[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 49 (Thursday, March 13, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11956-11980]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-5780]



[[Page 11955]]

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Part II





Department of Justice





_______________________________________________________________________



Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention



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Proposed Comprehensive Plan for Fiscal Year 1997; Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 49 / Thursday, March 13, 1997 / 
Notices  

[[Page 11956]]



DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
[OJP(OJJDP)-1115]
RIN 1121-ZA62


Proposed Comprehensive Plan for Fiscal Year 1997

AGENCY: Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and 
Delinquency Prevention, Justice.

ACTION: Notice of Proposed Program Plan for fiscal year 1997.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is 
publishing this notice of its Proposed Comprehensive Plan for fiscal 
year 1997.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 28, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to Shay Bilchik, Administrator, 
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Room 742, 633 
Indiana Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20531.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eileen M. Garry, Special Assistant to 
the Administrator, 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. Sec. 5601 et seq. (JJDP 
Act), the Administrator of OJJDP is publishing for public comment a 
Proposed Comprehensive Plan describing the program activities that 
OJJDP proposes to carry out during fiscal year 1997. The Proposed 
Comprehensive Plan includes activities authorized in Parts C and D of 
Title II of the JJDP Act, codified at 42 U.S.C. Sec. 5651-5665a, 5667, 
5667a. Taking into consideration comments received on this Proposed 
Comprehensive Plan, the Administrator will develop and publish a Final 
Comprehensive Plan describing the particular program activities that 
OJJDP intends to fund during fiscal year 1997, using in whole or in 
part funds appropriated under Parts C and D of Title II of the JJDP 
Act.
    Notice of the official solicitation of grant or cooperative 
agreement applications under the Final Comprehensive Plan will be 
published at a later date in the Federal Register. No proposals, 
concept papers, or other forms of application should be submitted at 
this time.

Overview

    This is a critical time for juvenile justice, a time of both 
opportunity and challenge. Earlier this year, the Department of Justice 
announced a reduction in overall juvenile violent crime (3 percent) and 
a significant drop in juvenile homicide arrests (14 percent) between 
1994 and 1995, the first downturns we have seen in 9 years. A National 
Center for Juvenile Justice analysis of the 1995 Uniform Crime Report 
data reveals that this decrease in overall juvenile crime arrests was 
driven by decreased arrests of juveniles 14 and under, an encouraging 
sign. While these younger juveniles were responsible for 30 percent of 
juvenile violent crime arrests in 1995, they accounted for more than 
half of the reported decline in juvenile violent crime arrests. All of 
the 2 percent decline in property arrests is attributable to these 
younger juveniles.
    In order to ensure that these positive trends continue, we must 
continue to focus our efforts on establishing a continuum of 
prevention, early intervention, and graduated sanctions programs; 
strengthening the juvenile justice system; and building stronger, safer 
communities. These efforts are needed because we are still confronted 
with unacceptably high rates of juvenile crime. Juveniles still account 
for 18 percent of all arrests, some 2.7 million in 1995. Even with the 
1995 decline in juvenile violent crime arrests noted above, the number 
is still 12 percent greater than the 1991 level and 67 percent above 
the 1986 level. Juveniles were involved in 32 percent of all robbery 
arrests, 23 percent of weapon arrests, and 15 percent of murder and 
aggravated assault arrests in 1995.
    In the troubling area of drug use, juveniles were involved in 13 
percent of all drug arrests in 1995, and the number of juvenile drug 
arrests has increased 138 percent since 1991. According to the 22d 
national survey in the Monitoring the Future study, illicit drug use 
among schoolchildren rose again in 1996. Since 1991, the proportion of 
students using any illicit drug in the 12 months prior to the survey 
has increased steadily. For 8th graders alone, the proportion has more 
than doubled (from 11 percent to 24 percent) since 1991. Since 1992, 
the proportion among 10th graders has nearly doubled (from 20 percent 
to 38 percent), and among 12th graders, it has risen by about half 
(from 27 percent to 40 percent).
    Federal leadership in responding to the problems confronting 
juvenile justice 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 and State Challenge Grants Programs in 
States and territories, funds more than 100 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 serves as the staff agency for the Coordinating Council on 
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; coordinates the 
Concentration of Federal Efforts Program; and administers the Title IV 
Missing and Exploited Children's Program, the Title V Community 
Prevention Grants Program, and programs under the Victims of Child 
Abuse Act of 1990, as amended, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 13001 et seq.

Fiscal Year 1997 Program Planning Activities

    The OJJDP program planning process for fiscal year 1997 is 
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 involves 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 receive 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 fiscal year

[[Page 11957]]

1997, 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 this Proposed Program Plan are those 
that are eligible to receive fiscal year 1997 continuation funding and 
programs OJJDP is considering for new awards in fiscal year 1997.
    Consideration for continuation funding for an additional budget or 
project period for previously funded discretionary grant programs will 
be 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 fiscal 
year 1997 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 program priority 
determinations).
    In accordance with Section 262 (d)(1)(B) of the JJDP Act, as 
amended, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 5665a, the competitive process for the award of 
Part C funds shall not be 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. Sec. 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.

OJJDP Funding Policy

    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, Native American, Native Alaskan, 
and local governments and public and private 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 
achievement of these goals is vital to protecting the long-term safety 
of the public from increased 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-
focused delinquency prevention approach based 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. This includes 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 building an appropriate juvenile detention and corrections 
capacity and for intensified efforts to use juvenile detention and 
correctional facilities when necessary and under conditions that 
maximize public safety, while 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

[[Page 11958]]

to understand how the juvenile justice system works in serving children 
and families. And 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, 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 broad goals, OJJDP divides its programs into six 
key categories: public safety and law enforcement; strengthening the 
juvenile justice system; delinquency prevention and intervention; child 
abuse, neglect, and dependency courts; and missing and exploited 
children. A six category, overarching programs, contains programs that 
have significant elements common to more than one category.

Introduction to Fiscal Year 1997 Program Plan

    In 1996, the U.S. Department of Justice announced new national 
statistics showing a 3-percent decline in the 1995 overall juvenile 
violent crime (murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault) 
arrest rate, reversing an upward trend that had lasted for a decade. An 
even greater decline (14 percent) occurred in the juvenile murder 
arrest rate, which had also fallen significantly in the previous year. 
These declines are in sharp contrast to the 10-year climb between 1985-
1994 when arrests of juveniles for all violent crimes rose by 75 
percent and arrests of juveniles for murder rose 150 percent. Based on 
those trends and population projections, demographers were predicting 
that juvenile arrests for violent crimes would more than double by the 
year 2010.
    The positive news released in 1996 must not lead to a relaxation of 
efforts to lower unacceptably high rates of juvenile violence and 
crime. Instead, this partial success should lead the Nation to 
intensify its commitment to reducing juvenile crime and to sustain the 
1995 decline in arrest rates. This commitment must focus on 
strengthening the ability of communities to provide for their immediate 
safety through law enforcement and correctional strategies, to develop 
and implement both prevention and intervention programs, and to provide 
those services that will enable children to grow up as healthy and 
productive citizens in nurturing homes, safe schools, and peaceful, 
caring communities. To be effective, however, this commitment must be 
rooted in a comprehensive approach to the problems of juvenile 
delinquency, violence, and victimization.
    Over the past 4 years, OJJDP has developed a framework for an 
improved, more effective juvenile justice system. The foundation was 
laid in 1993 with the publication of OJJDP's Comprehensive Strategy for 
Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Offenders. The Comprehensive 
Strategy uses statistics, research, and program evaluations as the 
basis for a set of sound principles for establishing a continuum of 
care for the Nation's children. The Comprehensive Strategy emphasizes 
the importance of local planning teams that assess the influences or 
factors putting youth at risk for delinquency, determine available 
resources, and put prevention programs in place to either reduce those 
risk factors or provide protective factors that buffer juveniles from 
the impact of risk factors. The Comprehensive Strategy also stresses 
the importance of early intervention for juveniles whose behavior puts 
them on one or more pathways to delinquency and a system of graduated 
sanctions that can ensure immediate and appropriate accountability and 
treatment for juvenile offenders.
    In 1995, OJJDP published its Guide for Implementing the 
Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile 
Offenders, a resource to help States, cities, and communities implement 
the Comprehensive Strategy. Early in 1996, the Coordinating Council on 
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, of which OJJDP is a 
member, published Combating Violence and Delinquency: The National 
Juvenile Justice Action Plan. The Action Plan prioritizes Federal 
activities and resources under eight critical objectives that must be 
addressed to effectively combat delinquency and violence. Research and 
the findings of numerous commissions support the choice of these 
objectives as central to reducing and preventing juvenile violence, 
delinquency, and victimization. The objectives are to (1) provide 
immediate intervention and appropriate sanctions and treatment for 
delinquent juveniles; (2) prosecute certain serious, violent, and 
chronic juvenile offenders in criminal court; (3) reduce youth 
involvement with guns, drugs, and gangs; (4) provide opportunities for 
children and youth; (5) break the cycle of violence by addressing youth 
victimization, abuse, and neglect; (6) strengthen and mobilize 
communities; (7) support the development of innovative approaches to 
research and evaluation; and (8) implement an aggressive public 
outreach campaign on effective strategies to combat juvenile violence.
    The OJJDP 1997 Proposed Program Plan is rooted in the principles of 
the Comprehensive Strategy and the objectives of the Action Plan. Just 
as in 1996, the Proposed 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, and preventing the onset of delinquency. 
The Proposed Program Plan also 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.
    Four program areas were identified 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. OJJDP's national conference, ``Juvenile Justice at 
the Crossroads,'' held in December 1996 was particularly helpful in 
developing program priorities for fiscal year 1997. The new program 
areas are school-based gang intervention

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and prevention, juvenile sex offenders, mental health, and cost-benefit 
analyses. In addition, OJJDP has identified for fiscal year 1997 
funding a range of research and evaluation projects that will expand 
knowledge about juvenile offenders; the effectiveness of prevention, 
intervention, and treatment programs; and the operation of the juvenile 
justice system. Specific evaluation initiatives will be undertaken 
related to Boys and Girls Clubs of America's gang outreach efforts, 
teen courts, the President's Crime Prevention Council's drug and 
alcohol use prevention program, and gun violence reduction. Combined 
with OJJDP programs being continued in fiscal year 1997, these new 
demonstration and support programs form a continuum of programming that 
supports the objectives of the Action Plan and mirrors the foundation 
and framework of the Comprehensive Strategy.
    These continuation activities and programs and the new fiscal year 
1997 programs are at the heart of OJJDP's categorical funding efforts. 
For example, while focusing on the development of assessment centers as 
a new area of programming, continuing to offer training seminars in the 
Comprehensive Strategy, and looking to the SafeFutures program to 
implement the Comprehensive Strategy model, OJJDP will be exploring how 
to better address juvenile sex offenders and the mental health needs of 
juvenile offenders. Combined, these activities provide a more holistic 
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 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, our new activities related to school-based gang programs and 
the evaluation of the Boys and 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, and carriage and use of, guns. This programming will build upon 
OJJDP's youth-focused community policing, mentoring, and conflict 
resolution initiatives and programming in the area of drug abuse 
prevention, such as funding to the Race Against Drug program, the 
Congress of National Black Churches, and the National Center for 
Neighborhood Enterprise for schools, local church, and neighborhood-
based drug abuse prevention programs.
    In support of the need to break the cycle of violence, OJJDP's 
SafeKids/Safe Streets demonstration program, 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 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 by the juvenile and criminal justice systems and any trends in 
this response, particularly as they relate to juvenile violence and its 
impact.
    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 
have an impact on juvenile crime and violence.
    OJJDP will continue to fund longitudinal research on the causes and 
correlates of delinquency, the findings of which are shared regularly 
with the field through OJJDP publications; 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 such as truants and dropouts, mentoring, home visitation 
and parent training, youth-related community policing strategies, youth 
gang homicides and drug trafficking, conflict resolution, collaborative 
partnerships, sharing of information pursuant to the Federal 
Educational Rights and Privacy Act, confidentiality of juvenile court 
records, innovative sentencing options, and strategies to reduce youth 
gun violence.
    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; Native 
American 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. 
Together, as the promising statistics published last year demonstrate, 
we have made--and we can continue to make--a difference.

Fiscal Year 1997 Programs

    The following are brief summaries of each of the new and 
continuation programs scheduled to receive funding in fiscal year 1997. 
As indicated above, the program categories are public safety and law 
enforcement; strengthening the juvenile justice system; delinquency 
prevention and intervention; child abuse, neglect, and dependency 
courts; and missing and exploited children. 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 the review and comment 
process, grantee performance, application quality, fund availability, 
and other factors.
    A number of programs contained in this document have been 
identified for funding by Congress with regard to the grantee(s), the 
amount of funds, or both. Such programs are indicated by an asterisk 
(*). The 1997 Appropriations Act Conference Report for the Departments 
of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies 
Programs identified 12 programs for OJJDP to examine and fund if 
warranted. Four of these programs (Coalition for Juvenile Justice, 
KidsPeace--The National Center for Kids in Crisis, North America, Law-

[[Page 11960]]

 Related Education, and Parents Anonymous, Inc.) are included in the 
Plan for continuation funding. The remaining eight are receiving 
careful consideration for funding in fiscal year 1997. They are:

Parents Resource Institute for Drug Education
Restorative Justice Challenge Grants
Institute on Violence and Destructive Behavior
Consortium on Children, Families, and the Law
Kansas Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center
Project O.A.S.I.S.
Savannah Youth Foundation
Teen Night Out

Fiscal Year 1997 Program Listing

Overarching

SafeFutures: Partnerships to Reduce Youth Violence and Delinquency
Evaluation of SafeFutures
Program of Research on the Causes and Correlates of Delinquency
Study Group on the Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Offender
National Academy of Sciences Study of Juvenile Justice
The Hamilton Fish National Institute on School/Community Violence*
OJJDP Management Evaluation Contract
Juvenile Justice Statistics and Systems Development
Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement
Cost-Benefit Analyses of Juvenile Justice Programs
Juvenile Justice Data Resources
National Juvenile Court Data Archive*
National Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Training and 
Technical Assistance Center
Technical Assistance for State Legislatures
OJJDP Technical Assistance Support Contract--Juvenile Justice 
Resource Center
Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse
Telecommunications Assistance
Coalition for Juvenile Justice*
Insular Area Support*

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 and Girls Clubs)
The Developmental Dynamics of Gang Membership and Delinquency
National Youth Gang Center
Evaluation of Youth Gun Violence Reduction Programs
The Chicago Project for Violence Reduction
Child-Centered Community-Oriented Policing
Law Enforcement Training and Technical Assistance Program
Violence Studies

Strengthening the Juvenile Justice System

Development of OJJDP's Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, 
and Chronic Juvenile Offenders
Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Offender Treatment Program
Juvenile Restitution: A Balanced Approach
Training and Technical Assistance Program to Promote Gender-Specific 
Programming for Female Juvenile Offenders
Cook County Juvenile Female Offenders Project
Juvenile Transfers to Criminal Court Studies
Replication and Expansion of Fagan Transfer Study
Technical Assistance to Juvenile Courts*
Juvenile Court Judges Training*
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 Intensive Community-Based Aftercare Demonstration and 
Technical Assistance Program
Interventions To Reduce Disproportionate Minority Confinement in 
Secure Detention and Correctional Facilities (The Deborah Ann 
Wysinger Memorial Program)
State Justice Statistics Program for Statistical Analysis Centers
Juvenile Probation Survey Research
Performance-Based Standards for Juvenile Detention and Correctional 
Facilities
Technical Assistance to Juvenile Corrections and Detention (The 
James E. Gould Memorial Program)
Training for Juvenile Corrections and Detention Management Staff
Training for Line Staff in Juvenile Detention and Corrections
Training and Technical Support for State and Local Jurisdictional 
Teams To Focus on Juvenile Corrections and Detention Overcrowding
National Program Directory
A Comprehensive Juvenile Sex Offender Typology
KidsPeace--The National Centers for Kids in Crisis, North America*
The Bethesda Day Treatment Program
Interagency Programs on Mental Health and Juvenile Justice

