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National Mentoring Summit Held in Washington, DC

Matt M. Dummermuth, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs, addressed National Mentoring Summit attendees on January 31, 2019.Matt M. Dummermuth, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs, addressed National Mentoring Summit attendees on January 31, 2019. "I am grateful for the work each of you is doing on behalf of the youth of your communities," he said. "I urge you to continue this important work, which is so vital to public safety and to the youth who represent our nation's future."
On January 30–February 1, 2019, youth mentoring professionals, researchers, philanthropic investors, and government and civic leaders gathered for the ninth annual National Mentoring Summit. The summit is held every January as part of National Mentoring Month, an annual campaign to promote youth mentoring.

Hosted by MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership (MENTOR), the summit featured more than 80 workshops that showcased exemplary program models, collaborations, research, and innovations that have positive implications for strengthening the mentoring field. OJJDP participated in the summit as a presenting partner.

“At the Office of Justice Programs, we view mentoring as a vehicle for positive youth development, and as an effective prevention tool. Mentoring builds connections by enlisting skilled and dedicated volunteers to help youth face challenges such as isolation and disconnection,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Matt Dummermuth. “Our Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention has a two-decade history of investing in mentoring programs, through research, operational support, and capacity building.”

The summit included five tracks that enabled attendees to focus on a specific area of interest: advocacy, philanthropic partnerships, culturally specific practices, nonprofit management, and researching and supporting the mentoring match. A session titled “Moving the Needle on Mentoring Program Effectiveness: Insights from Recent Research” described what has been learned across several scientifically rigorous evaluations, including OJJDP’s Mentoring Enhancement Demonstration Program. For more information on this OJJDP research, read the article “Research Central: OJJDP Study Examines Teaching and Advocacy Roles for Mentors.”

In fiscal year 2018, OJJDP awarded about $83 million to develop or enhance mentoring programs and services nationwide. Under its Mentoring Opportunities for Youth initiative, the Office awarded more than $77 million to organizations in 21 states.

The summit included five tracks that enabled attendees to focus on a specific area of interest: advocacy, philanthropic partnerships, culturally specific practices, nonprofit management, and researching and supporting the mentoring match. A session titled “Moving the Needle on Mentoring Program Effectiveness: Insights from Recent Research” described what has been learned across several scientifically rigorous evaluations, including OJJDP’s Mentoring Enhancement Demonstration Program. For more information on this OJJDP research, read the article “Research Central: OJJDP Study Examines Teaching and Advocacy Roles for Mentors.”

In fiscal year 2018, OJJDP awarded about $83 million to develop or enhance mentoring programs and services nationwide. Under its Mentoring Opportunities for Youth initiative, the Office awarded more than $77 million to organizations in 21 states.

Mentoring Grantees Network With OJJDP Staff, Build Connections During Orientation Session

 

OJJDP held an orientation session before the National Mentoring Summit to train new grantees on federal grant requirements and best-practice standards based on the guide Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring. Participant feedback captured the grantees' eagerness to apply the information and resources shared at the meeting to better serve youth.

 

left quote I am the leader of an organization that has a long history of best practices for mentoring but, as a new grantee of an OJJJP award, I am humbled to be here and I'm walking away with so much new knowledge on everything from grants management to mentoring best practices. right quote

—Gillian Ballard, Chief Executive Officer, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Rockland County, New York.


left quote On top of everything I learned here, it is a breath of fresh air to know I have peers—a group of brothers and sisters in the struggle—that are willing to put their best foot forward to make sure our young people and families are getting the best support and services possible.right quote

—Khalid McKenzie, Program Coordinator, Community Connections for Youth, New York.


left quote The meeting helped the National Recreation and Park Association brainstorm successful grants management strategies and how best to implement an effective training program for both our local agencies and their mentors who serve youth impacted by opioids. right quote

—Kellie May, Director of Health and Wellness, National Recreation and Park Association, Virginia.


OJJDP staff and grantees at an orientation for new recipients of OJJDP's mentoring grants.

