# Comprehensive Program Plan for Fiscal Year 1998 and Availability of Discretionary Program Announcements and Application Kit

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URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/fr%3A98-15832

## Record

- **Collection:** Federal Register
- **Document type:** Notice
- **Published:** June 17, 1998
- **Citation:** 63 FR 33126

## Text

SUMMARY: The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is
publishing its Final Program Plan for fiscal year (FY) 1998 and
announces the availability of the FY 1998 OJJDP Discretionary Program
Announcements and the FY 1998 OJJDP Application Kit.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eileen M. Garry, Director, Information
Dissemination Unit, 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. 5601 et seq. (JJDP Act),
the Administrator of OJJDP published for public comment a Proposed
Comprehensive Plan describing the program activities that OJJDP
proposed to carry out during FY 1998. The Proposed Comprehensive Plan
included activities authorized in Parts C and D of Title II of the JJDP
Act, codified at 42 U.S.C. 5651-5665a, 5667, 5667a. The public was
invited to comment on the Proposed Plan by March 23, 1998. The
Administrator analyzed the public comments received, and that analysis
is provided below. Taking these comments into consideration, the
Administrator developed this Final Comprehensive Plan describing the
particular program activities that OJJDP intends to fund during FY
1998, using in whole or in part funds appropriated under Parts C and D
of Title II of the JJDP Act.
The FY 1998 OJJDP Discretionary Program Announcements and the FY
1998 OJJDP Application Kit are now available. They can be obtained from
the Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse by calling 800-638-8736 or by
sending an e-mail request to [email protected]. The publications are
also available online at OJJDP's home page, Grants and Funding section,
at www.ncjrs.org/ojjhome.htm.

Overview

After a decade of steady increases in juvenile crime and violence,
the trend is being reversed. The United States has experienced a
downturn in juvenile violent crime arrests for 2 straight years (3
years for murder arrests). Figures released in 1997 show that juvenile
arrests for murder declined 14 percent 2 years in a row--and 3 percent
the year before that. From 1995 to 1996, juvenile arrests for robbery
declined 8 percent; for the previous year, they decreased 1 percent.
The overall Violent Crime Index arrests of juveniles declined 6 percent
in 1996, following a 3-percent drop in 1995.
The decreases in juvenile Violent Crime Index arrests must be kept
in perspective, however. Even with the 2-year decline, the 1996 number
was 60 percent above the 1987 level. In comparison, adult Violent Crime
Index offense arrests rose 24 percent over the same period.
In the area of drug use violations, juveniles were involved in 14
percent of all drug arrests in 1996 (compared with 13 percent in 1995).
However, arrests of juveniles for drug abuse violations increased 6
percent from 1995 to 1996, a smaller increase than the previous year's
18 percent. In addition, between 1992 and 1996, juvenile arrests for
drug abuse violations increased 120 percent, compared with a 138-
percent increase between 1991 and 1995.
Thus, in the second half of the 1990's, juvenile violent crime and
drug use are still significantly higher than in the late 1980's but
beginning to show signs of trending downward. The juvenile justice
system needs to build on the positive momentum of these recent
decreases by continuing to focus on programs and strategies that work.
This requires a concerted effort on the part of Federal, State, and
local government, in partnership with private organizations and
community agencies, to ensure that available resources are used in a
way that maximizes their impact; decreases juvenile crime, violence,
and victimization; and increases community safety.
Federal leadership in responding to the problems confronting the
Nation's juvenile justice system 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, State Challenge Grants, and the
Title V Community Prevention Grants programs in States and territories;
funds gang and mentoring programs under Parts D and G of the JJDP Act;
funds numerous 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 also serves as the staff agency for the Coordinating Council
on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, coordinates the
Concentration of Federal Efforts Program, and administers both the
Title IV Missing and Exploited Children's Program and programs under
the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 13001 et
seq.
In the FY 1998 Appropriations Act, Congress provided funding for
two new OJJDP programs. These are not funded under Parts C and D of
Title II of the JJDP Act, which are the focus of this Proposed Program
Plan. However, mention of these new programs here, along with an
additional program that OJJDP will administer, may help to alert those
who work in the juvenile justice field to the existence of these new
programs. Recognizing that, ``while crime is on the decline in certain
parts of America, a dangerous precursor to crime, teenage drug use, is
on the rise and may soon reach a 20-year high,'' Congress provided $5
million in funds for the development, demonstration, and testing of
programs designed ``to reduce drug use among juveniles'' and ``to
increase the perception among children and youth that drug use is
risky, harmful, and unattractive.'' Funding for the drug prevention
program is discretionary, and the Appropriations Act directs OJJDP to
submit a program plan for the drug prevention program by February 1,
1998. This plan has been submitted. Twenty-five million dollars in
funds were also provided for an underage drinking program. Much of the
funding for the underage drinking program will be made available to the
States and the District of Columbia through formula grants of $360,000
each (total $18.36 million), with $5 million in discretionary funding,
and $1.64 million for training and technical assistance to support the
program. OJJDP will also administer the Juvenile Accountability
Incentive Block Grants program authorized in the FY 1998 Appropriations
Act. Of the $250 million

[[Page 33127]]

available under this new block grant program, 3 percent is available
for research, evaluation, and demonstration activities related to the
program and 2 percent is available for related training and technical
assistance activities. Program Announcements have been issued for the
Juvenile Accountability Incentive Block Grants Program and for the
Combating Underage Drinking Program. The Program Announcements are
available from the Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse and online. See the
information provided above on how to obtain copies of the FY 1998 OJJDP
Discretionary Program Announcements and the FY 1998 OJJDP Application
Kit. Further information on the Drug Prevention Program will be
provided to the field in the near future. Solicitations for OJJDP's
Mentoring program (Part G of the JJDP Act) and the Missing and
Exploited Children's Program (Title IV of the JJDP Act, the Missing
Children's Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C. 5771 et seq.) were published
separately.
Cognizant of the trends in juvenile crime and violence and of its
responsibilities and mission, OJJDP has developed a Program Plan for FY
1998 for activities authorized under Parts C and D of Title II of the
JJDP Act, as described below.

Fiscal Year 1998 Program Planning Activities

The OJJDP program planning process for FY 1998 was 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 involved 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 provide OJJDP with
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 FY 1998, 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 the Proposed Program Plan were those
that are receiving Part C or Part D FY 1998 continuation funding and
programs that OJJDP was considering for new awards in FY 1998.
Consideration for continuation funding for an additional project
period for previously funded discretionary grant programs was 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 FY 1998
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 appropriations and program
priority determinations).
In accordance with Section 262 (d)(1)(B) of the JJDP Act, as
amended, 42 U.S.C. 5665a, the competitive process for the award of Part
C funds is not 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. 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.

Program Goals

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 and local governments, American
Indian and Alaska Native jurisdictions, and public and private agencies
and 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
their achievement is vital to protecting the long-term safety of the
public from 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-
based delinquency prevention approach based

[[Page 33128]]

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. Activities to support this goal include
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 strengthening
its juvenile detention and corrections capacity and intensifying
efforts to use juvenile detention and correctional facilities in
appropriate circumstances and under conditions that maximize public
safety, while at the same time 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 to understand
how the juvenile justice system works in serving children and families.
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 and 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 three broad goals, OJJDP divides its programs
into four broad categories: public safety and law enforcement;
strengthening the juvenile justice system; delinquency prevention and
intervention; and child abuse, neglect, and dependency courts. A fifth
category, overarching programs, contains programs that have significant
elements common to more than one category. Following the introductory
section below, the programs that OJJDP proposes to fund in FY 1998 are
listed and summarized within these five categories.

Summary of Public Comments on the Proposed Comprehensive Plan for
Fiscal Year 1998

OJJDP published its Proposed Comprehensive Plan for FY 1998 in the
Federal Register (Vol. 63, No. 25) on February 6, 1998, for a 45-day
public comment period. OJJDP received 78 letters from 84 individuals
commenting on the Proposed Plan. (Four of the letters were signed by
two individuals, and one was signed by three persons.) All comments
have been considered in the development of OJJDP's Final Comprehensive
Plan for Fiscal Year 1998.
The majority of the letters provided positive comments about the
overall plan or specific programs. A few letters criticized proposed
programs or expressed concern about the failure of the plan to address
certain program areas. The following is a summary of the substantive
comments received and OJJDP's responses to the comments. Unless
otherwise indicated, each comment was made by a single respondent. The
total number of comments reported here is greater than the number of
letters received because several letters included comments on two or
more issues.
Many writers not only commented on the proposed program plan but
also indicated interest in receiving funding for programs with which
they were associated or ones which they plan to develop. In addition to
responding to their comments on the Proposed Plan in individual letters
to all commenters, OJJDP informed those interested in funding that
program announcements requesting proposals for new programs would be
published shortly after publication of the Final Comprehensive Plan and
that copies of the program announcements could be obtained by calling
OJJDP's Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse at 800-638-8736 or sending an e-
mail request to [email protected]. Program announcements will also be
available online at www.ncjrs.org/ojjhome.htm. Commenters interested in
funding were also told that most of OJJDP's funding is not provided
under Parts C and D but is distributed to the States and territories
through OJJDP's Formula Grants, Challenge, and Title V (Community
Prevention) programs. These writers were provided with contact
information for the Juvenile Justice Specialists in their States, who
can help them explore possible sources of funding. Writers expressing
interest in arts-related programs were also given