Delinquency Prevention and Intervention

Training In Risk-Focused Prevention Strategies
Youth Substance Use Prevention Programs (The President's Crime 
Prevention Council)
Survey of School-Based Gang Prevention and Intervention Programs
Youth-Centered Conflict Resolution
Teens, Crime, and the Community: Teens in Action in the 90s*
Law-Related Education*
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
Community Anti-Drug Abuse Technical Assistance Voucher Project
Training and Technical Assistance for Family Strengthening Programs
Training and Technical Assistance To Promote Teen Court Programs
Evaluation of Teen Courts
Henry Ford Health System
Angel Gate Academy*
Suffolk County PAL (Police Athletic League)*
Do the Write Thing

Child Abuse and Neglect and Dependency Courts

Permanent Families for Abused and Neglected Children*
Parents Anonymous, Inc.*

Missing and Exploited Children

Jimmy Ryce Law Enforcement Training Center*

Overarching

SafeFutures: Partnerships To Reduce Youth Violence and Delinquency

    The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) 
will award grants of up to $1.4 million to each of six communities, 
initially funded with fiscal year 1995 funds, to assist with 
comprehensive community programs designed to reduce youth violence and 
delinquency. Boston, Massachusetts; Seattle, Washington; St. Louis, 
Missouri; Contra Costa County, California; Imperial County, California; 
and Fort Belknap, Montana (Native American site) were selected 
competitively to receive 5-year awards under the SafeFutures project 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, with 
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

[[Page 11961]]

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 strategy 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, afterschool activities, mentoring, treatment 
alternatives for juvenile female offenders, mental health services, day 
treatment, graduated sanctions for violent and chronic 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 
throughout SafeFutures efforts at each of the six sites. OJJDP has also 
committed a cadre of training and technical assistance (TTA) resources 
to SafeFutures through OJJDP's National Training and Technical 
Assistance Center, which has brought together more than 40 TTA 
providers and dedicated a full-time TTA coordinator for SafeFutures. 
The Center 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 for public housing areas in 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 
SafeFutures grantees. No additional applications will be solicited in 
fiscal year 1997.

Evaluation of SafeFutures

    With fiscal year 1995 funds, OJJDP funded six communities under the 
SafeFutures: Partnerships to Reduce Youth Violence and Delinquency 
Program. The program sites are: Contra Costa County, California; Fort 
Belknap Indian Community, Harlem, Montana; Boston, Massachusetts; St. 
Louis, Missouri; Seattle, Washington; and Imperial County, California. 
The SafeFutures Program provides support for a comprehensive 
prevention, intervention, and treatment program to meet the needs of 
at-risk juveniles and their families.
    Up to approximately $8.2 million will be 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 fiscal year 1995 funds to conduct a national 
evaluation of the SafeFutures program. The evaluation will consist of 
both process and impact components for each funded site. The evaluation 
process includes an examination of planning procedures and the extent 
to which each site's implementation plan is consistent with the 
principles of a continuum of care model. The evaluation will identify 
the obstacles and key factors contributing to the successful 
implementation of the SafeFutures program. The evaluator is responsible 
for developing a cross-site monograph documenting the process of 
program implementation for use by other communities that want to 
develop and implement a comprehensive community-based strategy to 
address serious, violent, and chronic delinquency.
    In fiscal year 1996, The Urban Institute developed a logic model, 
held a cross-site cluster meeting, and visited each of the six 
SafeFutures sites. The Urban Institute is working closely with local 
evaluators to develop individual project logic models. In fiscal year 
1997, the grantee will submit an evaluation plan and design and begin 
implementation.
    A fiscal year 1997 supplemental award will be made to the current 
grantee, The Urban Institute, to complete second year funding. No 
additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Program of Research on the Causes and Correlates of Delinquency

    Three project sites participate in the Program of Research on the 
Causes and Correlates of Delinquency: The University of Colorado at 
Boulder, the University of Pittsburgh, and the State University of New 
York at Albany. Results from this program have been used extensively in 
the field of juvenile justice and have contributed to the development 
of OJJDP's Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and Chronic 
Juvenile Offenders and other program initiatives.
    OJJDP began funding this program in 1986 and has invested 
approximately $10.3 million to date. The program has addressed many 
issues of juvenile violence and delinquency. These include developing 
and testing causal models for chronic violent offending and examining 
interrelationships among gang involvement, drug selling, and gun 
ownership/use. To date, the Program has produced a massive amount of 
information on the causes and correlates of delinquent behavior.
    Although there is great commonality across the project sites, each 
has unique design features. Additionally, each project has disseminated 
the results of its research through a variety of publications, reports, 
and presentations.
    With fiscal year 1996 funding, each site of the Causes and 
Correlates Program was provided additional funds to further analyze the 
longitudinal data. New publications were developed, and both the role 
of mental health in delinquency and pathways to delinquency were the 
subject of further analyses.
    In fiscal year 1997, the sites will continue their collaborative 
research efforts. Site-specific research will also continue. 
Additionally, the grantees will work on developing a cross-site data 
access capability to provide quick access to data from all three sites.
    This program will be implemented by the current grantees--Institute 
of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado at Boulder; Western 
Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh; and 
Hindelang Criminal Justice Research Center, State University of New 
York at Albany. No additional applications will be solicited in fiscal 
year 1997.

Study Group on the Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Offender

    In fiscal year 1995, OJJDP funded the Study Group on the Serious, 
Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Offender to answer questions about these 
offenders. The objective of the Study Group is to develop a report that 
will include critical areas of interest including prevention, 
intervention, gangs, and other topics. The report will include programs 
that appear to be effective in responding to the violent juvenile 
offender. The report is expected to be completed in the Spring of 1997. 
Fiscal year 1997 funding would be provided for the Study Group to 
develop research papers on cost-benefit analysis and

[[Page 11962]]

other topics that support the research on serious and violent juvenile 
offenders. The Study Group, as an adjunct to their report, will also 
undertake the development of a 5-year research plan for OJJDP's 
Research and Program Development Division. The plan would include short 
and long term research goals and objectives.
    The project would be implemented by the current grantee, the 
University of Pittsburgh. No additional applications would be solicited 
in fiscal year 1997.

National Academy of Sciences Study of Juvenile Justice

    The unprecedented increase in the rates of violent crime arrests of 
youth between the ages of 12 and 17 through the mid 1990's, combined 
with the projected growth of this population over the next decade, 
portends an unwelcome increase in future violence by adolescents. 
Public anxiety over the growing seriousness of juvenile violence has 
led many States away from rehabilitation and toward deterrence and 
punishment as the primary thrust of their juvenile justice efforts.
    In fiscal year 1997, OJJDP would support a 24-month study by the 
National Academy of Sciences to examine research on the functioning of 
the juvenile justice system over the past 10 years in the area of 
delinquency prevention and control. The purpose of this extensive 
review would be to provide a scientifically sound basis for planning a 
multidisciplinary, multiagency agenda for research that can not only 
inform policymakers and practitioners about the nature and extent of 
juvenile delinquency and violence but also identify the most effective 
strategies for preventing and reducing youth crime and violence.
    Issues of interest to the study include (1) an assessment of the 
status of research into youth violence, methodological approaches to 
evaluate the effectiveness of youth violence prevention efforts and the 
efficacy of Federal, State, and local efforts to control youth 
violence; (2) a review of research literature and data on juvenile 
court practices during this period, including the experience with 
Federal requirements regarding status offenders, detention practices, 
and the impact of diversion strategies and waivers to criminal court 
for certain offenders and offenses; (3) a review of research literature 
and data on clients in the juvenile justice system including concerns 
regarding disproportionate minority representation and gender bias; (4) 
an assessment of available evaluation literature on system programs and 
prevention strategies and programs, gaps in the research and 
recommendations to strengthen it; and (5) the relationship between the 
research on the causes and correlates of juvenile delinquency and 
normal adolescent growth and development.
    A project report, synthesizing materials gathered from discussions 
and papers presented at workshops and panel meetings, would provide an 
overview of the critical issues confronting the juvenile justice field, 
gaps in current knowledge base, and future directions for research and 
program development.
    The program would be implemented by the National Academy of 
Sciences. No additional applications would be solicited in fiscal year 
1997.

The Hamilton Fish National Institute on School/Community Violence*

    This consortium of eight universities will study violence in 
schools and the relationship of violence in schools to violence in the 
community. The consortium includes the George Washington University, 
Morehouse School of Medicine, the University of Oregon, the University 
of Kentucky, Florida State University, the University of Wisconsin, 
Syracuse University, and the University of Kansas. The Institute will 
be a research, development, and service organization committed to 
assisting State and local policymakers, criminal justice officials, 
school administrators, teachers, parents, and students to reduce the 
present levels of violence in and around schools.
    Each of the universities will establish a local community/schools/
university partnership committed to a long-term reduction in violence. 
Each school, surrounding community, and a partner university will work 
to diagnose specific problems of violence that occur in and around the 
selected schools. After problem identification, the consortium and the 
local community and schools will design and implement interventions for 
the violence problems.
    This program will be implemented by the George Washington 
University. No additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year 
1997.

OJJDP Management Evaluation Contract

    The purpose of this contract, competitively awarded in fiscal year 
1995 to Caliber Associates, is to provide an expert resource capable of 
performing independent, management-oriented evaluations of selected 
juvenile delinquency programs. These evaluations are designed to 
determine the effectiveness and efficiency of either individual 
projects or groups of projects. The contractor also assists OJJDP in 
determining how to make the best use of limited evaluation resources 
and how best to design and implement evaluations.
    In fiscal year 1996, contract activities included: continued 
evaluation of three OJJDP-funded boot camps; continued support for the 
evaluation of Title V delinquency prevention programs at the local 
level; assistance in preparing OJJDP's 1995 Title V Program Report to 
Congress; assistance to OJJDP program development working groups; 
assistance in the creation of an ``evaluation partnership for juvenile 
justice'' designed to improve the number and quality of evaluations 
conducted by Formula Grants Program grantees, other Federal agencies, 
private foundations that fund evaluations, and State and local 
governments; and conducting other short- or long-term evaluations as 
required.
    Evaluation activities under consideration for fiscal year 1997 
include: (1) OJJDP's Pathways to Success program; (2) two law 
enforcement training seminars, Managing Juvenile Operations and SAFE 
POLICY; (3) continued impact evaluations of three OJJDP-funded 
bootcamps; (4) continued evaluation of Title V programs; (5) assistance 
to the OJJDP evaluation working group; (6) support to OJJDP Formula 
Grants Program grantees; and (7) evaluating OJJDP's implementation of 
the Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile 
Offenders. The contract will be implemented by the current contractor, 
Caliber Associates. No additional applications will be solicited in 
fiscal year 1997.

Juvenile Justice Statistics and Systems Development

    The Juvenile Justice Statistics and Systems Development (SSD) 
program was competitively awarded to the National Center for Juvenile 
Justice (NCJJ) to improve national, State, and local statistics on 
juveniles as victims and offenders. The project has focused on three 
major functions: (1) assessing of how current information needs are 
being met with existing data collection efforts and recommending 
options for improving national level statistics; (2) analyzing data and 
disseminating information gathered from existing Federal statistical 
series and national studies. (Based on this work, OJJDP released the 
first Juvenile Offenders and Victims: A National Report in September 
1995 and released Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1996 Update on 
Violence in March 1996); and (3) providing of training and technical

[[Page 11963]]

assistance for local agencies in developing or enhancing management 
information systems. A training curriculum, Improving Information for 
Rational Decision Making in Juvenile Justice, was drafted for pilot 
testing.
    In this final phase of the SSD project, NCJJ would complete a long-
term plan for improving national statistics on juveniles as victims and 
offenders, including constructing core data elements for a national 
reporting program for juveniles waived or transferred to criminal 
court; an implementation plan for integrating data collection on 
juveniles by juvenile justice, mental health, and child welfare 
agencies; and a report on standardized measures and instruments for 
self-reported delinquency surveys. The project would also make 
recommendations to fill information gaps in the areas of juvenile 
probation, juvenile court and law enforcement responses to juvenile 
delinquency, violent delinquency, and child abuse and neglect. In 
addition, the SSD Project would provide an update of Juvenile Offenders 
and Victims: A National Report, and work with the Office of Justice 
Programs'' Crime Statistics Working Group and other Federal interagency 
working groups on statistics. The project would be implemented by the 
current grantee, NCJJ. No additional applications would be solicited in 
fiscal year 1997.

Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement

    This census of juveniles in residential placement would replace the 
biennial Census of Public and Private Juvenile Detention, Correctional, 
and Shelter Facilities, known as the Children in Custody census. This 
newly designed census would collect detailed information on the 
population of juveniles who are in juvenile residential placement 
facilities as a result of contact with the juvenile justice system. 
Over the past 3 years, OJJDP and the Bureau of the Census, with the 
assistance of a Technical Advisory Board, have developed a census that 
will more accurately represent the numbers of juveniles in residential 
placement and describe the reasons for their placement. The new method 
of data collection, tested in fiscal year 1996, involved gathering data 
in a roster-type booklet format or by electronic means. The new methods 
are expected to result in more accurate and useful data on the juvenile 
population, with less reporting burden for facility respondents.
    In fiscal year 1997, OJJDP would fund the initial implementation of 
this census, including form preparation, mailout, and processing of the 
census forms. Some follow-up would also be done under this agreement. 
This program would be implemented through an interagency agreement with 
the Bureau of the Census. No additional applications would be solicited 
in fiscal year 1997.

Cost-Benefit Analyses of Juvenile Justice Programs

    Finite resources require that hard choices be made among competing 
programs. Juvenile justice practitioners are increasingly being asked 
to justify their activities in terms of cost and effectiveness. Should 
programs be continued, expanded, or discontinued? Cost-benefit analyses 
are an important tool for policymakers and juvenile justice program 
administrators. They can provide useful, quantifiable, and integrated 
information. Accordingly, OJJDP proposes to support studies designed to 
determine monetary program benefits of multiple but similar kinds of 
programs, of single programs, and across different programs. 
Submissions by juvenile justice agencies would be encouraged.
    A competitive solicitation for up to two studies would be issued in 
fiscal year 1997 to support cost-benefit analyses.

Juvenile Justice Data Resources

    OJJDP has entered into an agreement with the Inter-University 
Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) at the University 
of Michigan to make OJJDP data sets routinely available to researchers. 
Under this agreement, ICPSR assures the technical integrity of data and 
develops a universal data format. The codebooks, along with the data, 
provide clear guidance for additional analyses. Once prepared, ICPSR 
provides access to these data sets to member institutions and the 
public. Among the data sets previously processed and available through 
ICPSR are the Children in Custody series; various data sets from the 
Juvenile Court Statistics series; the Conditions of Confinement Study; 
the National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and 
Thrownaway Children (NISMART); and data from the Delinquency in a Birth 
Cohort II study.
    This program would be implemented under an interagency agreement 
with ICPSR. No additional applications would be solicited in fiscal 
year 1997.