Representatives of 36 mentoring organizations attended the January 29 session, including grantees receiving awards under OJJDP’s three new Mentoring Opportunities for Youth initiative categories: Mentoring Programs for Youth Involved in the Juvenile Justice System, Mentoring Strategies for Youth Impacted by Opioids, and the Statewide and Regional Mentoring Initiative for Youth Impacted by Opioids. Pictured are OJJDP staff and session participants.

 

 

Resources:

Read “San Antonio-Based Mentoring Program Exemplifies DOJ’s Commitment to American Youth.” The blog post describes Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Matt Dummermuth’s recent visit to an OJJDP-funded Big Brothers Big Sisters organization in Texas.

OJJDP’s Model Programs Guide contains information about evidence-based juvenile justice and youth prevention, intervention, and positive youth development programs. The guide offers information about 48 mentoring programs as well as a review of the research literature on mentoring. For more information about mentoring-related research, programmatic grants, training and technical assistance, and publications, visit the OJJDP website.


OJJDP’s National Mentoring Resource Center offers evidence-based reviews, comprehensive mentoring information and resources, and no-cost technical assistance. Last year alone, the center provided training and other support to 378 school-, community-, and faith-based mentoring programs that served more than 55,000 youth nationwide. Access the center’s Reflections on Research podcast series.


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Overview: OJJDP’s Special Victims and Violent Offenders Division

This article is the third in a series highlighting the work of the programmatic divisions established under OJJDP’s October 2018 reorganization.

Led by Associate Administrator Jim Antal, OJJDP’s Special Victims and Violent Offenders Division focuses on protecting children from victimization, preventing and responding to youth violence, and holding delinquent youth appropriately accountable to both crime victims and communities.

Following are highlights of the division’s work:

Strengthening the Capacity of Law Enforcement and Prosecutors To Address Juvenile Crime

Through its gang suppression initiatives, the Office provides planning and implementation support to eligible communities that demonstrate their readiness to put a comprehensive strategic plan into action based on multilateral, data-driven strategies. These strategies include an enhanced focus on partnerships between law enforcement and prosecutors. In addition, OJJDP supports the National Gang Center, which provides best‐practice information, training, and strategic tools to prevent youth from joining gangs, intervene with those who are gang‐involved, and suppress criminal street gang activity.

OJJDP funds programs that foster comprehensive collaborations involving law enforcement and a broad range of stakeholders to prevent and respond to children’s exposure to violence as well as youth victimization and violence, especially gun and gang violence. In addition, OJJDP is providing funding to further the training, education, and professional development of juvenile prosecutors.

Supporting Law Enforcement and Community Responses to Missing and Exploited Children

OJJDP plays an important role in supporting the law enforcement response to missing and exploited children through three primary efforts: the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force program, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, and the AMBER Alert program.

The ICAC Task Force program responds to technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation through the work of 61 task forces representing more than 4,500 federal, state, and local law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies. OJJDP also provides significant funding to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an information clearinghouse and resource for families of missing and exploited children and the professionals who serve them. The OJJDP-supported AMBER Alert program activates urgent bulletins in the most serious child-abduction cases and offers, among other resources, training for law enforcement personnel to improve responses to missing, endangered, and abducted children.

In addition, the Office supports community responses to missing and exploited children through the Specialized Services and Mentoring for Child and Youth Victims of Sex Trafficking initiative and the Youth With Sexual Behavior Problems (YSBP) program. Through the Specialized Services and Mentoring initiative, OJJDP supports the efforts of organizations to develop or enhance their mentoring capacity, facilitate outreach efforts, and increase the availability of direct services for child and youth victims of commercial sexual exploitation and domestic sex trafficking. The YSBP program provides a range of intervention and supervision services for youth with sexual behavior problems and treatment services to promote healing in child victims and their families.

Promoting Best Practices for Investigating Child Sexual Abuse and Supporting Victims

OJJDP manages the Victims of Child Abuse Act program, which develops the capacity of communities to respond effectively to child abuse through children’s advocacy centers, court-appointed special advocates (CASA), and training for judicial personnel programs.

