Save the Date

Wed July 29, JDCAP Unified Case Management webinar for pilot sites and stakeholders.

Tue Aug 18, JDCAP Training Committee meeting at CCAP

Additional Information

National Gang Center Updates Parents' Guide to Gangs

The National Gang Center has published an updated version of the "Parents' Guide to Gangs." This guide provides parents with answers to common questions about gangs to enable them to recognize and prevent their child's involvement in a gang. The National Gang Center is supported by OJJDP and the Bureau of Justice Assistance.

Resources:

Frequently Asked Questions About Gangs answers many of the most frequently asked questions on gangs, gang joining, gang trends, and more that the National Gang Center receives.

In the online video "Why Youth Join Gangs" gang researchers, practitioners, and young people who were previously involved in gangs talk about research regarding gang joining and provide insights into what you might observe when interacting with youth who are at high risk of joining a gang.

Learn more about the OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Model for addressing communities' gang problems.

White House Report Highlights OJJDP Delinquency Prevention Models

The White House's Council of Economic Advisers has released a report on closing opportunity gaps for disadvantaged youth that highlights two promising programs: One Summer Jobs Plus (OSP) and Becoming a Man (BAM). With OJJDP-supported evaluation grants, the University of Chicago Crime Lab is currently testing both youth-focused delinquency prevention models. The White House has recognized the BAM approach as an example of innovation in advancing the goals of the My Brother's Keeper initiative for minority males.

Resources:

For more on the OSP evaluation findings, read "Summer Jobs Reduce Youth Violence Among Disadvantaged Youth."

For additional details about the evaluation of BAM and the Match Math Tutoring Program, read "Not Too Late: Improving Academic Outcomes for Disadvantaged Youth."

SAMHSA Releases Report on Underage Drinking

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has released a new report showing a significant decline in underage alcohol consumption among youth aged 12 to 20 between 2002 and 2013. The report indicates a drop in underage binge drinking but finds alcohol to still be the most widely used substance among America's youth.

Resources:

View and download the report.

Access bulletins from OJJDP's Underage Drinking series.

Cuyahoga County Defending Childhood Initiative a National Model - NIJ Publications Update

Through the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, NIJ has made available the following final technical report (this report is the result of an NIJ-funded project but was not published by the U.S. Department of Justice):

Title: "We Have the Power to Stop the Violence": A Process Evaluation of Cuyahoga County's Defending Childhood Initiative (pdf, 67 pages)
 

Author: Rachel Swaner
Abstract: The Cuyahoga County Defending Childhood Initiative (CCDCI) created a streamlined screening, assessment and service system that was implemented county-wide for children ages 0-18 who have been exposed to violence and are experiencing trauma symptoms. Smaller initiative components included two targeted evidence-based/promising prevention programs (Adults and Children Together; Families and Schools Together) in high-risk neighborhoods; community awareness and education campaigns; and professional training activities.

The county-wide system for treating children who have been exposed to violence represented a system-level reform that was unique to the Cuyahoga County Defending Childhood Initiative. The first step in the system focuses on identification and screening. A short, one-page screener was created for children 7 years of age and younger (completed by the caregiver) and for children 8 years of age and older (completed by the child). The Juvenile Court and the Department of Children and Family Services are the primary screening agencies.

If a child screens as having been exposed to violence or trauma, it leads to a referral to a newly created Central Intake and Assessment office for a full assessment, the second step in the system. If the child screens positive on the full assessment, the child is then referred to the final step in the system: appropriate evidence-based treatment services such as Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or Parent Child Interaction Therapy, administered by a CCDCI contracted agency.

The work of the Cuyahoga County Defending Childhood Initiative is extraordinarily impressive. There have been some big challenges, yet perhaps they are the natural product of the level of system transformation that the county has attempted. The CCDCI can be potentially viewed as national model for a streamlined service system to address children's exposure to violence. The high level of detail and sophistication in many of their strategies could provide other cities with a particularly clear roadmap and guidance for replicating their model.

White House Report Highlights Work at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center

Congratulations to the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (JTDC).  President Obama's Council of Economic Advisors' new White House Report entitled, Economic Costs of Youth Disadvantage and High-Return Opportunities for Change recognizes the JTDC reforms of daily behavior management programs based cognitive behavior training (CBT), which demonstrated statistically significant reductions in recidivism and a powerful cost-benefit ratio on taxpayer investments through evidence-based evaluation research conducted by the University of Chicago Crime Lab (see page 24 of the White House report).

Additional information about the Cook County reforms and the Crime Lab's gold standard research is available in a recent NPJS publication, Reforming Conditions of Confinement in Juvenile Detention: Evidence-Based Research from the U.S. District Court Intervention in Cook County, IL.

For more information about the Cook County reforms of conditions of confinement, contact the National Partnership for Juvenile Services (NPJS) at NPJS@me.com or call 859-333-4209.

New IAJJS article

The National Partnership for Juvenile Services (NPJS) has published a new article in the Journal of Applied Juvenile Justice Services (JAJJS).  Access to the journal is currently free and open to the public.  I encourage you to take advantage of the opportunity to read about some promising work and research occurring in the juvenile justice profession. 

Newly published (July 22, 2015):

Easing Reentry through Employability Skills Training for Incarcerated Youth, VanderPyl, Taryn

Back to top