National Juvenile Court Data Archive*

    The National Juvenile Court Data Archive collects, processes, 
analyzes, and disseminates automated data and published reports from 
the Nation's juvenile courts. The Archive's reports examine referrals, 
offenses, intake, and dispositions in addition to providing information 
on specialized topics such as minorities in juvenile courts and 
specific offense categories. The Archive also provides assistance to 
jurisdictions in analyzing their juvenile court data.
    In fiscal year 1996, the Archive enhanced the collection, 
reporting, and analysis of detailed data on detention, dispositions, 
risk factors, and treatment data using offender-based data sets from a 
sample of juvenile courts. In support of OJJDP's National Forum on 
Female Offenders, the Archive prepared a special statistics summary, 
Female Offenders in the Juvenile Justice System.
    In addition to preparing traditional reports, NCJJ prepared a 
software package, Easy Access to Juvenile Court Statistics 1990-1994, 
that allows users to quickly answer questions regarding a wide range of 
case characteristics supported with national estimates. The software is 
distributed free on diskette and is also available through OJJDP's 
homepage on the World Wide Web.
    The project will be implemented by the current grantee, NCJJ. No 
additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

National Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Training and 
Technical Assistance Center

    The National Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Training 
and Technical Assistance Center (NTTAC) was competitively funded in 
fiscal year 1995 for a 3-year project period to develop a national 
training and technical assistance clearinghouse, inventory and 
coordinate integrated delivery of juvenile justice training/technical 
assistance (TA) resources, and establish a data base of these 
resources.
    In fiscal year 1995, initial work involved organization and 
staffing of the Center, orientation for OJJDP training/TA providers 
regarding their role in the Center's activities, and initial data base 
development. In fiscal year 1996, NTTAC provided coordinated TA support 
for the OJJDP SafeFutures and gang program initiatives, continued to 
promote collaboration among OJJDP training/TA providers, developed 
training/TA materials, and completed the OJJDP Training and Technical 
Assistance Resource Catalog. In addition, NTTAC assisted State and 
local jurisdictions and other OJJDP grantees with specialized training, 
including the development of training-of-trainers programs. NTTAC 
continued to evolve as a central source for information pertaining to 
the

[[Page 11964]]

availability of OJJDP-supported training/TA programs and resources.
    In fiscal year 1997, in cooperation with OJJDP training/TA grantees 
and contractors, NTTAC will complete jurisdictional team training/TA 
packages for gender-specific services and juvenile correctional 
services, field test the packages, and coordinate delivery upon 
request. NTTAC will also update the Training and Technical Assistance 
Resource Catalog, the repository of training/TA materials, and the 
electronically maintained data base of training/TA materials. Another 
task for 1997 will be to develop an additional jurisdictional team 
training/TA package.
    This project will be implemented by the current grantee, Community 
Research Associates. No additional applications will be solicited in 
fiscal year 1997.

Technical Assistance for State Legislatures

    State legislatures are being pressed to respond to public fear of 
juvenile crime and a loss of confidence in the capacity of the juvenile 
justice system to respond effectively. Nearly every State has already 
implemented, or is considering, statutory changes affecting the 
juvenile justice system. For the most part, State legislatures have 
lacked the information needed to properly address juvenile justice 
issues. In fiscal year 1995, OJJDP awarded a 2-year grant to the 
National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) to provide relevant, 
timely information on comprehensive approaches in juvenile justice that 
are geared to the legislative environment. In fiscal year 1995 and 
fiscal year 1996, NCSL convened Leadership Forums for selected 
legislators, organized focus groups, and established an information 
clearinghouse function. In fiscal year 1997, OJJDP proposes to award 
continuation funding to the NCSL to further identify, analyze, and 
disseminate information to assist State legislatures to make more 
informed decisions about legislation affecting the juvenile justice 
system. A complementary task would involve supporting increased 
communication between State legislators and State and local leaders who 
influence decisionmaking regarding juvenile justice issues. NCSL would 
provide intensive technical assistance to four States, continue 
outreach activities, and maintain its clearinghouse function.
    The project would be implemented by the current grantee, NCSL. No 
additional applications would be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

OJJDP Technical Assistance Support Contract: Juvenile Justice Resource 
Center

    This 3-year contract, competitively awarded in fiscal year 1994, 
provides technical assistance and support to OJJDP, its grantees, and 
the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention 
in the areas of program development, evaluation, training, and 
research. This program support contract will be extended in fiscal year 
1997. The contract will be implemented by the current contractor, Aspen 
Systems Corporation. A new competitive contract solicitation will be 
issued during fiscal year 1997, and a new contract awarded in fiscal 
year 1998.

Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse

    A component of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service 
(NCJRS), the Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse (JJC) is OJJDP's central 
resource for collecting, maintaining, producing, and sharing 
information on all aspects of juvenile justice. Types of information 
managed by JJC include research and evaluation findings, State and 
local juvenile delinquency prevention and treatment programs and plans, 
availability of resources, training and educational programs, and 
statistics. JJC reaches the entire juvenile justice community and other 
interested persons, serving researchers, law enforcement officials, 
judges, prosecutors, probation and corrections staff, youth-service 
personnel, legislators, the media, and the public.
    Among its support services, JJC offers toll-free telephone and 
online access to information; prepares specialized responses to 
information requests; produces, warehouses, and distributes OJJDP 
publications; exhibits at national conferences; and maintains a 
comprehensive juvenile justice library and data base. Because of the 
critical need to inform juvenile justice practitioners and policymakers 
of promising program approaches, JJC continually develops and 
recommends new products and strategies to communicate more effectively 
the research findings and program activities of OJJDP and the field. 
The entire NCJRS, of which the OJJDP-funded JJC is a part, is 
administered by the National Institute of Justice under a 
competitively-awarded contract.
    The contract will be implemented by the current contractor, Aspen 
Systems Corporation. No additional applications will be solicited in 
fiscal year 1997.

Telecommunications Assistance

    Developments in information technology and distance training have 
expanded and enhanced OJJDP's capacity to disseminate information and 
provide training and technical assistance. These technologies have the 
advantages of increased access to information and training for 
professionals in the juvenile justice system, reduced travel costs to 
conferences, and reduced time attending meetings requiring one or more 
nights away from one's home or office. Additionally, the successful use 
of live satellite teleconferences by OJJDP during the past 2 years has 
generated an enthusiastic response from the field.
    During 1996, OJJDP's grantee, Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) 
produced five live satellite teleconferences on the following topics: 
juvenile boot camps, conflict resolution for youth, reducing youth gun 
violence, youth out of the education mainstream, and the viability of 
the juvenile court.
    In fiscal year 1997, OJJDP proposes to continue the competitively 
awarded cooperative agreement to EKU in order to provide program 
support and technical assistance for a variety of information 
technologies, including audiographics, fiber optics, and satellite 
teleconferences, producing five additional live national satellite 
teleconferences. The grantee would also continue to provide technical 
assistance to other grantees interested in using this technology and 
explore linkages with key constituent groups to advance mutual 
information goals and objectives.
    This project would be implemented by the current grantee, EKU. No 
additional applications would be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Coalition for Juvenile Justice*

    The Coalition for Juvenile Justice supports and facilitates the 
purposes and functions of each State's Juvenile Justice State Advisory 
Group (SAG). Coalition members, acting as a statutorily authorized, 
duly chartered Federal advisory committee, review Federal policies and 
practices regarding juvenile justice and delinquency prevention and 
prepare and submit an annual report and recommendations to the 
President, Congress, and the Administrator of OJJDP. The Coalition also 
serves as an information center for the SAG's and conducts an annual 
conference to provide training for SAG members.
    The program will be implemented by the current grantee, the 
Coalition for Juvenile Justice. No additional

[[Page 11965]]

applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Insular Area Support*

    The purpose of this program is to provide supplemental financial 
support to the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Trust 
Territory of the Pacific Islands (Palau), and the Commonwealth of the 
Northern Mariana Islands. Funds are available to address the special 
needs and problems of juvenile delinquency in these insular areas, as 
specified by Section 261(e) of the JJDP Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 
Sec. 5665(e).

Public Safety and Law Enforcement

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

    This program supports the implementation of a comprehensive gang 
program model in five jurisdictions. The program was competitively 
awarded with fiscal year 1994 funds under a 3-year project period. The 
demonstration sites implementing the model, which was developed by the 
University of Chicago with OJJDP funding support, are Bloomington, 
Illinois; Mesa, Arizona; Riverside, California; San Antonio, Texas; and 
Tucson, Arizona. Implementation of the comprehensive gang program model 
requires the mobilization of the community to address gang-related 
violence by making available and coordinating social interventions, 
providing social/academic/vocational and other opportunities, and 
supporting gang suppression through law enforcement, probation, and 
other community control mechanisms.
    During the past year, the demonstration sites completed initial 
gang violence problem assessments to identify the full nature and 
extent of the gang problem in the community and its causes. The 
assessment process has helped communities to understand causes of gang 
violence in their community; identify key points for prevention, 
intervention, and suppression; and identify benchmarks by which program 
success may be measured. The demonstration sites also participated in 
training and technical assistance activities, including cluster 
conferences sponsored by OJJDP and visits to a program in Chicago where 
the model has been implemented and demonstrated positive initial 
results through a 4-year evaluation. In addition, the demonstration 
sites began strategy implementation and service provision and made 
progress in community mobilization, either through existing planning 
structures or by creating new structures.
    In fiscal year 1997, demonstration sites will receive third-year 
funding to continue implementation of the model program and build upon 
the sustained mobilization, planning, and assessment processes. 
Additionally, the demonstration sites will continue to target youth 
prone to gang violence through continuing implementation of the program 
model and work with the independent evaluator of this demonstration 
program. No additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year 
1997.

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

    The University of Chicago, School of Social Services 
Administration, received a competitive cooperative agreement award in 
fiscal year 1994. This 4-year project period award supports the 
evaluation of OJJDP's Comprehensive Community-Wide Approach to Gang 
Prevention, Intervention, and Suppression Program. The evaluation 
grantee assisted the five program sites (Bloomington, Illinois; Mesa, 
Arizona; Tucson, Arizona; Riverside, California; and San Antonio, 
Texas) in establishing realistic and measurable objectives, documenting 
program implementation, and measuring the impact of a variety of gang 
program strategies. It has also provided interim feedback to the 
program implementors.
    In fiscal year 1996, the grantee designed and implemented 
organizational surveys and youth interviews; developed and implemented 
program tracking and worker questionnaires and interviews; gathered and 
tracked aggregate level offense/offender client data from police, 
prosecutor, probation, school, and social service program sources; 
developed and implemented uniform individual level criminal justice 
data collection efforts; consulted with local evaluators on development 
and implementation of local site parent/community resident surveys; and 
coordinated ongoing efforts with local researchers conducting special 
surveys of gang youth in the program.
    In fiscal year 1997, the grantee will continue to gather data 
required to evaluate the program and provide ongoing feedback to 
project sites.
    This project will be implemented by the current grantee, the 
University of Chicago, School of Social Services Administration. No 
additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

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

    This program is designed to enable local Boys and Girls Clubs to 
prevent youth from entering gangs, intervene with gang members in the 
early stages of gang involvement, and divert youth from gang activities 
into constructive activities and programs. In fiscal year 1996, Boys 
and Girls Clubs of America provided ongoing training and technical 
assistance to 30 existing gang prevention and 4 intervention sites and 
expanded the gang prevention and intervention program to 23 additional 
Boys and Girls Clubs, including clubs located in OJJDP's SafeFutures 
program sites.
    In fiscal year 1997, Boys and Girls Clubs of America proposes to 
provide training and technical assistance to 20 new gang prevention 
sites, 3 new intervention sites, and the 6 SafeFutures sites and 
initiate a national evaluation of the Targeted Outreach: Gang 
Prevention and Intervention Program.
    This program would be implemented by the current grantee, the Boys 
and Girls Clubs of America. No additional applications would be 
solicited in fiscal year 1997.

The Developmental Dynamics of Gang Membership and Delinquency

    The Seattle Social Development Project (SSDP) is a longitudinal 
gang prevention study conducted in collaboration with Seattle Public 
Schools. Initially funded under a competitive field-initiated research 
program, the analysis of gangs in the SSDP data set has examined 
juveniles ages 10-18 to identify risk and protective factors for gang 
membership. Analysis details predictors of gang membership, age of 
initiation, length, desistance from gang membership, and consequences, 
measured at age 18, of gang membership during early and mid-
adolescence.
    In fiscal year 1996, the research study revealed the extent of gang 
membership in the SSDP sample, the types and proportion of crime 
committed in the sample that are committed by gang members, the extent 
of gang crime increases, when youth join gangs or already delinquent 
youth join gangs, the length of time youth stay active members, the 
childhood predictors of joining a gang in adolescence, and the 
developmental risk factors that best predict joining a gang.
    In fiscal year 1997, the SSDP would obtain official criminal 
records for a

[[Page 11966]]

sample group, ages 18-21 years, and integrate them into the 
longitudinal data set from the SSDP. Additional data analysis would 
examine (1) the individual, peer, family, school, and neighborhood 
predictors of early initiation into gangs; (2) the predictors of 
sustained gang involvement; and (3) the effects of criminal justice 
system involvement on gang membership.
    This project would be implemented by the current grantee, the 
University of Washington. No additional applications would be solicited 
in fiscal year 1997.

National Youth Gang Center

    The proliferation of gang problems in large inner cities, smaller 
cities, suburbs, and even rural areas over the past two decades led to 
the development by OJJDP of a comprehensive, coordinated response to 
America's gang problem. This response involved five program components, 
one of which was the implementation and operation of the National Youth 
Gang Center (NYGC). The NYGC was competitively funded with fiscal year 
1994 funds for a 3-year project period. NYGC was created to expand and 
maintain the body of critical knowledge about youth gangs and effective 
responses to them. NYGC assisted State and local jurisdictions in the 
collection, analysis, and exchange of information on gang-related 
demographics, legislation, research, and promising program strategies.
    The Center also coordinated activities of the OJJDP Gang 
Consortium--a group of Federal agencies, gang program representatives, 
and service providers. Under the sponsorship of OJJDP, the National 
Institute of Justice, the Bureau of Justice Assistance, and members of 
the Regional Information Sharing Systems Program, the NYGC coordinated 
a National Youth Gang Symposium in June 1996, with over 700 
participants in attendance. Results of the first NYGC National Youth 
Gang Survey were compiled and analyzed in fiscal year 1996.
    Other major NYGC tasks in fiscal year 1996 included analysis of 
gang legislation and coordination of the OJJDP Youth Gang Consortium. 
The Consortium is developing information that will provide an overview 
of Federal agencies, including the development of a matrix to include 
information on planning cycles, contacts, and gang-related programs.
    In fiscal year 1997, NYGC will prepare the matrix of the program 
planning cycle, information resources, contacts, and programs of the 
Consortium members and promote collaboration so State and local youth-
serving agencies will be able to coordinate resources available from 
Federal agencies. Also, NYGC would hold additional focus group meetings 
to review the results of the first National Youth Gang Survey and to 
plan the format of followup surveys.
    Fiscal year 1997 funds will support third-year funding of the NYGC 
cooperative agreement to the current grantee, the Institute for 
Intergovernmental Research. No additional applications will be 
solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Evaluation of Youth Gun Violence Reduction Programs

    In response to the problem of juvenile gun violence, OJJDP and the 
International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) have identified 
promising programs designed to reduce gun violence by youth. Currently, 
numerous communities have implemented or are in the process of 
implementing youth gun violence reduction programs. However, not enough 
is known about the effectiveness of such programs.
    In fiscal year 1997, OJJDP proposes to evaluate a select number of 
promising youth gun violence reduction programs currently under way in 
communities across the country, as identified by IACP. OJJDP would work 
with the grantee to select which of these programs have a sound 
theoretical foundation and are structured to support a rigorous 
evaluation. This program would encourage a collaborative research 
approach between practitioners and researchers. If these youth gun 
violence reduction programs prove to be effective in reducing gun 
violence committed by juveniles, the program models could be replicated 
in other jurisdictions or technical assistance developed and offered to 
jurisdictions to implement programs that have been proven effective in 
communities.

