National Evaluation of the Title V Community Prevention Grants

This report presents findings from a national evaluation of this grant program which provides communities with funding and a guiding framework for developing and implementing comprehensive juvenile delinquency prevention plans. This lengthy report is downloadable by chapter.

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ABA Focuses on At Risk Youth in 2006-07

ABA President Karen Mathis has chosen to focus on at-risk teens and the legal issues that affect them during her term of office. Recommendations from the ABA Youth at Risk Initiative Planning Conference are available for download. The recommendations include:

• Better Hearing the Voices of Youth in Court
• Reforming the Juvenile “Status Offender” Process
• Enhancing Teen Access to Safe and Appropriate Prevention and Treatment Services
• Assisting Youth Who Are “Aging Out” of Foster Care

There is also a downloadable outline for establishing and running a truancy program available to you online from the Spring 2006 Criminal Justice Section Newsletter. These two pages will give you the bare bones for setting up a program. More detailed information available online. See note at the end of page two.

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Freedom Writers

The Freedom Writers idea is a new approach to writing in which there is no formal curriculum or body of research to prove how well it works. It is also so exciting that Paramount Pictures is a making a movie about Erin Gruwell, the teacher who pioneered the idea and watched many of her struggling high school student blossom into college-bound youngsters, eager to write and to succeed.

It’s a simple idea. Teachers get kids to write by writing about their own lives.

Gruwell’s success was followed by a book filled with her students’ essays on alcoholism, gang initiation, racism, homelessness and abuse. The book is named for the Freedom Riders who helped integrate the South.

The Philadelphia Inquirer  has published a three-part series featuring students in that city and their writing as well as video interviews of the students reading their work.

Part I             Part II             Part III               Freedom Writers Web Site

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Circus Arts Help Troubled Youth in Chile

Using circus arts to help troubled youth was the brainchild of the Cirque du Soleil, which began its first two pilot projects in Chile and Brazil in 1995. Today Cirque du Soleil has 50 projects running in 19 countries, many of them developing countries. Today, Chile’s Circo du Mundo is run independently and continuously searches for funding. The organization’s director says circus arts get kids to channel the same energy that leads to violence or delinquency toward positive pursuits.

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Prevent Child Abuse Booklet

Stop it Now! is an organization that aims to prevent child sexual abuse by increasing public awareness and empowering people to act responsibly to protect children. The organization has published an 8 page booklet loaded with information, recommendations, and checklists of warning signs of child sexual abuse, including what to watch for when adults are around children, warning signs for an adult with sexual behavior problems, signs a child may have been abused. Downloadable.

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Making a Difference in the Lives of Youth

The National Collaboration for Youth has published descriptions of 10 successful out-of-school-time programs that show how these programs are making a difference. I picked these two to bring to your attention simply because they caught my eye. The other eight are just as interesting to read about.

• P.A.V.E. (Project Anti-Violence Education) – Grants contribute to healthy development of girls ages 5-17 by providing funding to Girl Scout councils to create programs that help girls learn how to stay safe, reduce their vulnerability to crime, and/or decrease their risk of becoming perpetrators of violence against themselves or others.
  
• Seeds to Success: Youth Farmstand Programs – classroom and on-the-job training  for at-risk 14- to 18-year-old special needs students with the goal of preparing them to be productive members of the workforce. The program is a statewide, interdisciplinary program operating 7 farmstands in 4 counties of New Jersey.

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Parents Often Fool Themselves About Firearm Safety

A new study involving 201 parents and an equal number of their children has found that 39% of kids knew the location of their parents’ firearms, while 22% said they had handled the weapons – despite their parents’ assertions to the contrary. The study is the first to compare the responses of parents and their children ages 5 to 14.

A study from last fall by researcher at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) found that more than 1.7 million children live in homes with loaded, unlocked guns. More than 500 children die annually from accidental gunshots. Some shoot themselves while others kill friends or siblings, often after discovering a gun.

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Mentoring in America 2005

This new report on the state of mentoring in the United States presents the results of a poll of the mentoring community in the country. Key findings:

• 3,000,000 adults have formed one-to-one mentoring relationships with young people; an increase of 19% since 2002.
• 96% of existing mentors would recommend mentoring to others.
• While the average mentoring relationship lasts 9 months, 38% last at least one year.
• The majority of mentors are willing to work with youth in unique or difficult situations, including children of incarcerated parents, youth with disabilities and immigrant youth.
  
