Target Area #3 -- Allegheny County

In 1995, a similar process to address DMC issues began in Allegheny County, the third target area. A local analysis of minority crime and an identification of community-based youth and family programs were completed in 1995. Minority neighborhoods in and adjacent to the east end of Pittsburgh were identified as having high numbers of minority juvenile arrests and were selected as the focus in Allegheny County. This focus was affirmed by the Allegheny County Youth Crime Prevention Council's representatives from the Pittsburgh mayor's office, the Allegheny County Human Services Department, and the U.S. Attorney for the western region of the State. The Allegheny County Youth Crime Prevention Council serves as the coordinating body for prevention and intervention programs, which include both the Title V Delinquency Prevention/CTC and DMC programs. Additionally, across the State, 10 of the 14 Title V/CTC sites (including 2 in Allegheny County) focus on minority neighborhoods, thus beginning prevention work at an early stage in the lives of at-risk children.

Three DMC programs began in Allegheny County in April 1996:

	Great Start Program. Great Start provides juveniles with basic skills training, participatory sports, part-time employment, educational support, career guidance, socialization, and cultural enrichment.
	Project Africa and Operation Hammer. This program offers tutoring, mentoring, community services (e.g., gardening and trash removal), job readiness assistance, nonviolent conflict resolution skills training, healthy recreation, and a youth crime prevention program with community police.
	Targeted School-Based Outreach Worker's Program. This program offers life skills classes, tutoring, job readiness assistance, job referrals, counseling, pregnancy prevention information, recreational activities, and educational trips.

After considerable negotiation among the programs, Allegheny County's Youth Coalition of Western Pennsylvania was formed and the position of director was funded in July 1996 through the same mechanism as in the first two target areas. Subsequently, the coalition decided to use a consultant rather than a director to assist with program development and support. The 30 months of DMC funding will be completed in October 1998.

Disproportionate Minority Confinement: 1997 Update	Juvenile Justice Bulletin   ·  September 1998