The Chicago Project for Violence Prevention

    The Chicago Project for Violence Prevention's primary goal is the 
development of a citywide, accelerated, long-term effort to reduce 
violence in Chicago. Secondly, the Chicago Project demonstrates a 
comprehensive, citywide violence prevention model. Overall project 
objectives include reductions in homicide, physical injury, disability 
and emotional harm from assault, domestic abuse, sexual abuse and rape, 
and child abuse and neglect.
    The Chicago Project is a partnership among the Chicago Department 
of Public Health, the Illinois Council for the Prevention of Violence, 
the University of Illinois, and Chicago communities. It began in 
January 1995 as a public health initiative with OJJDP funding. The 
project currently provides technical assistance to a variety of 
community-based and citywide organizations involved in violence 
prevention planning. The majority of technical assistance supports 
community level work and agencies working to directly support the 
community plan.
    In fiscal year 1996, technical assistance was provided to the 
central planning group for the Austin community-based coalition, 
leadership and staff of the Westside Health Authority in the Austin 
community, and to other selected groups involved in the Austin plan for 
the development of their components (e.g., to Northwest Austin Council 
for the development of the afterschool and drug treatment components of 
the Austin plan). These groups are members of the violence consortium 
in Austin.
    In fiscal year 1997, the Chicago Project would further refine the 
violence prevention strategy developed in the Austin community and 
begin implementation of the strategy and continue to provide technical 
assistance to the Logan Square and Grand Boulevard communities as they 
develop their violence prevention strategy.
    The Chicago Project for Violence Prevention would be implemented by 
the current grantee, the University of Illinois, School of Public 
Health. No additional applications would be solicited in fiscal year 
1997.

Child-Centered, Community-Oriented Policing

    In fiscal year 1993, OJJDP provided support to the New Haven, 
Connecticut, Police Department and the Yale University Child 
Development Center to document a child-centered, community-oriented 
policing model being implemented in New Haven, Connecticut. The basic 
elements of the model are a 10-week training course in child 
development for all new police officers and child development 
fellowships for all community-based district commanders who direct 
neighborhood police teams. The fellowships provide 4 to 6 hours of 
training each week over a 3-month period at Yale's Child Study Center. 
The program also includes (1) a 24-hour consultation from a clinical 
professional and a police supervisor to patrol officers who assist 
children who have been exposed to violence; (2) weekly case conferences 
with police officers, educators, and child study center staff; and (3) 
open police stations located in

[[Page 11967]]

neighborhoods and accessible to residents for police and related 
services, community liaison, and neighborhood foot patrols.
    In fiscal year 1994, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) community 
policing funds helped support the first year of a 3-year training and 
technical assistance grant to replicate the program nationwide. These 
funds supported the development of criteria for a request for 
proposals, protocols for consultation, training-for-trainers sessions 
for New Haven police and clinical faculty, and the development of a 
multimodel strategy for data collection and program evaluation. Fiscal 
year 1995 OJJDP funds supported initiation of program replication 
efforts in Buffalo, New York; Charlotte, North Carolina; Nashville, 
Tennessee; and Portland, Oregon. Fiscal year 1996 funds supported the 
implementation of the five-phase replication protocol in the four 
selected sites. Fiscal year 1997 continuation funding from OJJDP would 
further support replication, site data collection and analysis 
activities, and development of a detailed casebook about the model and 
program.
    This project would be implemented by the current grantee, the Yale 
University School of Medicine, in collaboration with the New Haven 
Department of Police Services. No additional applications would be 
solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Law Enforcement Training and Technical Assistance Program

    Juvenile crime and victimization present some major challenges to 
practitioners who are responsible for prevention, intervention, and 
enforcement efforts. Increasing rates of violent crime committed by 
juveniles, rising juvenile involvement in gangs and drugs, and 
decreasing fiscal resources are just some of the challenges facing 
juvenile justice practitioners today.
    OJJDP is committed to helping State and local agencies, 
organizations, and individuals face these challenges through a 
comprehensive program of training and technical assistance that is 
designed to enhance the juvenile justice system's ability to respond to 
juvenile crime and delinquency. This assistance targets many audiences, 
including law enforcement representatives, social service workers, 
school staff and administrators, prosecutors, judges, corrections and 
probation personnel, and key community and agency leaders.
    Beginning in fiscal year 1997, the Law Enforcement Training and 
Technical Assistance Program will be implemented by a national training 
contractor under a 3-year contract with OJJDP.
    Upon the completion of the ongoing competitive selection process, 
fiscal year 1997 funds will support the continuation of OJJDP's Chief 
Executive Officer Youth Violence Forum; the Managing Juvenile 
Operations (MJO) workshop; the Gang, Gun, and Drug POLICY workshop; the 
School Administrators for Effective Police, Prosecution, Probation 
Operations Leading to Improved Children and Youth Services (SAFE 
POLICY) workshop; the Serious Habitual Offender Comprehensive Action 
Program (SHOCAP); the Youth Oriented-Community Policing workshop; and 
the Tribal Law Enforcement Training and Technical Assistance workshop. 
No additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Violence Studies

    The 1992 Amendments to the JJDP Act directed OJJDP to fund 2-year 
studies on violence in three urban and one rural jurisdiction. Building 
on the results of OJJDP's Program of Research on the Causes and 
Correlates of Delinquency, these studies were to examine the incidence 
of violence committed by or against juveniles in urban and rural areas 
of the United States. In fiscal year 1994, OJJDP initiated a University 
of Wisconsin study of homicides by and of youth in Milwaukee, 
Wisconsin. In that same year, under a grant to the University of South 
Carolina, OJJDP funded a cross-site study in rural areas in South 
Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. In fiscal year 1995, in Los Angeles, 
California, and Washington, D.C., the University of Southern California 
and the Institute for Law and Justice initiated additional violence 
studies.
    These four studies are providing valuable information regarding 
community violence patterns, with a particular focus on homicide and 
firearm use involving juveniles. Their results will assist the juvenile 
justice system by identifying strategic law enforcement responses to 
juvenile violence and by identifying diversion, prevention, and control 
programs that ameliorate juvenile violence.
    In fiscal year 1996, the University of Wisconsin and the University 
of South Carolina analyzed their data and made their project findings. 
The Institute for Law and Justice collected and analyzed aggregate data 
from various juvenile justice providers and from a series of interviews 
with agency staff serving adjudicated juveniles. The University of 
Southern California received funds to identify violence prevention 
programs, conduct a household survey, and interview adolescents and 
their caregivers in Los Angeles County.
    In fiscal year 1997, OJJDP proposes to provide limited funding to 
the University of Southern California to complete its study. The 
program would be implemented by the current grantee, the University of 
Southern California. No additional applications would be solicited in 
fiscal year 1997.

Strengthening the Juvenile Justice System

Development of OJJDP's Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and 
Chronic Juvenile Offenders
    The National Council on Crime and Delinquency and Developmental 
Research and Programs, Inc., have completed Phases I and II of a 
collaborative effort to support development and implementation of 
OJJDP's Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and Chronic 
Juvenile Offenders. Phase I involved assessing existing and previously 
researched programs in order to identify effective and promising 
programs that can be used in implementing the Comprehensive Strategy. 
In Phase II, a series of reports were combined into a Guide for 
Implementing the Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and 
Chronic Juvenile Offenders. Phase II also included convening a forum, 
``Guaranteeing Safe Passage: A National Forum on Youth Violence,'' and 
holding two regional training seminars for key leaders on implementing 
the Comprehensive Strategy.
    In fiscal year 1996, Phase III of the project was funded to 
provide: targeted dissemination of information on the Comprehensive 
Strategy at national conferences; intensive training for selected 
States to implement the Comprehensive Strategy in up to six local 
jurisdictions; the six SafeFutures sites; technical assistance to a 
limited number of individual jurisdictions interested in implementing 
the Comprehensive Strategy; and continued development of Comprehensive 
Strategy implementation materials.
    In fiscal year 1997, the grantees will continue to target 
dissemination of the Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and 
Chronic Juvenile Offenders and hold regional training seminars in the 
Southeast and Midwest; provide training and technical assistance to 
additional state and local jurisdictions interested in implementing the 
Comprehensive Strategy; and provide intensive training and technical

[[Page 11968]]

assistance in 5 competitively-selected Comprehensive Strategy States--
Florida, Iowa, Maryland, Rhode Island, and Texas.
    The program will be implemented by the current grantees, the 
National Council on Crime and Delinquency and Developmental Research 
and Programs, Inc. No additional applications will be solicited in 
fiscal year 1997.

Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Offender Treatment Program

    The Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Offender Treatment 
Program is designed to assist local jurisdictions in the development 
and implementation of a comprehensive strategy for the intervention, 
treatment, and rehabilitation of juvenile offenders. The program was 
initially funded in 1993 under the Accountability-Based Community (ABC) 
Intervention program. Under the ABC initiative, Pittsburgh, 
Pennsylvania, and Washington, DC, were competitively funded to plan and 
implement a comprehensive graduated sanctions strategy.
    In fiscal year 1994, under a second competitive announcement, OJJDP 
awarded funds under the Serious, Violent, and Chronic Offender 
Treatment Program to three additional jurisdictions (Boston, 
Massachusetts; Jefferson Parish, Louisiana; and Richmond, Virginia) to 
develop and implement a comprehensive graduated sanctions plan. The 
plan's basic elements included the following: (1) assess the existing 
continuum of secure and nonsecure intervention, treatment, and 
rehabilitation services in each jurisdiction; (2) define the juvenile 
offender population; (3) develop and implement a program strategy; (4) 
develop and implement an evaluation; (5) integrate private nonprofit, 
community-based organizations into the provision of offender services; 
(6) incorporate an aftercare program as an integral component of all 
residential placements; (7) develop a resource plan to enlist the 
financial and technical support of other Federal, State, and local 
agencies, private foundations, or other funding sources; and (8) 
develop a victim assistance component using local organizations.
    In fiscal year 1996, each of the three fiscal year 1994 grantees 
received awards to continue implementation activities. Boston and 
Richmond will complete operations during fiscal year 1997. Jefferson 
Parish will receive a final 6-month award in fiscal year 1997.
    No additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Juvenile Restitution: A Balanced Approach

    OJJDP proposes to continue support of the juvenile restitution 
training and technical assistance program in fiscal year 1997. The 
project design is based on practitioner recommendations regarding 
juvenile justice program needs and the best methods for integrating and 
institutionalizing restitution and community service as key components 
of juvenile justice system dispositions. In fiscal year 1992, a 
practitioner working group helped map out a plan for optimum 
development of the components of restitution programs. Plan components 
included community service, victim reparation, victim-offender 
mediation, offender employment and supervision, employment development, 
and other program elements designed to establish restitution as a key 
element in improving the juvenile justice system. This project is 
guided by balanced and restorative justice (BARJ) principles, which 
include the need to provide a balance of (1) community protection, (2) 
offender competency development, and (3) offender accountability to 
individual victims and communities. The project helps juvenile justice 
agencies to introduce these elements in programs for sanctioning and 
controlling juvenile offenders.
    In fiscal year 1995, the project assisted three local jurisdictions 
(Allegheny County, Pennsylvania; Dakota County, Minnesota; and West 
Palm Beach County, Florida) to implement the ``balanced approach,'' 
participated in presenting a series of regional roundtables for States 
interested in adopting the BARJ model, and provided ad hoc technical 
assistance. In fiscal year 1996, the project continued training, 
technical assistance, and development of guideline materials, including 
a Balanced and Restorative Justice Project Resource Guide and a 
Curriculum Guide on the BARJ model.
    In fiscal year 1997, the project would provide training-of-trainers 
programs on the BARJ model based on the Curriculum Guide and the 
Resource Guide. The grantee would also continue to offer technical 
assistance to the increasing number of State and local jurisdictions 
interested in pursuing balanced and restorative justice.
    This project would be implemented by the current grantee, Florida 
Atlantic University. No additional applications would be solicited in 
fiscal year 1997.

Training and Technical Assistance Program To Promote Gender-Specific 
Programming for Female Juvenile Offenders

    The 1992 Amendments to the JJDP Act addressed, for the first time, 
the issue of gender-specific services. The Amendments require States 
participating in OJJDP's State Formula Grants Program to conduct an 
analysis of gender-specific services for the prevention and treatment 
of juvenile delinquency, including the types of services available, the 
need for such services, and a plan for providing needed gender-specific 
services for the prevention and treatment of juvenile delinquency.
    In fiscal year 1995, the OJJDP Gender-Specific Services Program 
focused on providing training and technical assistance directly to 
States and on providing and promoting the establishment of gender-
specific programs at the State level. Training and technical assistance 
were provided to a broad spectrum of policymakers and service providers 
regarding services for juvenile female offenders through direct grants, 
sponsorship of national conferences, and inclusion of a gender-specific 
service component in OJJDP's SafeFutures program.
    In fiscal year 1996, building upon these past efforts, OJJDP 
awarded a 3-year competitive grant to Greene, Peters and Associates 
(GPA) to provide a comprehensive framework for assisting policymakers, 
service providers, educators, parents, and the general public in 
addressing the complex needs of female adolescents who are at risk for 
delinquent behavior. The project's objectives are to develop and test a 
training curriculum for policymakers, advocacy organizations, and 
community-based youth-serving organizations that conveys the need for 
effective gender-specific programming for juvenile females and the 
elements of such programs; to develop, test, and deliver a technical 
assistance package on the development of gender-specific programs; to 
inventory female-specific programs, identifying those program models 
designed to build upon the gender-specific needs of girls, and prepare 
a monograph suitable for national dissemination; to design and test a 
curriculum for line staff delivering services to juvenile females; to 
design and implement a public education initiative on the need for 
gender-specific programming for girls; and to design and conduct 
training for trainers. Because the grant was awarded at the end of 
fiscal year 1996, work on the project is in its initial stages.