The children’s advocacy centers national program funds local children’s advocacy centers and multidisciplinary teams that provide a coordinated response to victims of child abuse and exploitation. The program’s approach encompasses investigation, assessment, intervention, and prosecution to ensure better outcomes for victims and their families. Through the regional Children’s Advocacy Centers, the program offers onsite technical assistance and indepth team training for prosecutors, social workers, and other associated professionals. The CASA program supports and promotes court-appointed volunteer advocacy to help ensure that abused and neglected children have a permanent home and the opportunity to thrive.

Resources:

To access a chart that reflects OJJDP’s new structure following the recent reorganization, visit the Office’s website.

To learn more about the Office’s State Relations and Assistance Division and Intervention Division, read the September/October issue and November/December issue, respectively, of OJJDP News @ a Glance.


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January: National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month

On December 31, 2018, President Donald Trump proclaimed January as National Human Slavery and Trafficking Prevention Month to raise awareness about and stop the scourge of human trafficking, including the exploitation of children and youth.

left quoteWe must actively work to prevent and end this barbaric exploitation of innocent victims. . . . During National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, we pledge to continue the battle to abolish modern slavery and restore the lives of those affected by human trafficking. right quote

—President Donald J. Trump

OJJDP has a longstanding commitment to addressing the commercial sexual exploitation of children. OJJDP’s Specialized Services and Mentoring for Child and Youth Victims of Sex Trafficking initiative is increasing the availability of direct support services for children and youth who are victims of commercial sexual exploitation, facilitating outreach efforts, and developing the capacity of organizations to mentor this vulnerable population.

OJJDP funded the Youth Collaboratory's development of an online toolkit for youth service providers that includes modules on victim-led and survivor-led practices, human trafficking legislation, trauma-informed mentoring, and positive youth development.

With OJJDP support, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges has established the National Judicial Institute on Domestic Child Sex Trafficking to help judicial officers better understand the dynamics of domestic child sex trafficking, the applicable laws and legal considerations involving trafficking victims, how to identify trafficked and at-risk children, and how to connect these youth to appropriate services.

CyberTipline logoIn 1998, OJJDP established the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force program, which operates a national network of 61 multiagency, multijurisdictional task forces engaged in investigations, forensic examinations, and prosecutions related to technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation. ICAC task force investigations have led to more than 91,000 arrests.

OJJDP provides major funding to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), which serves as an information clearinghouse and resource for those who are searching for missing children and working to address child victimization and sexual exploitation. The center operates a 24-hour toll-free Missing Children’s Hotline and a CyberTipline. In 2017, NCMEC responded to more than 10,000 reports regarding possible cases of child sex trafficking.

With OJJDP funding, the AMBER Alert program offers, among other resources, training for law enforcement personnel to improve responses to missing, endangered, and abducted children and the development of resources specifically for Indian country. For more information on the program, read the article “OJJDP Observes AMBER Alert Awareness Day.

More information about these and other OJJDP initiatives to address the commercial sexual exploitation of children is available on the Office’s website.

Resources:

OJJDP’s online Model Programs Guide provides information about programs to help children exposed to violence and victimization.

Access a comprehensive list of services for trafficking survivors on the OJJDP website.

The Department of Justice's Human Trafficking online resource outlines the department's efforts to combat human trafficking. It includes the National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking report, which describes plans to enhance coordination within the department to stop human trafficking.


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Justice Department and OJJDP Observe AMBER Alert Awareness Day
AMBER Alert logoOn January 13, 2019, the Department of Justice and OJJDP observed AMBER Alert Awareness Day to share information with the public about how to become engaged in the safe recovery of missing and abducted children.

The AMBER Alert program, which is managed by the Office of Justice Programs with the support of OJJDP, is active in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Indian country, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and 22 other countries.

Law enforcement issues AMBER Alerts, which include any available information about the child, abductor, or suspected vehicle used in the abduction, and specify the geographic area where the alert should be disseminated. Once issued, broadcasters and transportation agencies disseminate the alerts. They are also sent to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, which resends the alerts to a network of secondary distributors that include Internet service providers, wireless carriers, and social media outlets. As of December 12, 2018, the program had been credited with the successful rescue of 934 children.