[[Page 33129]]

contact information for the appropriate arts agency in their States.
Comment: Thirty-two letters were received in support of arts
programming. Of these, 13 letters supported the Arts Programs in
Juvenile Detention Centers, 9 supported the Arts and At-Risk Youth
Program, and 10 supported both of the proposed programs.
Response: Solicitations for these two art-related programs will be
issued. The title and focus of the Arts Programs in Juvenile Detention
Centers will be expanded to Arts Programs in Juvenile Detention and
Corrections. It came to the attention of OJJDP during the public
comment period that the longer stays common in correctional settings
maximize the opportunity for arts programs to make a difference in the
lives of young people.
The solicitations are available in the 1998 OJJDP Discretionary
Program Announcement: Discretionary Grant Program: Parts C and D.
Information on how to obtain a copy of the Program Announcement is
provided above under Supplementary Information.
Comment: Five of the arts-related letters mentioned above (one that
supported both arts programs and four that supported the Arts and At-
Risk Youth Program) also indicated approval of the Youth-Centered
Conflict Resolution Program. Another letter suggested that a social
skills component should be included in the Conflict Resolution Program.
Response: OJJDP will continue to fund the Youth-Centered Conflict
Resolution (YCCR) Program in FY 1998. As the Proposed Plan stated, the
program will be carried out by the current grantee, the Illinois
Institute for Dispute Resolution, and no additional applications will
be solicited this year. OJJDP recognizes the importance of social
(interpersonal) skills training as part of an effective conflict
resolution education (CRE) program. The goal of OJJDP's YCCR Program is
to help schools, juvenile facilities, and other youth-serving
organizations select and implement quality CRE programming. As such,
YCCR recommends that a social skills component should be one of the
features to look for in considering which conflict resolution program
to implement.
Comment: Thirteen letters favored the proposal for the National
Juvenile Defender Training, Technical Assistance, and Resource Center.
One of the 13 letters had 2 signatures and another one had 3.
Response: A solicitation for the National Juvenile Defender
Training, Technical Assistance, and Resource Center will be issued as
part of the FY 1998 OJJDP Discretionary Program Announcement:
Discretionary Grant Program: Parts C and D. Information on how to
obtain a copy of the Program Announcement is provided above under
Supplementary Information.
Comment: Eight letters expressed support for the truancy reduction
program.
Response: A solicitation will be issued for this program, which
will be jointly funded by OJJDP and the Executive Office of Weed and
Seed with the Office of Justice Programs at the U.S. Department of
Justice and the Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program at the U.S.
Department of Education. Information on how to obtain a copy of the
Program Announcement containing this solicitation is provided above
under Supplementary Information.
Comment: One letter, signed by two individuals, called on OJJDP to
take more of a leadership role in addressing the mental health needs of
juveniles in the juvenile justice system.
Response: OJJDP shares the concern about the needs of a large
percentage of youth in the juvenile justice system who have mental
health problems. To address these problems, OJJDP has undertaken
several efforts. In 1995, OJJDP organized a Mental Health Task Group,
consisting of several experts in the field, to assist in defining the
problems and developing recommendations for action. Recommendations of
this group to form partnerships to study mental health issues for at-
risk and juvenile justice system youth have been addressed by OJJDP.
These recommendations are part of the background that led to the joint
programs outlined below.
To help to better understand the problems of youth, OJJDP has
transferred funds to support two studies that are being conducted by
the National Institute of Mental Health.
The first one, Risk Reduction Via Promotion of Youth Development,
is a large-scale prevention study involving hundreds of children and
several elementary schools located in lower socioeconomic neighborhoods
of Columbia, South Carolina. The Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention and the National Institute on Drug Abuse have also provided
funding for the program. The grantee is the University of South
Carolina. This large-scale project is designed to promote coping-
competence and reduce risk for conduct problems, aggression, substance
use, delinquency and violence, and school failure beginning in early
elementary school. The project also seeks to alter home and school
climates to reduce risk for adverse outcomes and to promote positive
youth development.
The second study is of various treatment modalities for attention
deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children. Expanded followup
will assess substance abuse and use and related factors necessary for
evaluating changes in ADHD children's risk for subsequent substance use
and abuse attributable to their randomly assigned treatment conditions.
In addition, the multimodal treatment study of children with ADHD
affords the opportunity to assess the experience of study participants
with the legal system, e.g., contacts with the juvenile justice system,
acts of delinquency, court referrals, and other criminal and/or
precriminal activities.
OJJDP staff have participated in the Federal National Partnership
on Children's Mental Health, which was organized by the Center for
Mental Health Services (CMHS), and the subgroups on early intervention
and American Indian programs. As an outgrowth of this work, OJJDP has
transferred money to CMHS to support technical assistance to the
Comprehensive Children's Mental Health sites funded by CMHS. This
technical assistance is designed to enhance the involvement of the
sites with the juvenile justice system-involved youth who have mental
health problems. Also, OJJDP has entered into a partnership with the
National Institute of Corrections and the Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration to support technical assistance on co-
occurring disorders for juveniles in the juvenile justice system.
OJJDP will transfer funds to CMHS to support the newly announced
Circles of Care program that CMHS will fund this fiscal year. OJJDP
support will permit the funding of an additional site.
In addition, OJJDP is funding a demonstration effort to test the
efficacy of Community Assessment Centers to determine if this approach
will lead to more thorough and complete assessments and better service
and more effective case management for at-risk and juvenile justice
system-involved youth, including those with mental health and substance
abuse disorders.
OJJDP is working with the National Mental Health Association to
support the survey of mental health needs of juveniles in 17 States.
This survey will be conducted by the GAINS Center.
On the issue of family involvement in developing policy and
programs for their children with mental health needs in the juvenile
justice system, OJJDP has been a strong advocate for this since the
early 1980's when the Office developed

[[Page 33130]]

the first research and demonstration program to address juvenile
violence. OJJDP recognizes that no program effort can be truly
successful at turning troubled youth around unless it involves family,
broadly defined, in the development of policy and programs.
To support the development of a system of care for at-risk children
and delinquents and to test the efficacy of its Comprehensive Strategy,
OJJDP has funded the SafeFutures program in six sites. This funding,
$1.4 million per site, includes $200,000 for the enhancement of mental
health services for at-risk and delinquent youth.
All of these programs represent OJJDP's commitment to addressing
the mental health issues of at-risk and delinquent youth. OJJDP shares
the concerns about this issue, as expressed in the letter. OJJDP
recognizes that these programs will not take the development of policy
and programs to the scale that will address the needs of all at-risk
and delinquent youth. OJJDP anticipates, however, that the programs and
studies that have been funded will help define policy and best
practices. At the appropriate time, OJJDP will disseminate the results
of these efforts and encourage States and localities to adopt
progressive, family-inclusive mental health policies and programs.
Comment: Another letter related to mental health programs discussed
the ``lack of validity of any of the disruptive behavior disorders
(ADHD, conduct disorder, oppositional defiant disorder) and any of the
learning disabilities, dyslexia included, as organic/biologic; as
diseases/medical syndromes.''
Response: OJJDP has a strong interest in understanding all risk
factors for delinquent behavior. Among these risk factors are mental
disorders, both emotional and behavioral. These disorders pose a
complex and unsolved challenge to the juvenile justice and mental
health systems. In an effort to understand how to prevent youth with
these disorders from ending up in the justice system and how to treat
more effectively those who do, OJJDP has supported in the past and will
continue to encourage research on mental health issues. A key issue is
identification and treatment of mental health illnesses. OJJDP believes
that its cosponsorship with the National Institute of Mental Health of
research on ADHD and conduct disorders will greatly expand knowledge of
the impact of these conditions and of appropriate treatment options.
The Multisite, Multimodal Treatment Study of children with ADHD will be
funded this fiscal year.
Comment: Four individuals urged OJJDP to include the Community
Volunteer Coordinator Program in the Comprehensive Plan.
Response: The Community Volunteer Coordinator Program will be
supported. The program will not provide funds for new programs, but
will support the coordination of existing program activities. This
program will be funded noncompetitively, and sites selected for the
program will have underway ongoing publicly and/or privately funded
community-based initiatives. The sites chosen also will have
demonstrated a commitment to volunteerism and programming in nonschool
hours, previous collaborative experience, organizational capacity, and
an ability and willingness to collect relevant data.
Comment: One letter from two individuals asked that OJJDP give
funding priority to home visitation programs this year and in the
foreseeable future as a cost-effective way of preventing child abuse
and neglect and future criminal behavior.
Response: OJJDP appreciates the writers' interest in home
visitation programs as a means to help prevent child abuse and neglect
and thus prevent future delinquency and crime. As can be seen in the
Proposed Plan, OJJDP considers research in the area of nurse home
visitation as being critically important. Currently, OJJDP is funding
Dr. David Olds of the Center for Prevention Research, University of
Colorado, to continue his groundbreaking nurse home visitation
programming and research, which has shown positive effects on maternal
and child health, teen pregnancy, welfare dependency and workforce
participation, and crime and delinquency. OJJDP has partnered with the
Executive Office of Weed and Seed to implement Dr. Olds' nurse home
visitation program nationwide, at six Weed and Seed sites. OJJDP is
also working with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to
evaluate the outcomes at these sites.
OJJDP also funds the University of Utah's Strengthening America's
Families project. This project provides national training and technical
assistance to identify and disseminate information about model family
strengthening programs for the prevention of delinquency and other
problems associated with youth. Of the 25 model programs identified,
Dr. Olds' nurse home visitation program was deemed exemplary.
Comment: Two individuals wrote one letter expressing concern about
``three important limitations'' in the proposed Blueprints for Violence
Prevention: Training and Technical Assistance program. Their concerns
are summarized as follows: (1) communities need to assess their risk
and protective factors and then select the appropriate effective
program; (2) the Blueprint program models as designated by the
University of Colorado are too limited; and (3) the program should only
be made available in communities that have taken a comprehensive
approach to preventing juvenile violence.
Response: OJJDP's responses are presented in order below.
1. Communities applying for Blueprints funding will have to provide
an assessment demonstrating that the proposed program is needed. The
proposed application includes a feasibility component that will ensure,
among other factors, that the Blueprint program selection and the
target population have been matched. The feasibility component will
help assess the need for developing a Blueprint model program and the
capacity of the community or agency to implement the selected program
with integrity. Several screening methods will be employed to ensure
that communities and providers are sufficiently informed, prepared, and
equipped to undertake a specific program implementation. A prescreening
application adapted to each Blueprint program will determine local
commitment and support for implementing the program. A conference call
between community representatives will be used to provide evidence of
community and/or institutional support. Finally, a site visit will be
made to determine whether or not an appropriate match has been made
between the community and the specific Blueprint program. The
feasibility phases will look at (1) the need of the community for that
specific Blueprint program, (2) the financial resources that have
already been designated for conducting the program and the potential
for additional funding in the long term, and (3) the human resources
available for conducting the program, including qualified personnel to
direct the program and to manage daily operations.
2. Blueprint programs are ``gold standard'' programs that meet
rigorous effectiveness criteria. They are the first 10 of many
potential programs to be identified. OJJDP is not saying that they are
the only effective programs and acknowledges there may be many more
that have shown promising results.
OJJDP has made a conscious decision to support these replications
because of the high standards set for inclusion in the program. More
than 400 delinquency, drug, and violence prevention programs were
reviewed,