[[Page 11969]]

    The program will be implemented by the current grantee, GPA. No 
additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Cook County Juvenile Female Offenders Project

    In fiscal year 1995, OJJDP awarded a competitive grant to enable 
Cook County to plan programs for juvenile female offenders in the Cook 
County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center. A Steering Committee formed 
to oversee the project included community and government agency 
representatives working together to effectuate change in the way 
juvenile female offenders are handled. To coordinate efforts, the 
committee organized a task force of 30 government and community-based 
agencies to promote gender equity and fairness.
    The Steering Committee, with the assistance of task force members, 
accomplished several key objectives during their planning effort. They 
(1) developed a gender-specific needs and strengths assessment 
instrument and a risk assessment instrument for juvenile female 
offenders through a consulting contract with the National Council on 
Crime and Delinquency; (2) provided training in implementing gender-
appropriate programming to more than 300 management and line staff 
representing more than 100 local public and private agencies; (3) 
compiled a directory of gender-specific services available in Cook 
County; (4) assessed the strengths and interactions, and the areas for 
improvement of interaction, among the five custodial agencies involved 
in legal responsibilities for juvenile female offenders in Cook County 
(the Chicago Police Department, Cook County Juvenile Temporary 
Detention Center, Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, 
Illinois Department of Corrections-Juvenile Division, and Cook County 
Juvenile Probation); and (5) designed a pilot program that includes a 
community-based continuum of care with a unique case management system.
    In fiscal year 1997, the project proposes to join Federal, State, 
and local resources to implement the pilot program. Under the program, 
each juvenile female offender would have a case manager who will follow 
her throughout her involvement in the juvenile justice system. The case 
manager would advocate for services to meet the juvenile's needs in a 
timely and consistent manner.
    This program would be implemented by the current grantee, the Cook 
County Board of Commissioners. No additional applications would be 
solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Juvenile Transfers to Criminal Court Studies

    States are increasingly enacting juvenile code revisions broadening 
judicial waiver authority, providing prosecutor direct file authority, 
and mandating transfer of older, more violent juveniles to criminal 
court. Many States are also developing innovative procedures, such as 
blending traditional features of juvenile and criminal justice 
sentencing practices, through statutes that categorize juvenile 
offenders into different classes according to the seriousness of the 
offense, designating juvenile or criminal court for each class, or 
providing judges with discretion to make these judgments at sentencing. 
Studies of the impact of criminal court prosecution of juveniles have 
yielded mixed conclusions. Solid research on the intended and 
unintended consequences of transfer of juveniles to criminal court will 
enable policymakers and legislatures to develop statutory provisions 
and policies and improve judicial and prosecutorial waiver and transfer 
decisions.
    To address the shortage of recent research results, OJJDP 
competitively funded two juvenile waiver and transfer research projects 
in fiscal year 1995. The first, awarded to the National Center for 
Juvenile Justice, compares juvenile and criminal court handling of 
juveniles in four States that authorize judicial waiver of serious and 
violent juvenile offenders and mandate criminal court handling for 
specified categories of juvenile offenders. The second study, awarded 
to the Florida Juvenile Justice Advisory Board, evaluates Florida's 
system of blending the option of criminal and juvenile justice system 
sentencing for serious and violent juvenile offenders. Additional 
funding was provided in fiscal year 1996 to enable the projects to 
collect case specific information on sentence completion and recidivism 
data in order to provide a more definitive assessment of the impact of 
criminal versus juvenile justice system handling of serious and violent 
offender cases.
    In fiscal year 1997, OJJDP proposes to provide limited continuation 
funding in jurisdictions that were part of one or both of these studies 
and provide promising opportunities for longitudinal study. The 
projects would be implemented by the current grantees, the National 
Center for Juvenile Justice and the Florida Juvenile Justice Advisory 
Board. No additional applications would be solicited in fiscal year 
1997.

Replication and Extension of Fagan Transfer Study

    OJJDP proposes to award a grant to Columbia University to conduct a 
study, ``The Comparative Impact of Juvenile Versus Criminal Court 
Sanctions on Recidivism Among Adolescent Felony Offenders: A 
Replication and Extension.'' This study would be a replication and 
expansion of an original study and would be conducted by the Principal 
Investigator, Dr. Jeffrey Fagan. His 1986 New York/New Jersey study was 
the first transfer study comparing four contiguous counties matched on 
social, economic, and criminogenic factors and offender cohorts with 
essentially identical offense profiles. It was also the first such 
study to go beyond comparing sentences to studying the deterrent 
effects of the sanction and court jurisdiction on recidivism rates in 
juvenile versus criminal court.
    The proposed replication and extension is the only research project 
that can answer questions about how case processing decisions have 
changed in the last decade. The new study would compare case 
dispositional outcomes in 1981-82 with those cases processed in 1993-
94, a time period following sustained growth in the rates of youth 
violence. In addition, a study component under the direction of Dr. 
Barry Feld would explore whether there are factors being considered by 
prosecutors, judges and defense attorneys that explain the variation in 
sentences/dispositions and recidivism between groups of offenders 
handled in different systems. This component would provide an analysis 
of the organizational, contextual, or systemic factors involved in the 
decision processes affecting both jurisdiction and punishment. The 
study will also conduct interviews with selected offenders processed in 
different systems to gain a perspective on the impact of criminal 
versus juvenile system handling of such cases on further experiences 
with the justice system. The project would also collaborate with the 
other OJJDP Juvenile Transfers to Criminal Court Studies in sharing 
data collection instruments and in planning joint analyses where 
appropriate.
    This program would be implemented by Columbia University. No 
additional applications would be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

[[Page 11970]]

Technical Assistance to Juvenile Courts*

    The National Center for Juvenile Justice (NCJJ), the research arm 
of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, provides 
technical assistance under this grant for juvenile court practitioners. 
The focus of the technical assistance is on court administration and 
management, program development, and special legal issues. During 
fiscal year 1996, NCJJ responded to more than 850 requests for 
technical assistance. In addition, NCJJ staff completed the Research 
Report State Responses to Serious and Violent Juvenile Crime.
    In fiscal year 1997, NCJJ will develop an online technical 
assistance capability to improve program monitoring and evaluation. In 
addition, a desktop guide for juvenile probation administrators will be 
completed.
    The program will be implemented by the current grantee, NCJJ. No 
additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Juvenile Court Judges Training*

    The primary focus of this project in fiscal year 1997 will be to 
continue and refine the training and technical assistance program 
offered by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges 
(NCJFCJ). The objectives of the training are to supplement law school 
curriculums by providing basic training to new juvenile court judges 
and to provide experienced judges with state-of-the-art training on 
developments in juvenile and family case law and effective 
dispositional options. Emphasis is also placed on alcohol and substance 
abuse, child abuse and neglect, gangs and violence, disproportionate 
incarceration of minority youth, and intermediate sanctions. Training 
is also provided to other court personnel, including juvenile probation 
officers, aftercare workers, and child protection and community 
treatment providers. In fiscal year 1996, some 12,775 judges and court 
personnel received training through 74 different programs. In addition, 
more than 800 training-related technical assistance requests were 
completed.
    The project will be implemented by the current grantee, NCJFCJ. No 
additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

The Juvenile Justice Prosecution Unit

    OJJDP has historically supported prosecutor training activities 
through the National District Attorneys Association (NDAA). To continue 
that work, OJJDP awarded a 3-year project period grant in fiscal year 
1995 to the American Prosecutors Research Institute (APRI), the 
research and technical affiliate of NDAA, to establish a Juvenile 
Justice Prosecution Unit (JJPU). JJPU holds workshops on juvenile 
justice-related policy, leadership, and management for chief 
prosecutors and unit chiefs. JJPU also provides prosecutors with 
background information on juvenile justice issues and programs, 
training, and technical assistance.
    The project is based on planning and input by prosecutors familiar 
with juvenile justice needs. It draws on the expertise of working 
groups of elected or appointed prosecutors and juvenile unit chiefs to 
support project staff in providing technical assistance, juvenile 
justice-related research, program information, and training to 
practitioners nationwide. In 1995, APRI collected information from 
prosecutors and sponsored a National Invitational Symposium on Juvenile 
Justice. The Symposium provided a forum for prosecutors to exchange 
ideas on programs, issues, legislation, and practices in juvenile 
justice. In 1996, APRI conducted three workshops for elected and 
appointed prosecutors and juvenile unit chiefs to help improve 
prosecutor involvement in the prosecution and prevention of juvenile 
delinquency. In 1997, APRI would conduct a second National Symposium, 
present additional workshops, and develop new reference materials for 
prosecutors.
    The project would be implemented by the current grantee, APRI. No 
additional applications would be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Due Process Advocacy Program Development

    In fiscal year 1993, OJJDP funded the American Bar Association 
(ABA), in partnership with the Juvenile Law Center (JLC) of 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the Youth Law Center (YLC) of San 
Francisco, California, to develop strategies to improve due process and 
the quality of legal representation in the juvenile justice system. The 
goals of the program are to increase juvenile offenders' access to 
legal services and to improve the quality of preadjudication, 
adjudication, and dispositional advocacy for juvenile offenders. The 
strategies that have been developed are being made available to State 
and local defender organizations, State and local bar associations, and 
other relevant organizations so that they can develop approaches to 
increase the availability and quality of counsel for juveniles.
    In fiscal years 1994 and 1995, the ABA, JLC, and YLC conducted an 
assessment of the current state of the art with regard to legal 
services, training, and education. This survey included a review of 
literature, case law, and State statutes and a survey of public 
defenders, court-appointed lawyers, law school clinical programs, and 
judges. As a result of this survey work, the ABA developed and 
published a report entitled A Call for Justice: An Assessment of Access 
to Counsel and Quality of Representation in Delinquency Proceedings. 
The report has been widely distributed to State and local bar 
associations, Chairs of State Juvenile Justice Advisory Groups, 
participants in the ABA survey, the National Association of Child 
Advocates, and others.
    In fiscal year 1996, training was initiated, beginning with the 
States of Maryland, Tennessee, and Virginia. The structure and scope of 
the training are tailored to fit the needs of each State.
    In fiscal year 1997, a training manual would be completed, covering 
key issues such as detention, transfer or waiver, and dispositional 
advocacy. The curriculum in the manual would build on existing quality 
training curriculums and inform defender organizations and others about 
the best training curriculums available. The training manual would be 
designed to fill gaps in existing training programs. The ABA and its 
partners would also continue to develop networks with public defenders 
offices, children's law centers, and others through the HANDSNET system 
and mailings that provide program updates. In addition, the ABA and its 
partners would provide or arrange for onsite technical assistance to 
additional jurisdictions that are actively pursuing the goals of this 
initiative.
    This program would be implemented by the current grantee, ABA. No 
additional applications would be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Quantum Opportunities Program (QOP) Evaluation

    OJJDP proposes to fund an impact evaluation of the Quantum 
Opportunities Program, which the U.S. Department of Labor, in 
partnership with the Ford Foundation, is currently replicating in seven 
sites across the United States. The purpose of the funding would be to 
determine whether QOP reduces the likelihood that inner-city youth at 
educational risk will enter the criminal justice system, including the 
juvenile justice system. The QOP impact evaluation is designed to

[[Page 11971]]

measure the impact of QOP participation on such outcomes as high school 
graduation and enrollment in postsecondary education and training. 
Other student outcomes to be examined include academic achievement in 
high school, misbehavior in school, self-esteem and sense of control 
over one's life, educational and career goals, and personal decisions 
such as teenage parenthood, substance abuse, and criminal activity. 
Data on criminal activity is being collected from individual student 
interviews.
    This proposed evaluation enhancement to the Department of Labor-
funded evaluation would provide for the collection of analogous data 
from the juvenile justice system, thus allowing estimates of the impact 
of the QOP program on the likelihood of program youth becoming involved 
in the criminal justice system. Initial attention would be focused on 
identifying the appropriate governmental agencies responsible for the 
data, dealing with confidentiality requirements, determining the 
feasibility of collecting such information, preparing data collection 
protocols for each site, and preparing a report outlining the data 
collection design for implementation.
    This program would be implemented through an interagency agreement 
with the U.S. Department of Labor. No additional applications would be 
solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Intensive Community-Based Aftercare Demonstration and Technical 
Assistance Program

    This initiative is designed to support implementation, training and 
technical assistance, and evaluation of an intensive community-based 
aftercare model in four jurisdictions that were competitively selected 
to participate in this demonstration program. The overall goal of the 
intensive aftercare model is to identify and assist high-risk juvenile 
offenders to make a gradual transition from secure confinement back 
into the community. The Intensive Aftercare Program (IAP) model can be 
viewed as having three distinct, yet overlapping segments: (1) 
prerelease and preparatory planning activities during incarceration; 
(2) structured transitioning involving the participation of 
institutional and aftercare staffs both prior to and following 
community reentry; and (3) long-term reintegrative activities to insure 
adequate service delivery and the required level of social control.
    In fiscal year 1994, The Johns Hopkins University received a 
multiyear grant to test their intensive community-based aftercare model 
in four demonstration sites: Denver (Metro), Colorado; Clark County 
(Las Vegas), Nevada; Camden and Newark, New Jersey; and Norfolk, 
Virginia. Each of the four sites received funding in fiscal year 1996 
to support program implementation. The Johns Hopkins University 
contracts with California State University at Sacramento to assist in 
the implementation process by providing training and technical 
assistance and by making OJJDP demonstration funds available through 
contracts to each of the four demonstration sites. Each of the sites 
has developed risk assessment instruments for use in selecting high-
risk youth who need this type of intensive aftercare, hired and trained 
staff in the intensive aftercare model, identified existing and needed 
community support (intervention) services, and identified and collected 
data necessary for the independent evaluation of the intensive 
community-based aftercare program. In accordance with a strong 
experimental research design, each of the sites uses a system of random 
assignment of clients to the program. The Johns Hopkins University and 
California State University at Sacramento have provided continuing 
training and technical assistance to both administrators/managers and 
line staff at the intensive community-based aftercare sites. Staff have 
been fully trained in the theoretical underpinnings of the IAP model 
and in its practical applications, such as techniques for identifying 
juveniles appropriate for the program. Training and technical 
assistance in this model have also been available to other States and 
OJJDP grantees on a limited basis.
    In fiscal year 1997, the sites will continue to implement and test 
the aftercare model. An independent contractor is performing an 
evaluation under a separate grant. The Johns Hopkins University will 
provide ongoing training and technical assistance to the four selected 
sites and also provide aftercare technical assistance services to 
jurisdictions participating in the OJJDP/Department of the Interior 
Youth Environmental Service (YES) initiative, OJJDP's six SafeFutures 
program sites, and other programs, including the New York State 
Division for Youth's Youth Leadership Academy in Albany, New York.
    The IAP project will be implemented by the current grantee, The 
Johns Hopkins University. No additional applications will be solicited 
in fiscal year 1997.

