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Dayton’s Reclaiming Futures Program ‘Natural Helpers’
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Reclaiming Futures program relies on natural helpers to assist teens with substance abuse problems who are also in the juvenile justice system. Natural helpers are trained volunteers who find a connection between their personal interests and the youth they are coupled with. This article interviews natural helpers in Dayton, Ohio, one of ten Reclaiming Futures sites in the country.
++++++++++ Juvenile Accountability Incentive Block Grants: Assessing Initial Implementation
NIJ authorized Abt Associates to conduct a process evaluation to determine how block grant funds were spent in the initial years of the grant and how States and localities conformed to five policy objectives envisioned by Congress. 9 page pdf file. ++++++++++ Recent Juvenile Justice Stories on NPR
Last weekend National Public Radio featured two stories on juvenile justice: ++++++++++ Boy Scouting and Juvenile Justice I was recently asked if there were any Boy Scout programs in juvenile facilities. I found diversion programs you can lread about here. Ohio Boy Scout juvenile diversion program BSA description of Juvenile Diversion Programs ++++++++++ Promising Approaches/Promising Practices Two web sites provide information about programs and practices across the country. Children’s Bureau Promising Approaches – This page identifies promising approaches in child welfare during the child and family services reviews. Can be viewed by state or by topic. The Finance Project’s Promising Practices Catalog – A compendium of programs, practices, and initiatives intended to improve the futures of children, families and communities. 945 promising practices are profiled. ++++++++++ Fire School
A 10-week educational program that operates throughout the school year. Each session usually enrolls 10 - 12 students ranging in age from 8 to 17. The program involves kids, their parents, law enforcement, educators and mental health workers.
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Keystones for Reform: Promising Juvenile Justice Policies and practices in Pennsylvania – Executive Summary This is the first report of Models for Change: Systems Reform in Juvenile Justice, an initiative supported by the MacArthur Foundation. It describes a number of promising juvenile justice policies and practice in Pennsylvania that provide a sold base for further reform efforts. Contents include description of the role of the Juvenile Court Judges Commission in the state, a community intensive supervision program, use of the MAYSI-2 in secure juvenile detention, 54 page pdf file. ++++++++++
City Scan City Scan is a service of Child Trends' "What Works." It provides an overview of programs in 15 major U.S. cities and the age groups served by these programs. Click on the link about program descriptions to see how the information is organized. Lots of good information here. ++++++++++ What Works, Wisconsin: What Science Tells Us About Cost-Effective Programs for Juvenile Delinquency Prevention This report reviews primary prevention, secondary prevention and juvenile offender programs in place in Wisconsin. Within each category the report highlights one or two evidence-based programs, including cost-benefit information whenever it is available. The report also discusses the practices and approaches that appear to increase program effectiveness within each category. The report concludes with a set of 10 recommendations that strongly support the use of evidence-based programs and practices. See especially, Appendix A, a chart of program details. 70 page pdf file. Three page Executive Summary up front. ++++++++++ Alternatives to the Secure Detention and Confinement of Juvenile Offenders This new Juvenile Justice Bulletin promotes reducing the court's reliance on detention and confinement through administrative reforms and special program initiatives informed by an objective assessment of a youth’s risk level. The Bulletin recommends developing objective, valid, and reliable tools to make placement decisions among alternative programs and expanding the existing range of alternatives to ensure that evidence-based programs with varying levels of restrictiveness and types of services are available. 40 page downloadable pdf file. ++++++++++ Washington State’s Experience with Research-Based Juvenile Justice Programs
This PowerPoint presentation describes Washington State’s experiences implementing research-based programs in juvenile justice. The presentation includes a history of the research-based effort in Washington State, program outcome evaluations, quality assurance principles, and cost-benefit meta-analyses.
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Restorative Community Service
Teens on probation in Doyletown, Pennsylvania perform community service by interacting with elderly nursing home residents; playing bingo, weeding a garden, and bowling. Through the Community Service Foundation, troubled kids are engaged in activities they can be proud of. They get back as well as give, part of the restorative justice philosophy.
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Sculpture and a Survey in Saginaw, Michigan
Juvenile Care Center day students will create a sculpture based on the theme of American justice. With a $50,000 grant for the artwork, the students will work for nine to 12 months to produce the sculpture. A nine-month study of Midland County Juvenile Court wards finds that the 93 students fell below national findings in time at home, time with the religious community and youth activities. They do not do their homework and many do no reading for pleasure. They scored better than the national average in time spent home alone, and overexposure to television. They scored worse than the national average on physical abuse, being a victim of violence, and drinking parties.
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Inner City Students Matriculate at the French Culinary Institute to Learn How to be Career Waitpersons
A pilot program stated by the Careers Through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP) brings inner city students into a two-week boot camp preparing them for jobs in the dining rooms of some of New York City’s mot popular restaurants. For the rest of the summer they will be working at the restaurants and when school starts back up, will ask for part time work. ++++++++++ Sustainability Planning and Resource Development for Youth Mentoring Programs The National Mentoring Center has released this 178 page guide to youth mentoring programs. Subjects in the report include planning strategies, corporate giving, foundations, government grants, individual giving, local events, the ethics of fundraising, and board involvement. This report is, in short, a primer for non-profit organizations whatever their purpose. Take a moment and look at the wealth of resources included in this report. 178 pages. Downloadable. ++++++++++ Theatrical Therapy for Juveniles Good behavior at Camp David Gonzalez in Los Angeles County, California, earns juveniles the right to participate in a theater group made possible for a partnership between the Los Angeles County Department of probation and the professional writers and actors of the Unusual Suspects Theater Company. Unusual Suspects is a non-profit organization that trains juveniles offenders to write, produce and act in plays that encourage nonviolent resolution to conflict and addresses experiences with poverty, abuse, drugs, parental abandonment and racism. ++++++++++ Mentoring for Children of Incarcerated Parents
A program in St. Louis, Amachi, works through Big Brothers-Big Sisters to provide mentors to children with one or both parents in prison. It is estimated that between one-third and one-half of the children in the juvenile justice system today have had a parent in prison. Some statistics: Nearly 90% of children with incarcerated fathers live with their mothers. Nearly 80% of children with incarcerated mothers live with a grandparent, relative, or a foster parent.
The first Amachi program started in Philadelphia five years ago. Amachi now has nearly 100 branches in 43 states. ++++++++++ |
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