[[Page 33131]]

and an advisory board narrowed the selection to 10 programs chosen for
Blueprint status. These programs came the closest to meeting all four
individual criteria: strong research design, evidence of significant
prevention or deterrent effects, sustained effects, and multiple site
replication.
3. OJJDP will give this suggestion serious consideration. Limiting
the program to a select group of communities, however, could severely
limit the potential for helping troubled children, youth, and families
on a larger scale. OJJDP believes that these model programs are so
effective that offering them to all communities is the wisest path to
follow.
Comment: One writer praised the overall plan and suggested ``an
area which is directly related to many, if not all, of the initiatives
outlined'': unified family court initiatives.
Response: OJJDP appreciates the writer's thoughtful discussion of
the work being done by the American Bar Association's (ABA's) Standing
Committee on Substance Abuse in developing and implementing unified
family courts. The Office is also enthusiastic about the potential of
the unified court initiative to bring together diverse segments of the
court and the community to collaborate on effective approaches to
families in crisis.
The Office of Justice Programs through the Violence Against Women
Grants Office and the Director of OJJDP's Concentration of Federal
Efforts Program provided support and served as faculty at the ABA
Summit on Unified Family Courts: Exploring Solutions for Families,
Women and Children in Crisis recently held in Philadelphia. OJJDP is
looking forward to hearing about the outcomes of the Summit and
learning how to possibly collaborate on providing training and
technical assistance to the ABA's most promising sites.
OJJDP and the State Justice Institute (SJI) are planning to
implement a training and technical assistance project that will help
communities involve the courts in effective teambuilding strategies.
This may be of interest to the ABA and its work with the unified family
court projects. SJI will be administering the program, and OJJDP will
make sure that the ABA sites are aware of this opportunity.
OJJDP also encourages the unified family court projects to access
information through OJJDP's Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse on potential
funding opportunities. The writer mentioned two specific programs that
would be of interest to the ABA projects, the Drug Prevention Program
and the Drug-Free Communities Support Program. Both programs will
provide an opportunity for communities to enhance their efforts in
reducing substance abuse among youth by addressing specific risk
factors for substance abuse.
OJJDP is also working with the National Institute of Justice to
convene a 1-day meeting of leading experts in juvenile and criminal
justice, including judges, lawyers, social service providers,
academics, and others to discuss the issues addressed above and
consider a plan for further improving the juvenile court. The goals of
this meeting will be (1) to map out the numerous trends, philosophies,
and directions apparent in the juvenile and criminal justice field, (2)
to begin identifying common ground among various efforts in the field,
and (3) to forge new partnerships among organizations interested in
collaborating on juvenile justice programs and projects.
This is a major opportunity for OJJDP to fulfill its role of
shaping national policy regarding juvenile justice. OJJDP expects to
have an opportunity to launch new initiatives as a result of this
meeting and as part of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the
juvenile court. The ABA Standing Committee on Substance Abuse has been
instrumental in many of these efforts, and OJJDP will continue to work
with them in planning the national meeting and further explore
opportunities to work with the Standing Committee on Substance Abuse.
Comment: Five letters expressed support for or interest in funding
for gender-specific programming for female juvenile offenders.
Response: OJJDP will continue to provide funding for the Training
and Technical Assistance Program To Promote Gender-Specific Programming
for Female Juvenile Offenders, which will be implemented by the current
grantee, Greene, Peters and Associates. In addition, we are exploring
ways to build on the work being done in Cook County, Illinois. This
work has involved developing a gender-specific needs and strengths
assessment instrument and a risk assessment instrument for female
juvenile offenders, providing training in implementing gender-
appropriate programming, and designing a pilot program that includes a
community-based continuum of care with a unique case management system.
Addressing gender-specific needs is also a focus of OJJDP's SafeFutures
sites, which are developing comprehensive community partnerships to
provide extensive prevention, intervention, and treatment services to
at-risk and delinquent juveniles and their families.
Comment: One writer asked for information about a central
repository of information, if one exists, and suggested creating one,
if such an entity does not exist.
Response: OJJDP recognizes that the work of juvenile justice
practitioners, policymakers, and the general public can be enhanced by
a central repository of information. OJJDP supports such a resource in
the form of the Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse (JJC). A component of
the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, JJC is OJJDP's central
source for the collection, synthesis, and dissemination of information
on all aspects of juvenile justice. Among its many support services,
JJC offers toll-free telephone access to information, prepares
specialized responses to information requests, maintains a
comprehensive juvenile justice library--which includes videotapes, and
administers several electronic information resources, including OJJDP's
listserv, JUVJUST, and home page. A brochure describing the
Clearinghouse and its functions in more detail was sent to the writer.
Comment: One letter requested that OJJDP ``review the critical
situation regarding information on juveniles in Federal custody and
supervision.''
Response: Two efforts are underway to address the increasing number
of juveniles in Federal custody:
1. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has convened a working
group to address the lack of facilities available for juveniles in
Federal custody and is also revising current program and educational
standards for those facilities with juveniles under Federal
jurisdiction.
2. The majority of juveniles in Federal custody are from Indian
tribes. Through the DOJ's Office of Tribal Justice (OTJ) and the Office
of Justice Program's American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) Affairs
Office, OJJDP is developing a series of responses to juveniles in
Federal custody. For example, OJJDP is working with OTJ, AI/AN Affairs
Office, and the National Institute of Justice to develop an initiative
in Indian country that could potentially address the critical issues
raised in the report on juveniles in Federal custody. Also, the DOJ
Tribal Court Project assists Indian tribes in the improvement of their
tribal justice systems and has secured limited training and funding for
45 Tribal Court-DOJ Partnership Projects.
In addition to these efforts, OJJDP is enhancing the current
training and technical assistance being provided to law enforcement to
also include Federal

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law enforcement officers or agents. The focus will be to increase
consistency and understanding of Federal policies regarding juveniles
in Federal custody. Another area of activity within DOJ is working to
provide access to accurate information, which is a main focus of
concern in the letter. The Bureau of Justice Statistics is working with
several other Federal agencies to revise the Federal agency data
collection systems. This effort includes consideration of the lack of
information available on juveniles in Federal custody.
OJJDP's proposed field-initiated research program provides an
opportunity for researchers to consider the critical issues raised in
the letter. In formulating its research priorities, OJJDP will consider
the specific areas the writer identified as possible research topics.
Comment: One letter commented on the Proposed Plan's ``impressive
array of programs to assist at-risk youth, as well as those already
involved in the criminal justice system.'' The writer also described a
prevention initiative being spearheaded by the New York/New Jersey High
Intensity Drug Trafficking Area and provided information on the
recently opened 168th Street Armory Youth Center.
Response: OJJDP thanked the writer for his positive comments, asked
to be put on the mailing list to receive a copy of the Center's
evaluation when it is available, and referred him to the Juvenile
Justice Specialists for New York and New Jersey for information about
possible sources of funding.
Comment: One writer noted that only a ``small number of our teens
can be construed as violent teens'' and that the children and youth in
low-income families in her area ``need opportunities to develop into
good citizens.'' She added that she ``would encourage that we not spend
a lot of money researching methods--we know what works.'' The writer
would like most funds to be spent on youth development and intervention
programming.
Response: It is important to recognize, as the writer did in
writing about her community, that ``the majority of our youth are
productive, hard working and a credit to the community.'' A 1995 survey
conducted for OJJDP's Teens, Crime, and the Community program found
that 86 percent of the young people in this survey were willing to
participate in helping to create solutions to problems that affect
their lives. They expressed interest in a variety of volunteer programs
to help reduce crime and violence in their communities, including
communication programs (ads, posters, newsletters); youth leadership
programs, such as tutoring or being a mentor to a younger student;
antiviolence and antidrug programs; programs to avoid fights, such as
conflict resolution; and local cleanup projects, neighborhood watches,
or citizen patrols.
OJJDP agreed that an exclusive focus on studying problems will
never solve them, but OJJDP's focus is a comprehensive one. Those who
work in juvenile justice and youth-serving agencies know what works in
certain communities, but replication of programs that work has been a
great challenge. Quality research and data are critical to ensuring the
success of OJJDP's efforts. OJJDP's support for community prevention
and juvenile justice intervention activities is well balanced. Funded
programs range from research on the causes and correlates of
delinquency, to demonstrations that pilot solutions, to evaluation of
those pilots to check their efficacy, to training and technical
assistance, and to formula funds that seed programs nationwide.
Comment: Two writers wrote to support the Learning Disabilities
Among Juveniles At-Risk of Delinquency or in the Juvenile Justice
System. One of these letters provided information about a program,
Partnership for Learning, that ``screens first time juvenile offenders
with learning disabilities'' in Baltimore, Maryland.
Response: OJJDP is committed to addressing the increasing number of
juveniles identified with learning disabilities in juvenile facilities.
More important, OJJDP is supporting effective programs that divert
these juveniles from entering the system for minor offenses that would
best be addressed in the community. OJJDP will not fund a demonstration
program this year. However, OJJDP's activities this year will include a
focus on developing a program designed to (1) prevent delinquency and
incarceration of youth at risk of learning disabilities through early
assessment and intervention coordinated across school, police, court,
probationary, and other community-based services, and (2) prevent
recidivism by ensuring that students with learning disabilities in
correctional settings receive appropriate, specially designed
instructional services that address their individual needs.
OJJDP will be working with the U.S. Department of Education's
(ED's) Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services and
Office of Vocational and Adult Education to initiate a variety of
activities, including plans to develop the model demonstration program.
The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services, in
conjunction with ED's Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program, recently
combined site visits and focus group meetings to identify promising
practices for safe, drug-free, and effective schools for all students.
OJJDP will coordinate with ED to disseminate the information developed
in these meetings.
Comment: One writer enclosed a report on ``vertical'' prosecution
of most juvenile firearm offenses in Seattle, Washington, which the
writer indicated OJJDP ``might find interesting considering the content
of the plan, especially the Juvenile Justice Prosecution Unit
program.''
Response: The OJJDP Administrator was impressed with the project's
vertical prosecution approach, the comprehensiveness and utility of the
juvenile gun incident data, and the outcomes. Copies of the report were
shared with several individuals and groups that might be able to
include this approach in their ongoing work:
OJJDP staff who work on gang- and prosecution-related
projects.
Program Manager, OJJDP's Partnerships To Reduce Juvenile
Gun Violence Initiative.
COSMOS Corporation, the evaluator of OJJDP's Gun Violence
Initiative, for possible inclusion in a report COSMOS is producing for
the U.S. Department of Justice on promising approaches to this critical
issue.
David Kennedy, Kennedy School of Government, a researcher
deeply engaged in the issue of reducing youth gun violence.
The American Prosecutors Research Institute (APRI), the
grantee implementing the Juvenile Justice Prosecution Unit. APRI's work
in 1998 will include the presentation of workshops and seminars and
development of new reference materials for prosecutors. The material in
the report should be helpful to this group.
OJJDP will follow up with the writer and the author of the report
to learn more about the Seattle project and to explore ways in which
this approach might be included in OJJDP's Gun Violence Initiative
sites.
Comment: One letter suggested that the Program Plan ``should
include efforts to prevent lead poisoning because excess lead exposure
has been found to be associated with increased risk for antisocial and
delinquent behavior.''
Response: OJJDP recognizes the significance of lead poisoning as
one of the myriad risk factors linked to antisocial behavior and
delinquency--an association discussed in the article that the writer
enclosed with his letter. Moreover OJJDP agrees that more