  20 page pdf file.

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Physically Active Teens Get into Less Trouble

Researchers have found that compared with teens that spend much of their free time in from of the TV; those who are active often have higher self-esteem, better grades and are less prone to risky behavior like taking drugs, smoking, drinking or having sex.  The study highlights the fact that exercise is not only about weight control, but has other benefits.

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Juvenile Diversion: Chicago in the Spotlight

The Chicago Juvenile Intervention Support Center is a pilot program for juveniles in the court system who need support. The program will focus on diversion, counseling and treatment programs. It will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The program’s focus will be on family, community and treatment.

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Programs for Young Mothers

Nurse-Family Partnership

This is a national nonprofit program designed to improve the health and lives of low-income, first-time moms and their kids. It has been scientifically shown to work in rigorous long-term studies that find it not only helps young mother with parenting skills, but a also reduces child abuse, welfare use, arrest and substance abuse, while improving education and employment rates. Children are less likely to have serious behavior problems.  It serves more than 20,000 families in 20 states.

Portland Insights

This article interviews a young mother who leads a youth council at Portland Insights, one of the few nonprofit agencies in the United States that is devoted exclusively to the needs of teen parents. Insights works with 1,500 young parents and their children every year. Programs include parenting groups, housing assistance and homeless teen parent support.

++++++++++PARTNERS for Students

ABA curriculum for high school students brings a first-hand understanding of the challenges in a marriage before they marry. It teaches relationship skills essential to creating a lasting partnership. Visit the PARTNERS web site for more information to see a sample of the curriculum manual for teachers. There is a special listserv too.

++++++++++Ballroom Dancing in Middle School - A Stellar Program

Inspired by the 2005 documentary film, Mad Hot Ballroom, which followed fifth-graders from three schools in New York City during a 10-week program that proved dancing’s effects go far beyond learning fancy footwork, the Kansas City, Kansas school district has started Ballroom Dance Blast. The program is modeled after the NYC program and has been started with a middle school and two elementary schools. Among other, more ineffable effects including increased self esteem, the program teaches social interaction and etiquette along with dance steps. A click-on video of the KC program accompanies the article.

Click here to visit the web site and learn more about Mad Hot Ballroom and to see the kids perform. Betcha you can’t watch the movie’s trailer without smiling!  I want to see the movie!

++++++++++A City Platform for Strengthening Families and Improving Outcomes for Children and Youth

The NLC Youth on Youth, Education, and Families have developed an agenda for municipal action and leadership on behalf of children, youth, and their families. The platform highlights an essential infrastructure and calls upon municipal leaders to take a series of specific action steps in each of seven issue areas. 4 page pdf file.

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Education for kids in juvenile justice

Kids who have not succeeded in traditional school settings are experiencing school success in a public charter high school in Washington, D.C. Numerous studies show that one of the most effective ways to help young people in juvenile justice get back on track is by advancing their educational skills.

++++++++++G.R.E.A.T. Funding Opportunities

G.R.E.A.T. is a school-based, law enforcement officer-instructed classroom curriculum. The program’s primary objective is prevention and is intended as an immunization against delinquency, youth violence, and gang membership. The application period ifor this round of funding is open until February 2.  The link above will take you to more information.

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Resiliency-Based Research and Adolescent Health Behaviors

Research has focused primarily on risk factors among youth. This study examines resiliency and what buffers adolescents from engaging in harmful health behaviors. From The Prevention Researcher’s latest issue, a single-topic issue devoted to resiliency.

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Study Backs Benefits of Preschool

NPR’s Morning Edition today (November 2, 2005) reported on the success of the State of Oklahoma’s statewide preschool program. New research says that the program is a success at helping kids prepare for school. The research also identifies three factors that are particularly important to that success:

• All teachers come from the public school system and have appropriate degrees.
• Teachers’ salaries come from the public school system, with an average salary of $35,000 per year. The average salary nationwide for a pre-school teacher is $24,000 per year.
• All teachers received specialized training in working with young children.

All children enrolled in the pre-kindergarten program made gains while in the program. Biggest gains were among Hispanic children. Listen to the story on NPR at the link above. The study is in the latest issue of Developmental Psychology. 

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