Evaluation of Intensive Community-Based Aftercare Demonstration and 
Technical Assistance Program

    The National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD) received a 3-
year competitive fiscal year 1994 grant to conduct a process evaluation 
and design an impact evaluation of the Intensive Community-Based 
Aftercare Demonstration and Technical Assistance Program at sites in 
Colorado, New Jersey, Nevada, and Virginia. NCCD's initial award funded 
the design and implementation of the process evaluation, the design of 
an impact evaluation, and start-up data collection. A report on the 
process evaluation was submitted in the spring of 1996. Fiscal year 
1996 funding enabled NCCD to begin the impact evaluation. Because of 
the excellent progress made during the first two years on the process 
evaluation, OJJDP extended this program for three additional years to 
allow sufficient time for completion of the impact evaluation.
    NCCD will use a true experimental design to answer the following 
research questions: (1) is the nature of supervision and services 
provided to Intensive Community-Based Aftercare (IAP) youth different 
from that given to ``regular'' parolees?; (2) does IAP have an impact 
on the subsequent delinquent or criminal involvement of program 
participants?; (3) does IAP have an impact on the specific intermediate 
outcomes such as reduction of substance abuse, improved peer 
relationships, improved self-concept, and reduced delinquent or 
criminal behavior?; and (4) is IAP cost-effective?
    The project will be implemented by the current grantee, NCCD. No 
additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Interventions To Reduce Disproportionate Minority Confinement in Secure 
Detention and Correctional Facilities (The Deborah Ann Wysinger 
Memorial Program)

    In fiscal year 1995, under a national discretionary grant 
initiative, OJJDP funded eight programs designed to enable States to 
identify strategies to eliminate the overrepresentation of minority 
juveniles in secure detention or correctional facilities, adult jails 
and lockups, and other secure institutional facilities. One of the 
eight awards was made to The Academy, Inc., in Columbus, Ohio, which 
conducted an evaluation of the Franklin County (Ohio) Juvenile Court's 
efforts to reduce minority overrepresentation.
    The evaluation focuses on three areas: (1) staff issues such as 
working

[[Page 11972]]

conditions, morale, and attitudes toward peers, supervisors, 
administrative staff, and jurists; (2) treatment issues related to 
reducing minority overrepresentation; and (3) broader implications for 
research, particularly studies supported by Federal agencies.
    This proposed project is an outgrowth of the research begun in the 
Franklin County Juvenile Court. The Academy is concluding the 
evaluation of a broad range of policy modifications undertaken by this 
court to address minority overrepresentation at intake and in its 
confinement facilities. In this project, the proposed research would 
shift the focus from juvenile court to a study of similar circumstances 
surrounding police policies and decisions to refer some juveniles to 
the courts, release others to their parents, and/or divert still others 
to community-based programs.
    This program would be implemented by The Academy, Inc. No 
additional applications would be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

State Justice Statistics Program for Statistical Analysis Centers

    Through an interagency agreement with the Bureau of Justice 
Statistics (BJS), OJJDP proposes to contribute funds to the BJS State 
Justice Statistics Program for Statistical Analysis Centers (SAC). The 
supplemental funding would be offered to State SAC's to encourage them 
to undertake studies of juvenile transfers to criminal court for 
prosecution and youth gang involvement in criminal activity.
    Studies of juvenile transfers to criminal court for prosecution 
include those studies that monitor the flow of cases involving 
juveniles (by reason of age and/or offense and prior history) into the 
criminal court and may focus on statewide or high-volume local 
processes, outcomes, and impact of the decision to try the case in 
criminal court. Preference would be given to those studies that provide 
appropriate comparative samples with juveniles retained in the juvenile 
justice system (or which have the capability to generate trends) and 
those studies that can and are willing to collect data currently being 
captured by OJJDP's studies of Juvenile Transfers to Criminal Court.
    The second topic area proposed to be supported is youth gang 
involvement in violence, drug sales, and weapons use and system 
response. This area would support studies that monitor trends in such 
behavior (violent crime, drug markets, and weapons use and sales) by 
youth gangs; its concentration and migration among different 
neighborhoods; and the law enforcement, criminal, and juvenile justice 
system response to such behavior. Of particular interest would be 
studies that demonstrate the utility of Geographic-Based Information 
Systems (GIS) to monitor trends in behavior and system response 
spatially.
    No applications would be solicited by OJJDP in fiscal year 1997. To 
acquire a copy of the BJS solicitation, contact Paul White, State 
Justice Statistics (SJS) Program Manager, at 202-307-0771. The deadline 
for the first cycle of applications to BJS is June 30, 1997.

Juvenile Probation Survey Research

    Juvenile probation is one of the most critical areas of the 
juvenile justice system. However, there is currently very little 
information available on juveniles on probation. We do not know how 
many juveniles are on probation, their demographic characteristics, 
their offenses, or the conditions of their probation, including length, 
residential confinement, electronic monitoring, restitution, etc. In 
fiscal year 1996, this project conducted survey research and developed 
a questionnaire to collect this important information. Because States 
operate their juvenile probation systems in very different manners, the 
project also examined how these differences affected the information 
collected.
    Also in fiscal year 1996, OJJDP held a national meeting to assess 
the needs and scope of the future survey work to be undertaken. The 
meeting included probation officers, national experts in juvenile 
probation, and experts in the field of survey development.
    In fiscal year 1997, the project will develop an interview protocol 
for exploratory interviews, conduct interviews in 20 probation offices 
around the country, develop an initial data collection instrument, and 
provide a plan for testing.
    OJJDP will provide second-year funding to complete this research 
through an interagency agreement with the Bureau of the Census. No 
additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Performance-Based Standards for Juvenile Detention and Correctional 
Facilities

    There is a need to increase the accountability of detention and 
correctional agencies, facilities, and staff in performing their basic 
functions. The development of performance-based standards has emerged 
as a primary strategy for improving conditions of confinement. This 
program supports the development and implementation of performance-
based standards for juvenile detention and corrections. The performance 
measures and standards being developed will address both services and 
the quality of life for confined juveniles. They will reflect the 
consensus of a broadly representative group of national organizations 
on the mission, goals, and objectives of juvenile detention and 
corrections. OJJDP plans to promote nationwide adoption and 
implementation of the measures and standards through a future training 
and technical assistance program.
    In fiscal year 1995, OJJDP awarded a competitive 18-month 
cooperative agreement to the Council of Juvenile Corrections 
Administrators (CJCA) to develop national performance-based standards 
for juvenile detention and correctional facilities. A National 
Consortium of major professional and advocacy organizations provided 
technical advice and support in all aspects of the development and 
implementation of the standards. The project focused on standards in 
the areas of: safety; security; order; programming, treatment, and 
education; health; and justice.
    During fiscal year 1996, project working groups completed the 
drafting of performance criteria and measures and assessment tools for 
monitoring performance in all substantive areas. In addition, all 
materials were field tested and revised as needed. A plan for 
implementation was also completed.
    In fiscal year 1997, a complete set of performance-based standards 
and a measurement system will be completed, along with plans for an 18-
month period of intensive demonstration and testing of the performance-
based standards and their impact on juvenile corrections and detention 
programming.
    The program would be implemented in fiscal year 1997 by the current 
grantee, CJCA. No additional applications would be solicited in fiscal 
year 1997.

Technical Assistance to Juvenile Corrections and Detention (The James 
E. Gould Memorial Program)

    The primary purpose of the Technical Assistance to Juvenile 
Corrections and Detention project is to provide specialized technical 
assistance to juvenile corrections, detention, and community 
residential service providers. The grantee, the American Correctional 
Association (ACA), also plans and convenes an annual Juvenile 
Corrections and Detention Forum. The Forum provides an opportunity for 
juvenile corrections and detention leaders to meet and discuss issues, 
problems, and solutions to emerging

[[Page 11973]]

corrections and detention problems. The ACA also provides workshops and 
conferences on current and emerging national issues in the field of 
juvenile corrections and detention, writes and solicits articles for 
professional publications, conducts surveys, and offers technical 
assistance through document dissemination. OJJDP awarded a fiscal year 
1995 competitive grant to the ACA to provide these services over a 3-
year project period.
    The project will be implemented by the current grantee, ACA. No 
additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Training for Juvenile Corrections and Detention Management Staff

    In fiscal year 1997, OJJDP proposes to continue its support for the 
development and implementation of a comprehensive training program for 
juvenile corrections and detention management staff through a new 
interagency agreement with the National Institute of Corrections (NIC). 
Initiated in 1991, the program is designed to offer a core curriculum 
for juvenile corrections and detention administrators and midlevel 
management personnel in such areas as leadership development, 
management, training of trainers, legal issues, cultural diversity, the 
role of the victim in juvenile corrections, juvenile programming for 
special needs offenders, and management of the violent or disruptive 
offender. In fiscal year 1996, NIC conducted 8 training seminars, 5 
workshops, and 1 video conference and made 10 technical assistance 
awards, reaching 3,302 participants.
    In fiscal year 1997, it is anticipated that the project would 
provide 8 seminars, 2 workshops at national conferences, and 1 national 
video conference to reach a total of 6,000 practitioners. The training 
would be conducted at the NIC Academy and regionally. No additional 
applications would be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Training for Line Staff in Juvenile Detention and Corrections

    In fiscal year 1994, the National Juvenile Detention Association 
(NJDA) was awarded a competitive 3-year project period grant to 
establish a training program to meet the needs of the more than 38,000 
line staff of juvenile detention and corrections facilities. In fiscal 
year 1996, NJDA developed and pilot tested the 40-hour Corrections 
Careworker Curriculum, developed the 24-hour Train-the-Trainer for the 
Corrections Careworker Curriculum, conducted 42 separate trainings for 
2,700 participants, developed 2 new lesson plans in safety and conflict 
resolution, and provided technical assistance to 37 agencies.
    In fiscal year 1997, the third year of funding, NJDA will continue 
to offer training to practitioners, including the new Corrections 
Careworker Curriculum for juvenile corrections line staff. 
Additionally, NJDA will deliver selected training programs for juvenile 
detention and corrections line staff on current issues.
    This project will be implemented by the current grantee, NJDA. No 
additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Training and Technical Support for State and Local Jurisdictional Teams 
To Focus on Juvenile Corrections and Detention Overcrowding

    The Conditions of Confinement: Juvenile Detention and Correctional 
Facilities Research Report (1994), completed by Abt Associates under an 
OJJDP grant, identified overcrowding as the most urgent problem facing 
juvenile corrections and detention facilities. Overcrowding in juvenile 
facilities is a function of decisions and policies made at the State 
and local levels. The trend toward increased use of detention and 
commitment to State facilities, which has been seen in many 
jurisdictions, has been reversed when key decisionmakers, such as the 
chief judge, chief of police, director of the local detention facility, 
head of the State juvenile correctional agency, and others who affect 
the flow of juveniles through the system, agree to make decisions 
collaboratively and modify existing practices and policies. In some 
instances, modification has occurred in response to court orders. 
Compliance with court orders can be improved with the support of 
enhanced interagency communication and planning among those agencies 
affecting the flow of juveniles through the system.
    In addressing the problem of overcrowded facilities, OJJDP 
considered the recommendations of the Conditions of Confinement study 
regarding overcrowding, the data on overrepresentation of minority 
youth in confinement, and other information that suggests crowding in 
juvenile facilities is a national problem. Policymakers can address 
this issue by increasing capacity, where necessary, or by taking other 
steps to control crowding.
    This project, competitively awarded to the National Juvenile 
Detention Association (NJDA) (in partnership with the San Francisco 
Youth Law Center) in fiscal year 1994 for a 3-year project period, 
provides training and technical assistance materials for use by State 
and local jurisdictional teams. In fiscal year 1995, the project 
collected information on strategies to control crowding and prepared 
training and technical assistance materials. Based on the demonstrated 
need for assistance and related criteria, NJDA selected three 
jurisdictions in fiscal year 1996 (Camden, New Jersey; Oklahoma City, 
Oklahoma; and the Rhode Island Juvenile Corrections System) for onsite 
development, implementation, and testing of procedures to reduce 
crowding. In fiscal year 1997, the third year of funding, the project 
will continue to provide training and technical assistance to these 
sites, complete the development of technical assistance materials, and 
assess the procedures used to control overcrowding.
    This project will be implemented by the current grantee, NJDA. No 
additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

National Program Directory

    In fiscal year 1995, OJJDP initiated the development of a National 
Program Directory, a national list of all juvenile justice offices, 
facilities, and programs in the United States, through the Bureau of 
the Census. The Census Bureau developed a directory format for juvenile 
detention and correctional facilities, which contains the addresses and 
phone numbers of localities, names and titles of directors, and 
important classification information, classifies facilities by the 
agency or firm that operates them, and lists the functions of the 
facility. This structure was developed specifically to provide OJJDP 
with the ability to conduct surveys and censuses of juvenile custody 
facilities. The effort placed into developing this structure also 
translated to other areas, such as a list of juvenile probation 
offices.
    Beyond developing the computer structure, this project developed, 
in fiscal year 1996, the actual sampling frame or address list. The 
development of complete frames for any segment of the juvenile justice 
system required many different approaches. The Census Bureau used 
contacts with professional organizations to compile a preliminary list 
of juvenile facilities, courts, probation offices, and programs. The 
Census Bureau will seek contacts in each State for further 
clarification of the lists, following up until a complete list of all 
programs of interest has been compiled.
    This program will be continued in fiscal year 1997 through an 
existing interagency agreement with the Census

[[Page 11974]]

Bureau. No additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year 
1997.

A Comprehensive Juvenile Sex Offender Typology

    The criminal justice system has struggled to address issues related 
to juvenile sex offenders' dangerousness, the most appropriate level of 
placement restrictiveness, the potential for rehabilitation, assessment 
requirements, and intervention needs. Efforts to address these issues 
effectively have been hampered by the lack of an empirically-based 
system for classifying this heterogeneous population into meaningful 
subgroups. OJJDP, in collaboration with other Federal agencies, 
proposes to support a competitive research project to generate an 
empirically validated typology of the juvenile sex offender that would 
provide both the scientific basis for understanding differences between 
groups of juvenile sex offenders and direction to guide judicial 
decisionmaking.

KidsPeace--The National Centers for Kids in Crisis, North America*

    The purpose of this program is to provide children in crisis, 
specifically seriously disturbed children and adolescents, with 
Individual Foster Care (IFC) in a therapeutic family setting. Fiscal 
year 1996 accomplishments include opening up the family training 
sessions to New Jersey foster parents and implementing outreach efforts 
that resulted in several hundred calls from individuals interested in 
working as foster parents. At present, five families are licensed and 
approved. Another 10 families are in various stages of the 10-week 
training and approval process. In the near future, a local television 
station will broadcast a show featuring the services being offered 
through this newly established program in Union, New Jersey.
    KidsPeace will expand the program in fiscal year 1997 to additional 
sites providing social, emotional, and educational growth and 
development in the children served; initial out-of-home placement, 
community reintegration from more restrictive residential programs, or 
an alternative to failed foster family placements; and intensive family 
treatment with professional training, supervision, and ongoing support 
to enhance families' abilities to meet the needs of their IFC children. 
The program also involves and challenges the family of origin to become 
active participants in their child's treatment program (whenever deemed 
appropriate by the courts). In fiscal year 1997, KidsPeace will develop 
an outcome-based research component to better define the types of 
children who are best served in the IFC program, improve the services 
being offered, and track the progress of children following discharge 
from care.
    The program will be implemented by the current grantee, KidsPeace--
The National Centers for Kids in Crisis, North America. No additional 
applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

The Bethesda Day Treatment Program

    Bethesda Day Treatment is a program of the Bethesda Family Services 
Foundation. OJJDP began funding the program in fiscal year 1993 to 
establish a program in Philadelphia for serious juvenile offenders. The 
program was expanded in fiscal year 1995 to replicate the Bethesda 
model in 10 national jurisdictions. Since the original grant was made, 
the Foundation has established programs in 17 localities. There are 
programs currently operating in Arizona, Florida, Maryland, New Mexico, 
New York, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania.
    The Bethesda Day Treatment Program consists of comprehensive 
community-based activities designed to safely reduce overcrowding in 
secure facilities, provide treatment prior to adjudication, continue 
treatment after adjudication or after release from secure treatment, 
and provide a continuum of care.
    Replication sites receive technical assistance in the development 
of six distinct units of program service: day treatment services, a 
prep-school, drug and alcohol abuse treatment, foster care, family 
systems counseling, and parenting. Accepting juveniles between ages 10 
and 17, the program uses 18 different treatment modalities, intensively 
penetrating the home, the school, the job site, and the peer group in 
order to interrupt antisocial behavior patterns.
    The site replication aspect of this program would be continued in 
fiscal year 1997 with a continuation award to enable the Bethesda 
Family Services Foundation to complete technical assistance delivery to 
selected sites. No additional applications would be solicited in fiscal 
year 1997.

