July 2009

    The Pulse
Juvenile Crime
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The Pulse 
Welcome to July's edition of The Pulse. This is the third of a series of updates planned for release this year. 
 
Checking our pulse is essential in monitoring our Vital Signs. The Pulse highlights a specific indicator of human well-being that is contained in United Way of Central Oklahoma's Vital Signs report or is being noticed through United Way's work in the community.
Juvenile Crime
A total of 162,206 arrests were reported for Oklahoma in 2008 and juveniles accounted for 21,818 of those arrested. Oklahoma County contributed 33,906 arrests to Oklahoma's total with 6,308 of those being reported as juveniles. For every 100 juveniles in Oklahoma County 3.4 were arrested compared to 2.4 for the state. 
 
In the state and county, over the past few years juvenile crime rates have been  slowly declining. In 2007, a significant reduction in the number of arrests reported occurred in Oklahoma County, however this reduction was not reflected in the arrests for the state nor did the reduction continue into 2008. 
 
In 2008, the Oklahoma County arrest total increased 14.8%, nearly back to the levels seen before the reduction in 2007. Although, the current total is still slightly down from where it was in 2006. More data is needed to determine if the trend will continue to decline. 
 
To accelerate this decline, high-quality early education and after-school programs are among the powerful weapons we have in reducing crime.
 
Research has shown that at-risk children excluded from pre-kindergarten education are five times more likely to grow up and become criminals; and the hours between 2 and 6 p.m. on school days are the prime time for violent juvenile crime.
 
 
Source: Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and FightCrime.org
To contribute research, have a say in what is being monitiored or to make a suggestion, send an email to Heather Elmenhorst.
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United Way's Response
United Way of Central Oklahoma continues to focus on developing Successful Kids so that infants, children, and youth are nurtured and given the opportunity to succeed in school, develop life skills, and become productive citizens.

Twenty-eight percent of United Way's funding is allocated to programs that support Successful Kids through afterschool, summer, mentoring and tutoring programs at United Way Partner Agencies. In addition, during the 2008-2009 school year United Way received a $94,000 grant from the JCPenney Afterschool Fund to support life-enriching afterschool programs in central Oklahoma. Eight organizations received a portion of the grant to provide scholarships for youth to attend the programs, as well as a $50 JCPenney gift card for each student receiving the grant support.  United Way also partners with Smart Start programs to help ensure our community's children are best prepared to enter school by starting education early.
 
To find out more, visit www.unitedwayokc.org.
 
United Way of Central Oklahoma is focused on Successful Kids, Strong Families, Healthy Citizens, Independent Living and Community Preparedness.
United Way of Central Oklahoma  
Devon Energy CorpPO Box 837 Oklahoma City, OK 73101
405.236.8441
mental health graphThe Pulse is a project of Vital Signs; Oklahoma's only broad-based community evaluation with over a decade of trend data in six key areas important to our quality of life.
 
Interested in printed copies of Vital Signs?
 
Contact Heather Elmenhorst, Director of Research; 405.523.3525.