[[Page 33133]]

research needs to be conducted to further unravel causality; that is,
does lead exposure cause a child to become a delinquent and/or a
criminal? Accordingly, OJJDP is keeping abreast of research in this
area and notes that agencies with larger medical research budgets
(e.g., the National Institutes of Health) are best equipped to take on
such significantly complex research. Similarly, agencies such as the
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development have initiatives to
prevent lead exposure and by association the negative effects
associated with lead poisoning. Nevertheless, OJJDP's Field-Initiated
Research program could conceivably include research that might, for
example, evaluate the effectiveness of a crime prevention program that
integrates lead exposure prevention.
Comment: The governor of an American Indian pueblo expressed
concern about two specific points: (1) the Proposed Plan notes the
coordinated effort but fails to mention ``involvement of the American
Indian & Alaska Native Affairs office'' and (2) a discussion of
improving the juvenile justice system does not mention ``the training
of judges to issues specific to juvenile justice.''
Response: OJJDP's responses are presented in order below.
1. The reference to coordination with the Assistant Attorney
General, Office of Justice Programs (OJP), was meant to include all of
the various OJP components; only the four other program bureaus were
mentioned by name. OJJDP works closely with the American Indian and
Alaska Native (AI&AN) Affairs Office on all of its programs and
particularly on those programs that have the greatest interest to
American Indians and Alaska Natives. A representative from OJJDP serves
on a U.S. Department of Justice American Indian Task Group, and the
Director of the AI&AN Affairs Office reviews and comments on OJJDP
programs. OJJDP staff have also consulted with the Director of the
AI&AN Affairs Office on such programs as the Combating Underage
Drinking Program to assure that the solicitation for funding is
sensitive to the needs of American Indians and Alaska Natives.
2. OJJDP is committed to providing the necessary resources for
training judges in issues specific to juvenile justice. Since 1974,
OJJDP, at the direction of Congress, has funded the National Council of
Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) to provide comprehensive
skill-based training and technical assistance to juvenile court judges
throughout the country. The name of this program was listed on page
6342 of the Proposed Plan as one of a number of programs identified for
funding consideration by Congress. Program descriptions were not
included for these programs.
NCJFCJ, now in its 62d year, is dedicated to improving the Nation's
juvenile justice system. NCJFCJ does this through an extensive effort
toward improving the operation and effectiveness of juvenile and family
courts through highly developed, practical, and applicable training.
NCJFCJ conducts more than 100 training sessions a year with support
from OJJDP and from State, local, and foundation funds. These trainings
are provided at locations throughout the United States to make them
accessible and cost effective for the participants. Like all OJJDP
grantees and contractors, NCJFCJ gives careful consideration to
requests for assistance outside the specific mandates of the award.
Comment: One letter expressed support for several programs,
including the Arts and At-Risk Youth Program, the Youth-Centered
Conflict Resolution Program, and programming for female offenders. This
support was counted with other letters of support for these programs,
which were addressed previously. The writer also supported the program
to combat underage drinking, the Communities In Schools--Federal
Interagency Partnership program, and OJJDP's gang prevention/
intervention activities.
Response: OJJDP's Proposed Plan included five programs that address
the gang problem: the 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; Comprehensive Community-Wide Approach to Gang
Prevention, Intervention, and Suppression Technical Assistance and
Training; Targeted Outreach With a Gang Prevention and Intervention
Component (Boys & Girls Clubs); and Rural Youth Gang Problems--Adapting
OJJDP's Comprehensive Approach. Of these, only the last one was
proposed as a new program for this fiscal year. The programs mentioned
by this writer will all be funded. A solicitation for the Rural Youth
Gang Problems program will be issued as part of the FY 1998 OJJDP
Discretionary Program Announcement: Discretionary Grant Program: Parts
C and D. Information on how to obtain a copy of the Program
Announcement is provided above under Supplementary Information.
Comment: One writer made four general points about the Proposed
Plan, which are summarized and responded to below.
Comment 1: Use of percentage of change conveys nothing ``without
knowing numbers of juveniles convicted of offenses and the categories
of offense in which they occur.''
Response: OJJDP assumes that the writer is referring to some of the
comparisons made in the Overview section. Although this point is valid
in a general sense, OJJDP believes that in the context of an overview,
the comparisons offered serve the intended purpose, that is, to give a
sense of the relative progress being made in the effort to reduce
juvenile crime and delinquency. OJJDP makes more detailed statistics
available in a variety of publications, including the following:
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1997 Update on Violence
(Statistics Summary)
Juvenile Arrests 1996 (Bulletin)
The Youngest Delinquents: Offenders Under Age 15
(Bulletin)
Offenders in Juvenile Court, 1995 (Bulletin)
Person Offenses in Juvenile Court, 1986-1995 (Fact Sheet).
These and other publications related to juvenile justice can be
obtained from the Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse by calling 800-638-
8736. Most of the recent publications are also available online at
OJJDP's Web site at http://www.ncjrs.org/ojjhome.htm.
Another source of data is the National Juvenile Court Data Archive,
which collects, stores, and analyzes data about young people referred
to U.S. courts for delinquency and status offenses. The national
delinquency estimates produced with the Archive's data files are made
available in an easy-to-use software package, Easy Access to Juvenile
Court Statistics. With the support of OJJDP, the Archive distributes
this package to facilitate independent analysis of Archive data while
eliminating the need for other analysis packages. This software can be
ordered directly from the Archive (412-227-6950) or downloaded from
OJJDP's Web site.
Comment 2: ``Number arrested means nothing. Number convicted would
be significant.''
Response: Data from the National Juvenile Court Data Archive
indicate that of the 122,000 robbery and aggravated assault cases
disposed of by juvenile courts in 1994, nearly three-fourths were
formally petitioned, and more than half were adjudicated (i.e.,
``convicted'') or waived to criminal court. Together these violent
juvenile cases accounted for 94 percent of all

[[Page 33134]]

