the identified sites,

OJJDP would support a full process and impact evaluation of these

programs in subsequent fiscal years.

Henry Ford Health System

The Henry Ford Health System (HFHS) Center has developed and

initiated a program in Detroit with fiscal year 1995 and 1996 OJJDP

funds that serves the Northern High School attendance area, including

seven elementary schools and two middle schools that serve as feeder

schools for Northern High School. Michigan Formula Grants Program funds

assisted in this effort. The underlying objective of the program is the

reduction of gang and community violence among children attending these

Detroit schools. The program is designed to identify individuals at

moderate to high risk of violence, assess the needs of the target

population of youth and the resources available in the community to

deal with those needs, coordinate community resources to create

comprehensive violence reduction programs, and evaluate the efficacy of

component programs and the initia

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