Interagency Programs on Mental Health and Juvenile Justice

    In October 1996, OJJDP convened a Mental Health/Juvenile Justice 
Working Group to discuss the mental health needs of juveniles and to 
suggest funding priorities for OJJDP. The Mental Health/Juvenile 
Justice Initiative addresses four of the eight ideas generated by the 
working group. These areas include: (1) assessing screening instruments 
and screening procedures to identify multi-needs children, adjudicative 
competency, and other mental health issues; (2) examining the 
effectiveness of organizational structure and how organizations deal 
with providing mental health services on both a short-term and long-
term basis; (3) examining the relationship between mental health and 
violence and co-occurring disorders; and (4) looking at best practices 
such as the use of common funding streams.
    OJJDP is interested in providing support in one or more of these 
areas in fiscal year 1997 and requests input from the field on 
suggested priorities, activities, and program support.

Delinquency Prevention and Intervention

Training in Risk-Focused Prevention Strategies

    OJJDP will provide additional training in fiscal year 1997 to 
communities interested in developing a risk and protective factor-
focused delinquency prevention strategy. This training supports OJJDP's 
Title V Community Prevention Grants Program and the Comprehensive 
Strategy for Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Offenders by 
providing the knowledge and skills necessary for State, local, and 
private agency officials and citizens to identify and address risk 
factors that lead to violent and delinquent behavior in children. In 
fiscal years 1994-1996, this training was offered to all States, 
territories, and the District of Columbia that received discretionary 
grants from OJJDP to implement the Title V program.
    After initiating this training program in fiscal year 1994, OJJDP 
awarded a competitive contract with fiscal year 1995 funds and 
continued the contract in 1996 to perform ongoing tasks and provide 
prevention training in the following areas: (1) orientation on risk-and 
resiliency-focused prevention theories and strategies for local 
community leaders; (2) identification, assessment, and addressing of 
risk factors; (3) development and provision of training of trainers in 
selected States to provide a statewide capacity to train communities in 
risk-focused prevention; and (4) provision of technical assistance to 
States and localities for needs identified through implementation of 
the Title V program.
    These services will be provided in fiscal year 1997 through third-
year funding of the contract awarded to Developmental Research and 
Programs, Inc. A new competitive solicitation may

[[Page 11975]]

be issued late in fiscal year 1997 for award in fiscal year 1998.

Youth Substance Use Prevention Program (President's Crime Prevention 
Council)

    Due to the urgency of the problem of drug use among juveniles and 
the importance of having Federal agencies undertake collaborative 
efforts to make the most efficient and effective use of resources, 
OJJDP has joined with the President's Crime Prevention Council (PCPC) 
in issuing a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the Youth 
Substance Use Prevention Program and the evaluation of that program. 
The program will assist community-based, youth-led, and grassroots 
organizations that sponsor activities designed to combat youth drug and 
alcohol use and provide an evaluation of the funded programs. Up to $1 
million will be made available from PCPC funds. OJJDP will administer 
the program under an interagency agreement with PCPC. Interested 
applicants for this program should obtain a copy of the NOFA from the 
Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse at 800/638-8736 or the OJJDP homepage at 
http://www/ncjrs.org/ojjhome.htm.
    OJJDP will also issue a separate, competitive solicitation to 
evaluate the Youth Substance Use Prevention Program. The substance use 
prevention evaluation strategy used by the grantee must be theory 
driven and based on sound research principles. Both a process and an 
outcome evaluation will be performed. The outcome evaluation would 
determine whether youth-led prevention programs are effective. The 
process evaluation would define the critical elements of implementing a 
successful youth-led prevention program.

Survey of School-Based Gang Prevention and Intervention Programs

    This program would assess school-based gang prevention and 
intervention programs to identify promising or successful models for 
national demonstration and evaluation or replication and dissemination. 
For example, one type of program of interest is a youth gang unit in 
the school. The school youth gang unit serves as the first line of 
defense against the problem of gangs. Some units address gang crimes 
and school rule violations citywide. Another program of interest would 
be entrepreneurial skills programs for youth to prevent them from 
staying in gangs. Examples of this type of program are found in schools 
that develop stores or gardens and train young people in marketable 
skills, giving them high school or college credit for successfully 
participating in the training.
    OJJDP proposes to issue a competitive solicitation for this 
initiative in fiscal year 1997.

Youth-Centered Conflict Resolution

    Increasing levels of juvenile violence have become a national 
concern. Violence in and around school campuses and conflict among 
juveniles in both schools and neighborhoods are problems for school 
administrators, teachers, parents, community leaders, and the public. 
Although experts may debate the merits and impact of the varied 
contributing factors, they would agree that most school curriculums do 
not provide for the systematic teaching of problem-and conflict-
resolving skills.
    To address this issue, OJJDP awarded a competitive cooperative 
agreement in fiscal year 1995 for a 3-year project period to the 
Illinois Institute for Dispute Resolution (IIDR) to develop, in concert 
with other established conflict resolution (CR) organizations, a 
national strategy for broad-based education and training in the use of 
conflict resolution skills. In support of this task, IIDR conducted 
three regional conferences based on a joint publication developed by 
the Departments of Justice and Education. IIDR also provided technical 
assistance and disseminated information about CR programs to 
individuals, organizations, and communities.
    In fiscal year 1997, the project will conduct additional training 
sessions as part of, or in conjunction with, established meetings or 
conferences of national educational, justice, and youth-serving 
organizations. IIDR will also develop a training manual and provide 
training in CR education to administrators; school staff; and youth, 
parents, and staff associated with arts-based programs for at-risk 
youth. The arts component is funded by the National Endowment for the 
Arts.
    The project will be implemented by the current grantee, IIDR. No 
additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Teens, Crime, and the Community: Teens in Action in the 90s*

    This continuation program is conducted by the National Crime 
Prevention Council (NCPC) in partnership with the National Institute 
for Citizen Education in the Law (NICEL). Teens in Action in the 90s is 
a special application of the Teens, Crime, and Community (TCC) program 
that operates on the premise that teens, who are disproportionately the 
victims of crimes, can contribute to improving their schools and 
communities through a broad array of activities.
    During fiscal year 1996, the TCC Program expanded through five 
regional expansion centers located in New England, the Mid-Atlantic 
States, the Mid-South, the Deep South, and the Pacific Northwest Coast. 
These TCC projects utilized Boys and Girls Clubs of America and their 
affiliates to become partners in TCC efforts in these regions.
    More than 5,000 teachers, social service providers, juvenile 
justice professionals, law enforcement officers, and other community 
leaders participated in intensive training to help sites implement the 
TCC curriculum in their communities. More than 1,000 individuals 
benefited from technical assistance, materials, and consultation 
regarding TCC in areas of program implementation, fund development, and 
networking opportunities. In addition, NCPC and NICEL initiated the 
implementation of the National Teens, Crime, and the Community Program 
in the six SafeFutures sites. In fiscal year 1997, TCC will be 
implemented in additional sites throughout the country.
    The program will be implemented by the current grantee, NCPC. No 
additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Law-Related Education (LRE)*

    The national Law-Related Education (LRE) Program, Youth for 
Justice, includes 5 coordinated LRE projects and programs operating in 
48 States and 4 non-State jurisdictions. Youth for Justice provides 
training and technical assistance to State and local school 
jurisdictions that are designed to achieve the institutionalization of 
quality LRE programs for at-risk juveniles. The major components of the 
program are coordination and management, training and technical 
assistance, assistance to local program sites, public information, and 
program development and assessment. In 1996, the Youth for Justice 
program continued to provide materials, training, and technical 
assistance to its national network of statewide LRE centers and 
sponsored youth summits in more than 40 States. The focus of the 
program during fiscal year 1997 will be to continue linking LRE to 
violence reduction efforts and to involve program participants in 
finding solutions to juvenile violence. Planned activities for fiscal 
year 1997 include a national teleconference and dissemination of 
information about special applications of LRE developed for high-risk 
segments of the population (middle school students and teen parents). 
Youth for Justice will also produce and

[[Page 11976]]

disseminate a technical assistance compendium of LRE research and best 
practices.
    This program will be implemented by the current grantees, the 
American Bar Association, the Center for Civic Education, the 
Constitutional Rights Foundation, the National Institute for Citizen 
Education in the Law, and Phi Alpha Delta. No additional applications 
will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Communities In Schools--Federal Interagency Partnership

    This program is a continuation of a national school dropout 
prevention model developed and implemented by Communities In Schools, 
Inc. (CIS). CIS, Inc., provides training and technical assistance to 
CIS programs in States and local communities, enabling them to adapt 
and implement the CIS model. The model brings social, employment, 
mental health, drug prevention, entrepreneurship, and other resources 
to high-risk youth and their families in the school setting. Where CIS 
State organizations are established, they assume primary responsibility 
for local program replication during the Federal Interagency 
Partnership.
    The Federal Interagency Partnership program is based on the 
following strategies: (1) to enhance CIS, Inc., training and technical 
assistance capabilities; (2) to enhance the organization's capability 
to introduce selected initiatives to CIS youth at the local level; (3) 
to enhance the CIS, Inc., information dissemination network capability; 
and (4) to enhance the CIS, Inc., capability to network with Federal 
agencies on behalf of State and local CIS programs.
    Fiscal year 1996 accomplishments under the Federal Interagency 
Partnership include the following: (1) continued support and expansion 
of the CIS Youth Entrepreneurial Project, including 16 student-run 
entrepreneurship programs; (2) expansion of a consulting program 
consisting of a pool of CIS State and local program directors and other 
experts to support programs that include community collaboration, 
strategic planning, and working with at-risk youth; (3) production and 
distribution of two issues of Facts You Can Use: Seeds of Help, a 
technical publication concentrating on functional areas of importance 
to local CIS programs and the sponsors of the Federal Interagency 
Partnership; and (4) a 3-day training session featuring presentations 
from Federal agencies on the financial and programmatic resources 
available through their Departments.
    Fiscal year 1997 proposals include: (1) provide continuing training 
and technical assistance on family strengthening and parent 
participation initiatives that will expand and enhance CIS family 
service activities; (2) offer and provide training and technical 
assistance, as requested, to the six SafeFutures sites; (3) work with 
groups identified by the U.S. Department of Commerce to continue to 
support the development of a CIS program serving a Native American 
community in Rapid City, South Dakota; (4) support the continued 
expansion of the CIS Youth Entrepreneurship initiative; (5) update and 
produce the publication CIS: A History of Partnership and produce and 
distribute the CIS Facts You Can Use technical bulletin quarterly; (6) 
continue to identify violence prevention and gang prevention programs 
appropriate for use by the CIS network; and (7) continue to incorporate 
evaluated family strengthening programs in the Facts You Can Use 
technical bulletin and the Federal Products Showcase.
    The Federal Interagency Partnership program is jointly funded by 
OJJDP and the Department of Commerce under an OJJDP grant. The program 
would be implemented by the current grantee, Communities In Schools, 
Inc. No additional applications would be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

The Congress of National Black Churches: National Anti-Drug Abuse/
Violence Campaign (NADVC)

    OJJDP proposes to continue to fund the Congress of National Black 
Churches' (CNBC) national public awareness and mobilization strategy to 
address the problem of juvenile drug abuse and violence in targeted 
communities. The goal of the CNBC national strategy is to summon, 
focus, and coordinate the leadership of the black religious community, 
in cooperation with the Department of Justice and other Federal 
agencies and organizations, to mobilize groups of community residents 
to combat juvenile drug abuse and drug-related violence.
    The campaign now operates in 37 city alliances, having grown from 5 
original target cities. The smallest of these alliances consists of 6 
churches and the largest has 135 churches. The NADVC program involves 
approximately 2,220 clergy and affects 1.5 million youth and the adults 
who influence their lives. NADVC also provides technical support to 
four statewide religious coalitions.
    As a result of NADVC's technical assistance and training workshops, 
project sites have been able to leverage more than $2 million in 
private and government funding.
    NADVC has contributed to the planning and presentation of numerous 
technical assistance and training conferences on violence and substance 
abuse prevention and produced a National Training and Site Development 
Guide and a video to assist sites in implementing the NADVC model.
    In addition, in fiscal year 1996, NADVC became a partner in the 
Education Development Center's (EDC) Juvenile Hate Crime Initiative. 
NADVC used EDC's hate crime curriculum to focus on prevention through 
the networks and resources in the faith community to address the impact 
and roles of juveniles and youth in engaging in and preventing hate 
crimes. NADVC is currently providing training and technical assistance 
in South Carolina, the location of the majority of the recent church 
burnings in the United States.
    The proposed expansion of activities in fiscal year 1997 would be 
accomplished through NADVC's Regional Hate Crime Prevention Initiative, 
the Campaign's model for anti-drug/violence strategies, and NADVC's 
faith community network.
    The program, which would continue to expand to new sites in fiscal 
year 1997 and enhance efforts to address hate crime and family violence 
intervention issues, would be implemented by the current grantee, CNBC. 
No additional applications would be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Risk Reduction Via Promotion of Youth Development

    Risk Reduction Via Promotion of Youth Development, located in South 
Carolina, is a large-scale prevention trial involving hundreds of 
children and several elementary schools located in lower socioeconomic 
neighborhoods of Columbia, South Carolina. This program is the result 
of an interagency agreement with the National Institute of Mental 
Health (NIMH). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the 
National Institute on Drug Abuse have also provided funding for the 
program.
    The trial involves a large-scale project designed to promote 
coping-competence and reduce risk for conduct problems, substance use, 
and school failure beginning in early elementary school. Interventions 
include a classroom program, a schoolwide conflict management program, 
peer social skills training, and home-based family programming. The 
sample includes African American and Caucasian children attending 
schools located in lower income neighborhoods. There is a sample of 
high-risk children (showing early aggressive behavior at school entry) 
and a second sample of lower risk

[[Page 11977]]

children (residing in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods). 
The interventions begin in first grade, and children are followed 
longitudinally throughout the 5 years of the project. A major goal is 
to reduce the development of conduct problems, aggression, and 
subsequent delinquency and violence. The project also seeks to alter 
home and school climates in order to reduce risk for adverse outcomes 
and to promote positive youth development.
    This program would be implemented through a fund transfer to NIMH 
under an interagency agreement. No additional applications would be 
solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Community Anti-Drug Abuse Technical Assistance Voucher Project

    Through the Community Anti-Drug Abuse Technical Assistance Voucher 
Project, the National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise (NCNE) awards 
vouchers to grassroots organizations to purchase technical assistance 
and training to effectively address the problem of juvenile drug abuse.
    As a result of a large number of incoming applications, NCNE has 
established a clearinghouse featuring 1,224 promising and proven anti-
drug programs. They are part of the NCNE National Clearinghouse of 
Youth Anti-Drug Abuse Programs. Twenty-nine organizations received 
voucher awards totaling $62,000 in fiscal year 1996. Awards ranged from 
$1,000 to $10,000 per site.
    The impact of technical assistance vouchers includes enhanced 
organizational visibility, larger grant awards for indigenous groups, 
and expanded and increased services resulting from technical assistance 
in program development and staff training. In addition to awarding 
vouchers for technical assistance, NCNE provides technical assistance 
to applicants regarding the development of their mission, goals, and 
objectives.
    The Community Anti-Drug Abuse Technical Assistance Voucher Project 
would be implemented by the current grantee, NCNE. No additional 
applications would be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Training and Technical Assistance for Family Strengthening Programs