Violent Crime Index cases processed by juvenile courts in 1994.
For those juveniles charged with person offenses (a broader range
of crimes than Index offenses), more than 60 percent received some
disposition other than ``release,'' whether processed through formal
(petition) or informal methods. Although there is a dropoff from arrest
to disposition for these offenses, OJJDP finds that the outcomes of
court processing have not changed substantially over the years.
Therefore, the trends that OJJDP is describing would be essentially the
same whether arrest data or court data are used to describe changes.
Comment 3: The number of juveniles who commit violent crimes is
small.
Response: Just \1/2\ of 1 percent of juveniles ages 10 to 17 were
arrested for a violent crime in 1996, but these often high-profile
crimes help to fuel public fear and concern about the threat of
juvenile violence and influence legislative and policy decisions.
OJJDP's programming does not focus disproportionately on the most
violent juveniles but instead includes the entire spectrum of juvenile
offenders and youth at risk of delinquency. OJJDP supports a
comprehensive strategy that incorporates two principal components:
Preventing youth from becoming delinquent by focusing
prevention programs on at-risk youth.
Improving the response of the juvenile justice system to
delinquent offenders through a system of graduated sanctions, including
a continuum of treatment alternatives that provide immediate
intervention, intermediate sanctions, and community-based and secure
corrections, incorporating aftercare services when appropriate.
This comprehensive strategy also recognizes that an effective
system of graduated sanctions must protect the public by including the
option of transfer to the criminal justice system for those serious,
violent, or chronic juvenile offenders who are not amenable to
treatment in the juvenile justice system or whose criminal acts are so
egregious as to justify transfer.
Comment 4: Thousands of children are at risk for abuse and neglect
and are ``more likely to be the victim of a violent crime, than to
commit one.''
Response: OJJDP shares the writer's concern for children and youth
who are abused and neglected and who are victims of crime. One of the
publications listed above, Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1997 Update
on Violence, provides the latest statistics, not only on juvenile
offenders, but also on juvenile victims. OJJDP supports a wide array of
prevention programming, including family strengthening and nurse home
visitation programs that address the problems of abuse and neglect. As
the Proposed Plan stated: ``These programs can build the foundation for
law-abiding lives for children and interrupt the cycle of violence that
can turn abused or neglected children into delinquents.''
Comment: One writer applauded OJJDP's ``efforts in addressing the
juvenile problem'' and described a proposed Community Renaissance
strategy and specific programs to help deter high-risk youth from
delinquency and violence. The writer stated that he was looking to
OJJDP as a potential partner in this venture.
Response: It is commendable that the members of the Prisoner
Advisory Committee want to use their experience to help young people
avoid involvement with the justice system. OJJDP suggested that the
most practical approach to accomplish the Committee's objectives would
be through collaboration with a local agency or organization that works
with at-risk or delinquent juveniles. The writer was referred to the
Juvenile Justice Specialist for Michigan as one possible source of
information about local programs that might be interested in working
with the Committee.
Comment: One letter supported the proposed programming in two
specific areas: gender-specific programming for female juvenile
offenders and Targeted Outreach With a Gang Prevention and Intervention
Component (Boys & Girls Clubs). The support for gender-specific
programming was counted with other letters of support for this type of
program, addressed previously.
Response: Targeted Outreach With a Gang Prevention and Intervention
Component (Boys & Girls Clubs), is a continuation program, and no
additional applications will be solicited this fiscal year. OJJDP
expects that 10 new sites--all in rural areas--will receive gang
prevention training and technical assistance. The Boys & Girls Clubs of
America will choose the new sites.
Comment: One letter expressed support for the Community Volunteer
Coordinator Program and for the Rural Youth Gang Problems--Adapting
OJJDP's Comprehensive Approach program, while encouraging OJJDP not to
rely solely on Boys & Girls Clubs for some programs because they do not
reach or serve many populations, especially in rural areas. The support
for the Community Volunteer Coordinator Program was counted and
responded to with other letters in favor of that program.
Response: In regard to the comment that OJJDP should not rely
solely on Boys & Girls Clubs for some programs, especially in rural
areas, the writer can be assured that OJJDP has a high level of
confidence in the Boys & Girls Clubs but is also well aware of the need
for a variety of partners in various aspects of its mission to prevent
delinquency and criminal behavior among juveniles. OJJDP is also
cognizant of the special needs of rural areas. The Rural Youth Gang
Problems--Adapting OJJDP's Comprehensive Approach program will be
funded. A solicitation will be issued as part of the FY 1998 OJJDP
Discretionary Program Announcement: Discretionary Grant Program: Parts
C and D. Information on how to obtain a copy of the Program
Announcement is provided above under Supplementary Information.
Comment: One letter made comments in four specific areas, three of
which are listed and responded to below. The fourth area, Gender
Specific Programming for Female Juvenile Offenders, was responded to
above, and this writer's interest in this type of programming was
counted among the letters that commented on that topic.
Comment 1: Training and Technical Assistance. The writer expressed
the hope that the training and technical assistance activities in the
Program Plan ``include the provision of training to people who work
with females both at risk and within the system.''
Response: Wherever appropriate, OJJDP-funded training and technical
assistance programs address the specific concerns of female juveniles.
Specifically, OJJDP will continue to provide funding for the Training
and Technical Assistance Program To Promote Gender-Specific Programming
for Female Juvenile Offenders, which will be implemented by the current
grantee, Greene, Peters and Associates.
Comment 2: Field-Initiated Research and Field-Initiated Evaluation.
The writer supported both these proposed programs.
Response: Only the Field-Initiated Research program is being funded
this year. OJJDP believes that this type of outreach to the field can
result in creative and innovative proposals. A solicitation will be
issued as part of the FY 1998 OJJDP Discretionary Program Announcement:
Discretionary Grant Program: Parts C and D. Information on how to
obtain a copy of the Program Announcement is provided above under
Supplementary Information.
Comment 3: Introduction to Fiscal Year 1998 Program Plan. The
writer was critical of the mention of a ``single agency with reference
to prevention.''

[[Page 33135]]

Response: The point about either mentioning other agencies as
illustrative of prevention programs or mentioning none is, generally
speaking, a valid one. Obviously, OJJDP cannot possibly list all the
effective national programs. The Boys & Girls Clubs of America--one of
the largest and best-known providers of afterschool programs for youth
and an organization whose work has been evaluated and found to be
successful--was used as a convenient reference point for readers.
However, in response to this comment, we will use a more general
reference in this part of the program plan.
Comment: Another writer supported four specific program areas:
afterschool and summer arts for at-risk youth, a planning and
demonstration project to address issues surrounding learning
disabilities and delinquency, a juvenile defender center, and gender-
specific programming for female juvenile offenders.
Response: All of these programs were addressed above. The writer's
support for these programs was counted among the letters that commented
on those topics.
Comment: One writer was generally pleased about the direction OJJDP
is taking in 1998 but suggested that the Technical Assistance for State
Legislators program should be expanded. The writer proposed that OJJDP
establish a Technical Assistance for County Officials program.
Response: OJJDP appreciates the writer's recognition of the
importance of its ongoing work with the National Conference of State
Legislatures. Through the Title V Program--popularly known as the
Community Prevention Grants Program, OJJDP has been working closely
with communities nationwide to provide them with the framework, tools,
and initial funding to develop and begin to implement comprehensive,
sustainable delinquency prevention strategies. More than 470
communities across the Nation have embraced the rigorous community
assessment and delinquency prevention planning process and received
prevention grants.
In regard to the suggestion to amend the Proposed Plan to include a
Technical Assistance for County Officials program, OJJDP agrees that
county-level officials are important policymakers and need to be well-
informed on management and policy issues. Indeed, over the years, OJJDP
has worked closely with the National Association of Counties (NACO),
with which the writer's organization is affiliated. Although OJJDP will
not include the requested program in the 1998 Final Plan, a meeting
will be held at OJJDP with the writer and a representation of NACO to
talk about opportunities for future partnerships, cooperation, and
collaboration among the parties.
Comment: One writer praised OJJDP's information dissemination but
expressed concern about the program goals in the Proposed Plan.
Specifically, the writer called for ``a needs-assessment and systematic
evaluation of court services''; more attention to ``multimodal and
longitudinal interventions, programs that address the first time
offender, and efforts to address the unique needs of different
subgroups within the juvenile justice, such as the adolescent sex
offender''; and ``development and evaluation of multicomponent
interventions whose content is based on the results of the OJJDP-funded
studies on the Causes and [Correlates] of Delinquency.'' The writer
also found the field-initiated research section to be ``virtually
nonexistent.''
Response: OJJDP appreciates the kind words about the value of its
information dissemination through the Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse.
It is always helpful to receive feedback on the services OJJDP
provides.
In regard to the concerns expressed about the program goals
outlined in the Proposed Plan, OJJDP shares the writer's perspective on
most of the issues raised and regrets that the writer did not find this
agreement clearly reflected in the plan. OJJDP is involved in many
activities that support the desired approaches described in the letter.
The brief summaries below present examples of efforts that OJJDP
believes are in accord with the direction the writer would like to see
OJJDP take.
Program of Research on the Causes and Correlates of Delinquency.
This longitudinal study is being conducted by research teams (the
University at Albany, State University of New York; the University of
Colorado, and the University of Pittsburgh) in three sites: Rochester,
New York; Denver, Colorado; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The three
research teams have interviewed 4,000 participants at regular intervals
for nearly a decade, recording their lives in detail and accumulating a
substantial body of knowledge about delinquency and its causes. OJJDP
has recently increased its investment in this research.
Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile
Offenders. The foundation for OJJDP's program planning for the past 3
years has been the Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and
Chronic Juvenile Offenders, which draws heavily on the findings of the
Causes and Correlates study. The Comprehensive Strategy recognizes the
need for coordination and collaboration among agencies and
organizations that serve children. The Comprehensive Strategy has two
main components: (1) prevention and (2) graduated sanctions that begin
with early interventions within the community for first-time nonviolent
offenders, intermediate sanctions within the community for more serious
offenders, and secure care for the most serious, violent, and chronic
juvenile offenders. Through training and technical assistance, OJJDP is
supporting more than 30 communities in their efforts to create a
continuum of care that integrates services provided by schools and
social services with those offered by law enforcement, courts, and
corrections. Part of this OJJDP assistance is targeted at the
development of risk and needs assessments that can be used by the
juvenile justice system to effectively change the nature of its service
delivery.
The SafeFutures program, discussed below, is another example of
OJJDP's support for this comprehensive approach. Here, OJJDP used
multiple funding streams and collapsed them into one program
application as a way of encouraging the coordination and integration of
service delivery at the community level.
SafeFutures. The SafeFutures Initiative, a 5-year demonstration
project currently in the second year of implementation, was
specifically designed to address collaboration. The demonstration's
main premise is that juvenile delinquency can be most effectively
addressed through a combined approach of prevention, intervention,
treatment, and sanctions. This collaborative approach takes place at
two levels: the strategic planning level with policymakers and agency
heads and the direct service integration level. SafeFutures sites are
actively working to plan a continuum of services and integrate
frontline service delivery across a multidisciplinary, interagency team
of professionals including the court system, mental health, social
services, probation, law enforcement, education, and housing. This
effort is being evaluated nationally through OJJDP and through local
evaluations in each of the six sites.
Community Assessment Center (CAC) Program. This multicomponent
demonstration initiative is designed to test the efficacy of the CAC
concept of providing a 24-hour centralized, single point of intake and
assessment for juveniles who have or are likely to come into contact
with the juvenile justice