    Prevention, early intervention, and effective crisis intervention 
are critical elements in a community's family support system. In many 
communities, one or more of these elements may be missing or programs 
may not be coordinated. In addition, technical assistance and training 
are often not available to community organizations and agencies 
providing family strengthening services. In response, OJJDP awarded a 
3-year competitive cooperative agreement in fiscal year 1995 to the 
University of Utah's Department of Health and Education to provide 
training and technical assistance to communities interested in 
establishing or enhancing a continuum of family strengthening efforts. 
In the first program year, the grantee drafted a literature review and 
summaries of exemplary programs; conducted a national search for, 
rated, and selected family strengthening models; planned 2 regional 
training conferences to showcase the selected exemplary and promising 
family strengthening programs; convened the first conference for 250 
attendees in Salt Lake City, Utah; and developed an application process 
for sites to receive followup training on specific program models. In 
fiscal year 1997, the grantee will complete the literature review and 
model program summaries; convene the second regional conference in 
Washington, D.C.; conduct program-specific workshops; produce user and 
training-of-trainers guides; and distribute videos of several family 
strengthening workshops.
    This program will continue to be implemented by the current 
grantee, the University of Utah's Department of Health and Education. 
No additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Training and Technical Assistance To Promote Teen Court Programs

    OJJDP considers teen courts, also called peer courts, to be a 
promising mechanism for holding juvenile offenders accountable for 
their actions while promoting avenues for positive youth development. 
Teen courts are included as a promising early intervention program in 
OJJDP's Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and Chronic 
Juvenile Offenders.
    To encourage the use of teen court programs to address problems 
associated with delinquency, substance abuse, and traffic safety, OJJDP 
provided funding in fiscal year 1996 to supplement the existing Teen 
Court Programs Project of the National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration (NHTSA) of the U.S. Department of Transportation. The 
NHTSA grant was awarded in fiscal year 1994 for a 3-year project period 
to the American Probation and Parole Association (APPA) to develop a 
teen court guide and provide training and technical assistance to 
develop or enhance teen court programs. This existing NHTSA grant and 
OJJDP's fiscal year 1996 funds supported the development of the joint 
publication Peer Justice and Youth Empowerment: An Implementation Guide 
for Teen Court Programs and additional technical assistance to three 
selected sites. Technical assistance to develop or enhance teen courts 
was provided to Lane and Deschuttes Counties in Oregon; Minnesota 
Planning, Inc., in St. Paul, Minnesota; and the Orange County Teen 
Court Program in Orlando, Florida. The additional funds from OJJDP 
enabled APPA to provide more onsite assistance to each of the three 
agencies in the areas of identifying problems and overcoming barriers.
    The national response to the training and technical assistance and 
to the Guide has been enthusiastic. NHTSA and OJJDP have received 
numerous requests to provide additional training seminars and technical 
assistance based on the Guide. In fiscal year 1997, OJJDP proposes to 
provide funding to NHTSA through an interagency agreement to supplement 
the existing grant with APPA. This would enable APPA to provide six 
intensive training seminars and site-specific technical assistance to 
three additional sites in fiscal year 1997. The seminars would each 
cover 2\1/2\ days of intensive training that is accredited by APPA for 
1\1/2\ continuing education units to help maintain certification or for 
employment or school requirements. Technical assistance would be 
provided to three selected jurisdictions with site-specific strategic 
planning for the program organizers on developing, implementing, or 
enhancing teen court programs. To be eligible for technical assistance, 
recipients need to have completed an APPA teen court training seminar. 
A request for proposals would be sent to the six training seminar 
participants and to participants who completed earlier teen court 
training seminars held by APPA. Site selection for the training and 
technical assistance would be determined by APPA project staff with 
input and approval from OJJDP and NHTSA.
    This project would be implemented by the current NHTSA grantee, 
APPA. No additional applications would be solicited in fiscal year 
1997.

Evaluation of Teen Courts

    Teen courts constitute one approach to reducing underage drinking, 
impaired driving, and other problem behaviors of youth such as 
shoplifting and vandalism. Teen courts emphasize concepts such as 
accountability, positive peer influence, competency development, and 
youth empowerment

[[Page 11978]]

and involvement. Teen court programs offer jurisdictions a potential 
means for holding youthful offenders accountable for problem behaviors, 
including those for which they previously may have received little or 
no intervention.
    In fiscal year 1997, OJJDP proposes to begin an evaluation of teen 
court programs currently underway in communities across the country. 
During this initial phase, OJJDP would award a competitive grant to 
develop a strategy for selecting programs that have a sound theoretical 
foundation and are structured to support a rigorous evaluation that 
would help to refine that program model. This program would encourage a 
collaborative research approach between practitioners and researchers. 
Upon determination of the evaluation potential of the identified sites, 
OJJDP would support a full process and impact evaluation of these 
programs in subsequent fiscal years.

Henry Ford Health System

    The Henry Ford Health System (HFHS) Center has developed and 
initiated a program in Detroit with fiscal year 1995 and 1996 OJJDP 
funds that serves the Northern High School attendance area, including 
seven elementary schools and two middle schools that serve as feeder 
schools for Northern High School. Michigan Formula Grants Program funds 
assisted in this effort. The underlying objective of the program is the 
reduction of gang and community violence among children attending these 
Detroit schools. The program is designed to identify individuals at 
moderate to high risk of violence, assess the needs of the target 
population of youth and the resources available in the community to 
deal with those needs, coordinate community resources to create 
comprehensive violence reduction programs, and evaluate the efficacy of 
component programs and the initiative as a whole. Evaluation would be 
based on the project's effect on reducing the incidence of specific 
violent acts, in both school and community settings.
    Five health centers were opened in 1996. The staff include a 
physician assistant, nurse practitioners, social workers, medical 
assistants, and receptionists. Along with analysis of crime and health 
data from the past 2 years in the target area, surveys were conducted 
in six of the school's areas. The health education programs were 
created in direct response to needs identified by community surveys and 
an overall evaluation of community resources. In fiscal year 1997, this 
program would implement centers in the remaining school sites and 
strengthen the multiple component activities in each school such as 
community patrols, tutoring, drama, peer education, and substance abuse 
prevention.
    This program would be implemented by the current grantee, HFHS. No 
new applications would be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Angel Gate Academy*

    In fiscal year 1997, OJJDP will fund the Angel Gate Academy, a 4-
week residential program jointly developed by the California National 
Guard (CNG), which runs the program, and the Los Angeles Unified School 
District (LAUSD), which recruits and refers high-risk youth and 
provides both teachers for the camp and reintegration support when the 
youth return to their respective schools.
    Targeted youth are between 11 and 14 years of age and are referred 
to the program by the LAUSD because they are exhibiting various high-
risk behaviors. Their participation is voluntary, and parents are 
actively involved in the referral decision and in participating with 
staff during the reintegration program. All of the children are part of 
the IMPACT counseling program that is supported by Drug-Free Schools 
and Communities funding from the U.S. Department of Education.
    The camp is located on a National Guard facility near San Luis 
Obispo, California. At the camp, the youth learn discipline and 
leadership skills and participate in an educational program at nearby 
Cuesta College. The youth spend most of the day in the education 
program, where they participate in a curriculum that teaches critical 
thinking skills, science, and math. Additional educational experiences 
in writing and literacy are provided by the assigned LAUSD teachers. 
Other modules provided under the curriculum jointly developed by the 
CNG and LAUSD include physical fitness training, leadership training 
through drill and ceremony, self-discipline, team building, IMPACT 
counseling, and enrichment activities.
    It is anticipated that up to 460 youth will participate in the 7 
camps during this 9- to 10-month program. When they return to their 
schools, they will again engage in the intensive IMPACT counseling 
program and their parents will be provided the opportunity to 
participate in parenting classes by the LAUSD.
    No additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Suffolk County PAL (Police Athletic League)*

    The Suffolk County Police Athletic League Program provides 
recreational and athletic programs to hundreds of children in Suffolk 
County, New York. The youth are coached by police volunteers from the 
surrounding area. With this OJJDP grant, the Suffolk County PAL will 
expand its program over a 2-year period to increase the number of youth 
who participate; add a mentoring/tutoring component that will recruit 
law enforcement, business, and community leaders to mentor the youth; 
and fund an impact evaluation of the program. This 2-year effort will 
result in serving at least 400 new children each year.
    This program will be implemented by Suffolk County PAL. No 
additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Do The Write Thing

    A program of the National Campaign to Stop Violence, the Do The 
Write Thing program was founded in 1994. The program approach is to 
encourage at-risk youth to write about the violence and drugs in their 
neighborhoods and lives, to identify solutions, and commit to a 
personal course of action to reduce violence. The program focuses on 
youth ages 12-14, offering them a therapeutic way to deal with the 
violence that surrounds them.
    Do The Write Thing began as a local project in Washington, D.C. In 
1996, the program expanded to 10 cities, with 300 middle schools and 
5,000 children participating. Participating cities are Washington, 
D.C.; Atlanta, Georgia; Chicago, Illinois; Detroit, Michigan; Houston, 
Texas; Los Angeles, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; Miami, Florida; New 
York, New York; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The program received 
solid support from mayors, police chiefs, judges, prosecutors, school 
superintendents, and other community leaders. With corporate and 
government support, including OJJDP, Do The Write Thing was able to 
compile and distribute a publication of winning essays and sponsor a 
national recognition ceremony in Washington, D.C.
    In fiscal year 1997 OJJDP proposes to assist the program to expand 
the project within the ten existing sites and begin the process of 
expanding to new sites for the 1997-98 school year. The Do The Write 
Thing program would be implemented by the National Campaign to Stop 
Violence. No additional applications would be solicited in fiscal year 
1997.

[[Page 11979]]

Child Abuse and Neglect and Dependency Courts

Permanent Families for Abused and Neglected Children*

    This is a national project to prevent unnecessary foster care 
placement of abused and neglected children, reunify the families of 
children in care, and provide permanent adoptive homes when 
reunification is impossible. The purpose is to ensure that foster care 
is used only as a last resort and as a temporary solution. Accordingly, 
the project is designed to make certain that government's 
responsibility to children in foster care is acknowledged by 
appropriate disciplines. Project activities include national training 
programs for judges, social service personnel, citizen volunteers, and 
others under the ``reasonable efforts'' provision of the Social 
Security Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 671(a)(15); training in 
selected States; and implementation of a model guide for risk 
assessment.
    The project is implemented by the National Council of Juvenile and 
Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ). Under this project, NCJFCJ also provides 
technical assistance to help communities improve handling of child 
abuse and neglect cases and supports replication of the model court 
improvement programs in selected jurisdictions.
    During the past project year, 31 State and national training 
programs were held. NCJFCJ also implemented a new program to divert 
families from the court system through arbitration under court 
supervision in a number of courts, using private funding sources. The 
court diversion project and efforts to improve dependency court 
administration, documented in the publication Resource Guidelines: 
Improving Court Practice in Abuse and Neglect Cases, were incorporated 
into training under this project. NCJFCJ also worked closely with 
allied national organizations, including the National Association of 
Public Child Welfare Administrators, the Association of Interstate 
Compact Administrators, and the National Court Appointed Special 
Advocate Association, to coordinate and leverage efforts to improve 
permanency planning for children. A key activity was the development of 
a curriculum to train judges and compact administrators on the new 
regulations regarding interstate placement.
    With fiscal year 1997 funds, NCJFCJ will continue and expand its 
training and technical assistance efforts, update the permanency 
planning curriculum, and strengthen and establish new linkages with 
allied organizations. The project's purpose remains focused on 
improving the ability of the dependency courts and related systems to 
make timely and informed decisions on placement for children and 
adolescents.
    The Permanent Families for Abused and Neglected Children program 
will be implemented by the current grantee, NCJFCJ. No additional 
applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Parents Anonymous, Inc.*

    Parents Anonymous, Inc. (PA) establishes groups and adjunct 
programs that respond to the needs of families through a mutual support 
model of parents and professionals sharing their expertise and their 
belief in each individual's ability to grow and change in ways that 
create caring and safe environments for themselves and their children. 
In fiscal year 1994, OJJDP supported PA to enhance its mission to 
prevent child abuse and neglect by developing a new capability within 
the PA network to address the needs of high-risk, inner-city, and 
Native American populations.
    As a result of OJJDP funding, PA has developed and maintained 40 
new groups serving families of color in high-risk neighborhoods and on 
reservations in 12 States. In fiscal year 1996, PA produced extensive 
technical assistance materials through two national teleconferences for 
several hundred participants on Successful Parents Anonymous Groups in 
Prisons and Promoting Effective Parent Leadership and conducted two 
regional conferences in Phoenix and Atlanta providing training to 
develop and maintain PA programs. PA also published and distributed 
nationwide 16,000 copies of Innovations, the PA, Inc., newsletter, with 
focused articles on the needs of Latino families and cultural 
responsiveness, and 30,000 copies of The Parent Networker, the PA, 
Inc., newsletter by and for parents. PA produced two program bulletins, 
Parent Leadership Is a Powerful Tool for Outreach, Public Awareness and 
Advocacy and Parents Anonymous as Parent Education: A Model for Success 
Based on Adult Learning Styles, and developed a manual for the PA 
National Network providing concrete methods for implementing PA 
programs in high-risk communities. PA also produced a targeted brochure 
for judges, probation officers, and other professionals serving youth 
with delinquency problems and began information sharing to plan 
technical assistance, as requested, for SafeFutures sites.
    During fiscal year 1997, PA, Inc., plans to (1) expand program 
sites for families of color with a specific focus on Minnesota, New 
Jersey, Oregon, and Texas; (2) provide technical assistance and 
training to PA groups with a focus on targeted populations and/or 
groups held in specialized settings such as local jails, State prisons, 
and Federal penitentiaries for incarcerated mothers and fathers; (3) 
develop a special national fathers'' initiative in sites across the 
United States; (4) develop new program materials to address the needs 
of families of color; (5) expand PA's emphasis on parent leadership; 
and (6) create media opportunities for outreach, public awareness, and 
education on PA for professionals and families.
    The project will be implemented by the current grantee, PA, Inc. No 
additional applications will be solicited in fiscal year 1997.

Missing and Exploited Children

Jimmy Ryce Law Enforcement Training Center*

    This program establishes the Jimmy Ryce Law Enforcement Training 
Center (JRLETC) at the National Center for Missing and Exploited 
Children (NCMEC). The purpose of JRLETC is to enhance the overall 
response to nonparental abductions by providing training and technical 
assistance to Federal, State, and local law enforcement personnel. 
Fiscal year 1997 funds will be expended as follows:
    NCMEC will expand its national Chief Executive Officer (CEO) 
training seminar into a 3-day course. The seminar will highlight the 
most current research and practices and provide information pertaining 
to comprehensive response protocols and NCMEC and Federal resources to 
assist State and local law enforcement.
    Fox Valley Technical College (FVTC), OJJDP's missing children 
training contractor, will accelerate delivery of the Response to 
Missing and Exploited Children training course. This course targets 
State and local law enforcement and contains modules providing 
investigative information on all aspects of missing children cases.
    The Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Criminal Justice 
Information Services Division will provide training for National Crime 
Information Center (NCIC) Control Terminal Officers in the new NCIC 
flagging system, Federal resources to assist State and local law 
enforcement investigating missing children cases, and NCIC Missing 
Person File definitions.
    The FBI Child Abduction Serial Killer Unit (CASKU) will provide 
training and technical assistance to State and local law enforcement 
investigating difficult

[[Page 11980]]

missing children cases. CASKU and the Hardiman Task Force will assess 
incident response for the purposes of curriculum development and will 
assist in the CEO training at JRLETC.
    Fiscal year 1997 funds will be awarded or transferred via 
interagency agreement to the organizations carrying out the activities 
outlined above. No additional applications will be solicited in fiscal 
year 1997.

    Dated: March 4, 1997.
Shay Bilchik,
Administrator, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
[FR Doc. 97-5780 Filed 3-12- 97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-18-P