[[Page 33136]]

system. A CAC facilitates earlier and more efficient prevention and
intervention service delivery at the ``front end'' of the juvenile
justice system. OJJDP will provide an additional year's funding to
further support the implementation of CAC enhancements and provide
additional support to the sites awarded grants in FY 1997. This funding
would enable these sites to begin implementing the CAC's planned for
with OJJDP funding support or to enhance existing operations. OJJDP is
also funding a CAC evaluation component and a technical assistance
component.
Study Group on the Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Offender.
Originally charged with producing a report on critical areas of
interest about these offenders, including prevention, intervention,
gangs, and other topics, which it submitted in 1997, the Study Group is
currently focusing on the youngest offenders and the pathways to
delinquency. OJJDP is continuing to fund this effort, which began in FY
1995.
The writer is also encouraged to review the field-initiated
research funding opportunities available through OJJDP's interagency
agreements with the National Institute of Justice under the Juvenile
Accountability Incentive Block Grants Program and the Bureau of Justice
Statistics through the Statistical Analysis Centers component.
Additionally, OJJDP still plans to fund the field-initiated research
effort referenced in the Proposed Plan. The writer may also want to
look for the results of OJJDP's recently funded research project on the
development of a juvenile sex offender typology.
Comment: One writer expressed concern about three items that he
would like to see included in the Program Plan. These issues are
summarized and responded to below.
Comment 1: An initiative aimed at high-level municipal and county
policymakers and others would consist of a collaborative strategic
planning process that could lead to more comprehensive community
approaches to children's victimization.
Response: As the writer noted, this first item falls under OJJDP's
Missing and Exploited Children's Program (MECP). One of MECP's
priorities is the expansion and enhancement of training as it relates
to child victimization. Goals for the coming years include the
incorporation of results of research and demonstration programs into
the overall training program (including the American Bar Association's
(ABA's) study of effective community-based approaches for missing and
exploited children); the expansion of existing training curriculums to
focus on broader child victimization issues; the development of more
comprehensive and integrated training programs that are based on the
most current knowledge and information about best practices,
approaches, and research; and continued emphasis on providing high
level policymakers with the necessary information, tools, and
strategies to effectively identify and address child victimization
issues in their community. The writer was encouraged to continue to
discuss his concerns about missing and exploited children's issues with
the Director of OJJDP's Missing and Exploited Children's Program.
Comment 2: The topic of criminal record screening of adults working
or volunteering with children needs to be addressed, with research on
how States are implementing screening laws and technical assistance to
States.
Response: This is another issue of interest to OJJDP. Under a 1992
grant to the ABA Center on Children and the Law, the writer and the
Center conducted a legal review of the laws and policies governing this
issue. Many laws have changed since then. The National Child Protection
Act of 1993 and laws such as Jacob Wetterling and Megan's Law have also
impacted this field. OJJDP recently released Guidelines for the
Screening of Persons Working With Children, the Elderly, and
Individuals With Disabilities in Need of Support. The writer's
suggestion of conducting further research into the implementation of
screening laws and the development of technical assistance is a good
one and potentially eligible for funding under the Field-Initiated
Research Program.
Comment 3: Programs relating to early ``status offense''
misbehavior by children under 12 and the operation of ``parental
responsibility'' laws might help in the early identification of and
intervention with predelinquent children.
Response: Some ongoing OJJDP programs address this issue. In the
research area, OJJDP is supporting the work of a Study Group on Very
Young Offenders, which is focusing on the pathways to delinquency.
Chaired by Dr. Rolf Loeber and Dr. David Farrington, the Study Group
will examine the available research on youth who start offending before
13, an understudied population. The goals of the research are to
identify the prevalence of such offending and to determine how this
offending affects later offending behavior and how society can best
deal with these young offenders to prevent future criminality. Status
offenders are also being studied in the context of school truancy as
part of an evaluation of truancy interventions that include a parental
component.
Another program that is somewhat related to this issue is the Child
Welfare League of America (CWLA) project entitled Assessment and
Decisionmaking Guidelines for Dealing With Chemically Involved
Children, Youth, and Families. This program receives funding from both
OJJDP and the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) and is
part of a larger ONDCP parent-focused initiative.
CWLA will produce a state-of-the-art assessment instrument along
with decisionmaking guidelines for use by frontline child welfare
professionals who work with clients involved with alcohol and other
drugs and their families (parents). These resource materials will
assist child welfare professionals to determine the most appropriate
casework approach, placement option, and permanency plan for children
of substance abusers.
This assessment instrument and the decisionmaking guidelines will
be problem-solving tools derived from integrating original research,
lessons learned from actual cases, and the training needs of child
welfare staff. The foundation for the guidelines are basic principles
of successful family strengthening models, such as maintaining respect
for parents and children while working with them and promoting honesty
and clarity regarding choices and consequences.
Another OJJDP initiative that is expected to contribute to better
identification of predelinquent children and help improve the response
to their needs is the Community Assessment Center (CAC) program. This
multicomponent demonstration initiative is designed to test the
efficacy of the CAC concept of providing a 24-hour centralized, single
point of intake and assessment for juveniles who have or are likely to
come into contact with the juvenile justice system. A CAC facilitates
earlier and more efficient prevention and intervention service delivery
at the ``front end'' of the juvenile justice system.
Comment: One writer praised OJJDP's leadership and expressed
support for various OJJDP programs. The writer also expressed interest
in the new drug prevention program and suggested that OJJDP consider
``highlighting the juvenile crime that currently exists within the
Latino youth population and to create ethnic-specific delinquency
prevention initiatives.''

[[Page 33137]]

Response: OJJDP appreciates the kind words about its leadership
role in addressing the needs of juveniles in this time of limited
resources. The Office is also pleased to know of the writer's support
for the prevention and intervention programs listed in the Proposed
Plan; for OJJDP projects such as the National Youth Gang Center,
Communities in Schools, and Family Strengthening Programs; and for the
risk and protective factors prevention model that is incorporated in
OJJDP's Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and Chronic
Juvenile Offenders.
OJJDP will be implementing several new alcohol and other drug
programs this fiscal year. As stated in the Proposed Plan, two of the
new programs being developed, Combating Underage Drinking and the Drug
Prevention Program, will be awarded competitively. Program
announcements can be obtained by calling OJJDP's Juvenile Justice
Clearinghouse (JJC) at 800-638-8736 or by sending an e-mail request to
[email protected]. Program announcements will also be available online
at www.ncjrs.org/ojjhome.htm.
Another program that OJJDP will be administering and that may be of
interest to the writer is the Drug-Free Communities Support program to
support the development and expansion of community antidrug coalitions.
Information on this program is also available through JJC.
In regard to the suggestion for ethnic-specific delinquency
prevention initiatives, OJJDP programs are developed to serve the
diversity of youth in this country. Therefore, most OJJDP-funded
projects target youth of all races and both genders. Specifically, most
of OJJDP's discretionary projects focus on implementing services and
activities to address juvenile crime, violence, and abuse in their
local communities and on efforts to improve the lives of children
residing in abusive living environments. In identifying youth most in
need of prevention and intervention programs, some OJJDP projects have
targeted Latino youth. The following are brief descriptions of several
current OJJDP discretionary projects targeting Latino youth:
SafeFutures. The main premise of this 5-year demonstration project
(currently in the second year of implementation) is that juvenile
delinquency can be most effectively addressed through a combined
approach of prevention, intervention, treatment, and sanctions. Two of
the six demonstration sites are serving a largely Latino population.
The Imperial County, California, SafeFutures program
serves youth of all races, but the project predominately serves Latino
youth because approximately 69 percent (in 1995) of the county's
population is Latino.
The SafeFutures project in Contra Costa County,
California, also serves a significant number of Latino youth. The goal
of this project is to create a continuum of care for at-risk youth in
Contra Costa, specifically West Contra Costa County. This program also
serves African-American, Asian, and other youth.
Juvenile Mentoring Program (JUMP). The goals of this one-to-one
mentoring program are to reduce juvenile delinquency and gang
participation by at-risk youth, improve their school performance, and
reduce their dropout rate.
The Latino Mentoring Program, Family Services, Inc., in
Providence, Rhode Island, links high-risk Latino adolescents with
mentors from the business and education community. Priority is given to
gang-involved youth, adjudicated delinquents, and adolescents in
abusive or neglected home situations.
The Mentors Matter collaborative of Tulare County,
Community Services and Employment Training, Inc., in Visalia,
California, is serving many students who live in a migrant labor
settlement where Hispanic students (99 percent of the school-age
population in the settlement) are at risk for poor academic
achievement, dropping out of school, juvenile crime, involvement with
gangs, and teenage pregnancy.
Big Sisters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, serves Hispanic
females, ages 10 to 18, by helping them to develop self-esteem and
self-confidence, exposing them to educational and career opportunities,
and working to prevent teen pregnancy, dropping out of school, and
delinquency.
The George Gervin Youth Center, San Antonio, Texas, serves
Mexican youth, most of whom live in Victoria Courts, where
approximately 34 percent of the youth are dropouts and teen parents and
where the largest number of crimes in the city occurred in 1993. The
youth are introduced to the world of work, summer jobs, and other new
experiences to motivate them to stay in school and out of gangs and
other delinquent activities.
The Rowland Unified School District (La Punente,
California) JUMP program participants are 80 percent Latino and 90
percent male.
Valley Big Brothers Big Sisters of Phoenix, Arizona,
serves students in grades seven and eight, most of whom are Latino.
Service for Adolescent & Family Enrichment (Santa Barbara,
California) serves Latino youth, mostly males between the ages of 10
and 15.

Pathways to Success

Aspira of Florida serves a target group of 130 Latino migrant youth
from rural South Dade. Services provided to these youth include career
planning and art, dance, and recreation activities.

Intensive Community-Based Aftercare Demonstration and Technical
Assistance Program (IAP)

This is a demonstration effort in three sites: Denver, Colorado;
Las Vegas, Nevada; and Norfolk, Virginia. The model being tested is
designed to assist high-risk youth returning to their community from
secure confinement. In all three sites, the target population includes
Latino youth.

Comprehensive Community-Wide Approach to Gang Prevention,
Intervention, and Suppression Program

This program is currently being tested in five demonstration sites:
Mesa and Tucson, Arizona; Riverside, California; Bloomington, Illinois;
and San Antonio, Texas. Latino youth are among those being served in
each of the sites. Some of these programs incorporate issues of
Hispanic or Chicano heritage, and most of the programs have or have had
Hispanic staff.

Targeted Outreach With a Gang Prevention and Intervention Component
(Boys & Girls Clubs of America)

The programs of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America provide services
to many Latino youth. OJJDP has supported the Targeted Outreach program
for several years. The program provides training and support to local
clubs to provide outreach to those youth at risk of gang involvement.
Many of the Targeted Outreach programs provide services to Latino
youth. In 1997, 45 percent of the youth served were of Hispanic origin,
45 percent were African-American, and 10 percent were of other races
and ethnic backgrounds.
Latino communities are among the many areas throughout the Nation
where OJJDP is supporting community-based projects in schools,
neighborhoods, and the juvenile justice arena in urban, suburban, and
rural cities and counties.

Introduction to Fiscal Year 1998 Program Plan

An effective juvenile justice system must implement a sound
comprehensive strategy and must

[[Page 33138]]

identify and support programs that work to further the objectives of
the strategy. These objectives include holding the juvenile offender
accountable; enabling the juvenile to become a capable, productive, and
responsible citizen; and ensuring the safety of the community.
For juveniles who come to the attention of police, juvenile courts,
or social service agencies, a strong juvenile justice system must
assess the danger they pose, determine what can help put them back on
the right track, deliver appropriate treatment, and stay with them when
they return to the community. When necessary, a strong juvenile justice
system also must appropriately identify those serious, violent, and
chronic juveniles offenders who are beyond its reach and ensure their
criminal prosecution and incapacitation.
Research has shown that what works to reduce juvenile crime and
violence includes prevention programs that start with the earliest
stages of life: good prenatal care, home visitation for newborns at
risk of abuse and neglect, steps to strengthen parenting skills, and
initiatives to prepare children for school. These programs can build
the foundation for law-abiding lives for children and interrupt the
cycle of violence that can turn abused or neglected children into
delinquents.
Prevention programs work for older children, too: opportunities for
youth after school and on weekends, such as programs that offer a
variety of activities and those that focus on mentoring, can reduce
juvenile alcohol and drug use, improve school performance, and prevent
youth from getting involved in crime and violent behavior.
Another focal point for juvenile justice efforts is the community.
Without healthy communities, young people cannot thrive. The key
leaders in the community, including representatives from the juvenile
justice, health and mental health, schools, law enforcement, social
services, and other systems, as well as leaders from the private
sector, must be jointly engaged in the planning, development, and
operation of the juvenile justice system. Attempts to improve the
juvenile justice system must be part of a broad, comprehensive,
communitywide effort--both at the leadership and grassroots level--to
eliminate factors that place juveniles at risk of delinquency and
victimization, enhance factors that protect them from engaging in
delinquent behavior, and use the full range of resources and programs
within the community to meet the varying needs of juveniles. It is also
important to provide increased public access to the system to ensure an
appropriate role for victims, a greater understanding of how the system
operates, and a higher level of system accountability to the public.
The recent decreases in all measures of juvenile violence known to
law enforcement (number of arrests, arrest rates, and the percentage of
violent crimes cleared by juvenile arrests) should encourage
legislators, juvenile justice policymakers and practitioners, and all
concerned citizens to support ongoing efforts to address juvenile crime
and violence through a comprehensive approach.
Three documents published during the past 5 years provide the
framework for a comprehensive approach to an improved, more effective
juvenile justice system. OJJDP's Comprehensive Strategy for Serious,
Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Offenders (1993) and Guide for
Implementing the Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and
Chronic Juvenile Offenders (1995) were followed in 1996 by the
Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's
Combating Violence and Delinquency: The National Juvenile Justice
Action Plan. The first of these publications defined the elements of
the comprehensive strategy. The second provided States and communities
with a more detailed explanation of what would constitute the elements
of a comprehensive strategy, including strategic and programmatic
information on risk and protective factor-based prevention and a system
of graduated sanctions. The third prioritized Federal, State, and local
activities and resources under eight critical objectives that are
central to reducing and preventing juvenile violence, delinquency, and
victimization.
The OJJDP FY 1998 Program Plan is rooted in the principles of the
Comprehensive Strategy and the objectives of the Action Plan. Like the
OJJDP Program Plans for FY's 1996 and 1997, the FY 1998 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 to juvenile
offending, and preventing the onset of delinquency. The Program Plan,
therefore, 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.
Proposed new program areas were identified for FY 1998 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. In a departure from past
practice, OJJDP presented for public comment more proposed programs
than it expected to be able to fund with the resources available. It
was OJJDP's intent to stimulate discussion of the best use of its FY
1998 discretionary funding and to seek guidance from the field as to
which programs, among the many described in the Proposed Program Plan,
would most effectively advance the goals of promoting delinquency
prevention and early intervention, improving the juvenile justice
system, and preserving the public safety.
OJJDP will provide funding for a wide variety of new programs,
including training and technical assistance coordination for the
SafeFutures initiative, and training and technical assistance for the
Blueprints for Violence Prevention project and for a school safety
program. New programs also involve OJJDP collaboration with other
agencies to address problems such as truancy, develop arts programs
directed toward at-risk youth and youth held in juvenile detention and
corrections, and support the planning and development of systems of
care for American Indian and Alaska Native youth with mental health and
substance abuse needs. In addition, OJJDP will provide funding for
initial planning and implementation of a Juvenile Defender Center,
coordination of youth-related volunteer services, support for programs
designed to build infrastructure for programming for female juvenile
offenders and teen mothers, and support for additional work in the area
of disproportionate minority confinement in secure juvenile facilities
and other institutions.
OJJDP considered, but is not funding demonstration projects
designed to intervene early with students with learning disabilities to
prevent delinquency and also to prevent recidivism by those students in
correctional settings. See the Learning Disabilities Among Juveniles At
Risk of Delinquency or in the Juvenile Justice System program
description below for a discussion of why this program is not being
funded.
In addition, OJJDP has identified for FY 1998 funding a range of
research and evaluation projects designed to expand knowledge about
juvenile offenders; the effectiveness of prevention, intervention, and
treatment programs; and the operation of the juvenile justice system.
New evaluation initiatives that will be undertaken include the

[[Page 33139]]

Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile
Offenders; the Boys & Girls Clubs of America's TeenSupreme Career
Preparation Initiative; analysis and interpretation of juvenile
justice-related data from nontraditional sources; and field-initiated
research. Field-initiated evaluation, which was included in the
Proposed Plan, will not be funded this fiscal year. See the Field-
Initiated Evaluation program description below for a discussion of why
this program is not being funded. Combined with new OJJDP programs and
programs being continued in FY 1998, OJJDP's new demonstration and
evaluation programs form a continuum of programming that supports the
objectives of the Action Plan and mirrors the foundation and framework
of the Comprehensive Strategy.
OJJDP's continuation activities and the new FY 1998 programs are at
the heart of OJJDP's categorical funding efforts. For example, while
focusing on new areas of programming such as the Juvenile Defender
Center and the role of the arts for juveniles in detention centers and
for at-risk youth, continuing to offer training seminars in the
Comprehensive Strategy, and looking to the SafeFutures program to
implement a continuum of care system, OJJDP will be supporting programs
that reduce the likelihood of juvenile involvement in hate crimes,
reduce juvenile gun violence, promote positive approaches to conflict
resolution, and explore the mental health needs of juveniles. Together,
these and other activities provide a comprehensive 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 develop a rural gang prevention
and intervention program and 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, activities related to the identification of school-based
gang programs and the evaluation of the Boys & 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, carriage of, and use of guns. This programming
builds on OJJDP's youth-focused community policing, mentoring, and
conflict resolution initiatives and programming, including the work of
the Congress of National Black Churches in supporting local churches to
address the prevention of drug abuse, youth violence, and hate crime.
In support of the need to break the cycle of violence, OJJDP's Safe
Kids/Safe Streets demonstration program, currently 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 Program 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 in the juvenile and criminal justice systems,
particularly in relation to juvenile violence and its impact.
As described below, 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 impact juvenile crime and violence. An
additional OJJDP goal is to help practitioners and policymakers
translate this information into action through its training and
technical assistance providers as part of its mission to stimulate and
assist in the replication of successful and promising strategies and
programs.
OJJDP will continue to fund longitudinal research on the causes and
correlates of delinquency. Even more important, however, OJJDP will
regularly share the findings from this research with the field through
OJJDP's publications, Home Page on the World Wide Web, and JuvJust (an
electronic newsletter); 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.
Some examples of these publication topics include youth action to
prevent delinquency; family strengthening; juvenile substance abuse
(prevention, intervention, and testing); balanced and restorative
justice; developmental pathways in delinquent behavior, gang migration,
capacity building for substance abuse treatment, youth gangs,
restitution programs, school safety, and conditions of confinement.
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; American
Indian 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. In
the past few years, the combined efforts of these varied groups have
brought about the beginnings of change in the prevalence of juvenile
crime, violence, and victimization. Now is the time to strengthen old
partnerships and forge new ones to develop support for a long-term,
comprehensive approach to a more effective juvenile justice system.

Fiscal Year 1998 Programs

The following are brief summaries of each of the new and
continuation programs projected to receive funding in FY 1998,
including ongoing projects identified for supplemental funding since
the publication of the Proposed Plan, which are grouped under the
heading New Supplemental Funding at the end of the program list.
Programs that appeared in the Proposed Plan but that will not receive
funding are also listed but are marked with asterisks. In the program
descriptions, brief discussions are provided as to why some proposed
programs will not be funded this fiscal year.
As indicated above, the program categories are public safety and
law enforcement; strengthening the juvenile

[[Page 33140]]

justice system; delinquency prevention and intervention; and child
abuse and neglect and dependency courts. 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 grantee performance,
application quality, fund availability, and other factors.
A number of OJJDP programs have been identified for funding
consideration by Congress with regard to the grantee(s), the amount of
funds, or both. These programs, which are listed below, are not
included in the program descriptions that follow.

National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
Teens, Crime, and the Community
Parents Anonymous, Inc.
Juvenile Offender Transition Program
Suffolk University Center for Juvenile Justice
Center for Crimes and Violence Against Children
Crow Creek Alcohol and Drug Program
Metro Denver Gang Coalition

In addition, OJJDP has been directed by Congress to examine each of
the following proposals, provide grants if warranted, and report to the
Committees on Appropriations of both the House and the Senate on its
intention for each proposal:

Coalition for Juvenile Justice
The Hamilton Fish National Institute on School/Community Violence
Low Country Children's Center
Vermont Department of Social and Rehabilitative Services
Grassroots Drug Prevention Program
Dona Ana Camp
Center for Prevention of Juvenile Crime and Delinquency at Prairie View
University Project O.A.S.I.S.
KidsPeace--The National Centers for Kids in Crisis, North America
Consortium on Children, Families, and Law
New Mexico Prevention Project
No Hope in Dope Program
Study of the Link Between Child Abuse and Criminal
Behavior in Alaska
Gainesville Juvenile Assessment Center
Lincoln Council on Alcohol and Drugs
Hill Renaissance Partnership
National Training and Information Center
Culinary Arts Training Program for At-Risk Youth
Women of Vision Program for Youthful Female Offenders
Violence Institute of New Jersey
Delancy Street Foundation
Law-Related Education

Fiscal Year 1998 Program Listing

Overarching

SafeFutures: Partnerships To Reduce Youth Violence and Delinquency
Evaluation of SafeFutures
Program of Research on the Causes and Correlates of Delinquency
OJJDP Management Evaluation Contract
Juvenile Justice Statistics and Systems Development
Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement
OJJDP National Training and Technical Assistance Center
Technical Assistance for State Legislatures
Telecommunications Assistance
OJJDP Technical Assistance Support Contract--Juvenile Justice Resource
Center
Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse
Insular Area Support
Community Assessment Centers (CAC's)
Training and Technical Assistance Coordination for SafeFutures
Initiative

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 & Girls Clubs)
National Youth Gang Center
Evaluation of the Partnerships To Reduce Juvenile Gun Violence Program
The Chicago Project for Violence Prevention
Safe Start--Child Development-Community-Oriented Policing (CD-CP)
Juvenile Justice Law Enforcement Training and Technical Assistance
Program
Partnerships To Reduce Juvenile Gun Violence
Comprehensive Community-Wide Approach to Gang Prevention, Intervention,
and Suppression Technical Assistance and Training
Rural Youth Gang Problems: Adapting OJJDP's Comprehensive Approach
Case Studies and Evaluation Planning of OJJDP's Rural Youth Gang
Initiative

Delinquency Prevention and Intervention

Youth-Centered Conflict Resolution
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
Training and Technical Assistance for Family Strengthening Programs
Hate Crime
Strengthening Services for Chemically Involved Children, Youth, and
Families
Diffusion of State Risk-and Protective-Factor Focused Prevention
Multisite, Multimodal Treatment Study of Children With ADHD
Evaluation of the Juvenile Mentoring Program
Truancy Reduction Demonstration Program
Evaluation of the Truancy Reduction Demonstration Program
Arts and At-Risk Youth
Community Volunteer Coordinator Program
* Learning Disabilities Among Juveniles At Risk of Delinquency or in
the Juvenile Justice System
Advertising Campaign--Investing in Youth for a Safer Future

Strengthening the Juvenile Justice System

Development of the Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and
Chronic Juvenile Offenders
Balanced and Restorative Justice Project (BARJ)
Training and Technical Assistance Program To Promote Gender-Specific
Programming for Female Juvenile Offenders
Juvenile Transfers to Criminal Court Studies
Replication and Extension of Fagan Transfer Study
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 the Intensive Community-Based Aftercare Program
Training and Technical Assistance for National Innovations To Reduce
Disproportionate Minority Confinement (The Deborah Ann Wysinger
Memorial Program)
Training for Juvenile Corrections and Detention Management Staff
Training for Line Staff in Juvenile Detention and Corrections

[[Page 33141]]

Training and Technical Support for State and Local Jurisdictional Teams
To Focus on Juvenile Corrections and Detention Overcrowding
National Program Directory
Interagency Programs on Mental Health and Juvenile Justice
Juvenile Residential Facility Census
The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 97
TeenSupreme Career Preparation Initiative
Technical Assistance to Native Americans
Youth Court: A Training & Technical Assistance Delivery Program
School Safety Training and Technical Assistance
Disproportionate Minority Confinement
Arts Programs for Juvenile Offenders in Detention and Corrections
``Circles of Care''--A Program To Develop Strategies To Serve Native
American Youth With Mental Health and Substance Abuse Needs
National Juvenile Defender Training, Technical Assistance, and Resource
Center
Gender-Specific Programming for Female Juvenile Offenders
Evaluation Capacity Building
Field-Initiated Research
* Field-Initiated Evaluation
Analysis of Juvenile Justice Data
Evaluation of the Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and
Chronic Juvenile Offenders
Blueprints for Violence Prevention: Training and Technical Assistance
Teambuilding Project for Courts Evaluation of Youth-Related Employment
Initiative

Child Abuse and Neglect and Dependency Courts

Safe Kids/Safe Streets: Community Approaches to Reducing Abuse and
Neglect and Preventing Delinquency
National Evaluation of the Safe Kids/Safe Streets Program
Secondary Analysis of Childhood Victimization
Evaluation of Nurse Home Visitation in Weed and Seed Sites

Supplemental Funding for Programs Not Included in the Proposed Plan

The following new or ongoing programs, which will require
supplemental funding in FY 1998, were not included in the Proposed Plan
because the need for funding had not been identified. No additional
applications will be solicited in FY 1998.

GAINS Center

OJJDP will transfer funds to the National Institute of Corrections
to support a jointly funded effort under which the GAINS Center will
provide training and technical assistance on juvenile offenders with
co-occurring disorders. This is the second year of funding of a 3-year
effort.

The Academy

OJJDP is funding a followup study on disproportionate minority
confinement that expands a field-initiated program study that looked at
court decisionmaking to include examining police decisionmaking and its
impact on the confinement of minorities.

Pathways to Success

OJJDP provided continuation funding in FY 1998 to two sites (Aspira
in Miami, Florida, and Stopover Services in Providence, Rhode Island)
under the Pathways to Success program. This continuation funding will
permit program evaluators to collect important data on the outcomes of
the afterschool programming implemented at these two sites.

Do the Write Thing

OJJDP will continue funding the National Campaign to Stop Violence
to expand its Do the Write Thing program. Do the Write Thing promotes
the development of student ideas and solutions to reduce crime and
violence through the written word. The program is currently operating
in 12 cities and reaches more than 5,000 children.

Evaluation of the Youth Substance Use Prevention Program

The program evaluator (University of New Hampshire) for the Youth
Substance Use Prevention Program, funded by the President's Crime
Prevention Council under the Ounce of Prevention grants program, will
receive additional funding to complete an evaluation of 10 youth-led
substance use prevention projects.

Intergenerational Transmission of Antisocial Behavior

This research grant, administered by the National Institute of
Mental Health (NIMH), tracks the development of delinquent behavior
among children of youth from Rochester, New York, who were research
subjects under OJJDP's Program of Research on the Causes and Correlates
of Delinquency, an ongoing longitudinal study in three cities. OJJDP
will transfer funds to NIMH to support this research.

Study Group on Very Young Offenders

The OJJDP Study Group on Very Young Offenders, funded under a grant
to the University of Pittsburgh, will explore what is known about the
prevalence and frequency of very young offending under the age of 13;
whether such offending predicts future delinquent or criminal careers;
how these youth are handled by various systems including juvenile
justice, mental health, and social services; and what are the best
methods of preventing very young offending and persistence of
offending.

Standards for Juvenile Confinement Facilities

Support will be provided to the Council of Juvenile Correctional
Administrators to continue the Performance-Based Standards for Juvenile
Confinement Facilities program, expanding the number of demonstration
sites that are testing the impact of the performance-based standards
process as a means of improving confinement conditions and treatment
services for juvenile offenders.

San Diego Comprehensive Strategy Program

An award to San Diego County (CA) will support the San Diego
Comprehensive Strategy program's establishment of a coordinator
position to facilitate implementation of the comprehensive strategy
plan in San Diego County.

University of Michigan Data Archive

Supplemental funding will be provided to the University of Michigan
Data Archive to support the archiving of data sets produced by OJJDP
grantees.

Training and Technical Assistance to Juvenile Detention and
Corrections

OJJDP will provide funds to the American Correctional Association
(ACA) to support technical assistance and training to juvenile
correctional agencies. ACA will conduct a National Forum on Juvenile
Corrections/Detention for agency administrators, facilitate information
exchange in the field, provide workshops on emerging issues, and
develop and disseminate papers and monographs to the field.

National Violence Prevention Training

OJJDP will transfer funds to the U.S. Department of Education to
support a collaborative training project sponsored by the Harvard
School of Public Health, the Education Development Center, Inc., the
Prevention Institute, Inc., the Massachusetts Corporation for
Educational Telecommunication, and several Federal agencies including
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Maternal and Child
Health

[[Page 33142]]

Bureau, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Center for Injury
Prevention, and Indian Health Service and OJJDP. This six-part
satellite training makes use of satellite technology, the Internet, and
hands-on facilitation and highlights an array of successful initiatives
across the country with a particular emphasis on reduction of violence
in schools and communities.

Overarching

SafeFutures: Partnerships To Reduce Youth Violence and Delinquency

OJJDP is awarding grants of up to $1.4 million annually to each of
six communities for a 5-year project period that began in FY 1995, to
assist in implementing comprehensive community programs designed to
reduce youth violence and delinquency. Boston, Massachusetts; Contra
Costa County, California; Seattle, Washington; St. Louis, Missouri;
Imperial County, California (rural site); and Fort Belknap, Montana
(tribal site) were competitively selected to receive awards under the
SafeFutures program 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, including
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 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 program 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; after school activities; mentoring; treatment
alternatives for juvenile female offenders; mental health services; day
treatment; graduated sanctions for serious, violent, and chronic
juvenile 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 at
each of the six sites. OJJDP has also committed a cadre of training and
technical assistance (TTA) resources to SafeFutures through a full-time
TTA coordinator for SafeFutures and a host of partner organizations
committed to assisting SafeFutures sites. The TTA coordinator 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 in public housing areas of 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
grantees. No additional applications will be solicited in FY 1998.

Evaluation of SafeFutures

In FY 1995, OJJDP funded six communities under the SafeFutures:
Partnerships To Reduce Youth Violence and Delinquency program. The
program sites are Boston, Massachusetts; Contra Costa County,
California; Fort Belknap Indian Community, Harlem, Montana; Imperial
County, California; Seattle, Washington; St. Louis, Missouri. The
SafeFutures Program provides support for a comprehensive prevention,
intervention, and treatment program to meet the needs of at-risk
juveniles and their families. In total, up to $8.4 million is being
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 FY 1995 funds to conduct Phase I of the national
evaluation of the SafeFutures program. OJJDP agreed to consider 2 years
of additional funding for Phase II. The evaluation addresses the
program implementation process and measures performance outcomes across
the six sites. The process evaluation focuses primarily on the
development and implementation of a strategic plan designed to
establish a continuum of care and integrated services for young people
in high-risk communities. The evaluation will identify obstacles and
key factors contributing to the successful implementation of the
SafeFutures program. The evaluator is responsible for developing a
cross-site report documenting the process of program implementation for
use by other funding agencies or communities that want to develop and
implement a comprehensive community-based strategy to address serious,
violent, and chronic delinquency.
In FY 1996, the

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/fr%3A98-15832. Public record. Not legal advice.