The AMBER Alert program also offers a range of training and technical assistance opportunities to support the coordination of search efforts and disseminate knowledge about the most effective strategies for recovering missing children. Training is available in a range of areas, including basic forensic responses to missing and abducted children, investigative strategies for child abduction cases, child abduction case studies, the implementation of Child Abduction Response Teams, and child sex trafficking in Indian country.

The AMBER Alert in Indian Country initiative was launched in 2007 to establish and expand child recovery practices, capacity, and resources in tribal communities The initiative includes training and technical assistance programs offered by tribal instructors, community child protection infrastructure assessments, national symposiums on tribal child protection, and the development of a Tribal Database website to provide a platform for the exchange of information among tribal communities.

In April 2018, President Donald Trump signed into law the Ashlynne Mike AMBER Alert in Indian Country Act, which gives tribes direct access to federal grants to improve AMBER Alert systems and provide additional training and technical assistance. The legislation was passed nearly 2 years after 11-year-old Ashlynne Mike was sexually assaulted and murdered on the Navajo Nation reservation in New Mexico. A recent article in the AMBER Advocate newsletter discusses how the AMBER Alert Training and Technical Assistance program administrator, Jim Walters, is working to get the Ashlynne Mike law implemented in Indian country. Read the article.

Resources:

Additional information on resources regarding missing and abducted children is available on the websites of OJJDP and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Sign up to receive AMBER Alerts on Facebook or on Twitter using the handle @AMBER Alert.


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Research Central: OJJDP Study Examines Teaching and Advocacy Roles for Mentors

Photo of a mentor and his mentee.In 2012, OJJDP launched the Mentoring Enhancement Demonstration Program (MEDP) and evaluation to study the effects of incorporating teaching roles (e.g., organizing activities to develop skills or knowledge, providing assistance with schoolwork) and advocacy roles (e.g., facilitating access to community resources, collaborating with other professionals to support the mentee) for mentors. To help mentors successfully build in these functions, participating agencies were expected to provide mentors with preliminary as well as ongoing training, guidance, and support.

The goal of MEDP was to develop program models that specified what advocacy and teaching look like in practice, understand what factors might influence the adoption of these enhanced mentoring roles, and determine whether the enhancements could influence youth outcomes. OJJDP awarded funding to 10 mentoring collaboratives, which included a total of 32 mentoring sites. The programs varied widely in their geographical locations, size, experience in mentoring, and structure of their mentoring programs. Nearly 2,200 youth mentees participated, most of whom were between the ages of 11 and 15.

OJJDP managed and coordinated the project in close collaboration with American Institutes for Research (AIR) and a senior design team; specialists in data management and program development; and program staff from the participating mentoring agencies. AIR conducted a rigorous process and outcome evaluation involving a randomized controlled trial that compared the new enhancements to “business-as-usual” mentoring at the programs; it also included an analysis of data from program records and surveys of youth, mentors, and parents. Following are some of the evaluation’s findings:

Resources:

To learn more about MEDP, access a recorded two-part webinar recently organized by OJJDP’s National Mentoring Resource Center. The first and second parts of the webinar are titled, respectively, “Lessons Learned From the Implementation of the Mentoring Enhancement Demonstration Program” and “Findings From the Outcome Evaluation of the Mentoring Enhancement Demonstration Program.”

The National Mentoring Resource Center has launched a series of blogs highlighting approaches to teaching and advocacy that were developed by several of the OJJDP-funded organizations.

To read a technical report and appendices describing the findings of the MEDP evaluation, visit the website of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service.


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Upcoming Events

Child Homicide Investigations: March 11–12, 2019

National Criminal Justice Center logoThis National Criminal Justice Center training will focus on understanding and building relationships between the forensic pathologist, homicide investigator, and prosecutor to successfully investigate and prosecute child homicide cases. Attendees will learn about the unique aspects of investigating a child homicide, including interviewing and interrogation, suspect pool development, and the role and importance of the prosecutor in gaining appropriate convictions. The training will be held in Miami, FL. Registration information is available online.

Conference on Juvenile Justice: March 17–20, 2019

National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges logoSponsored by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, this conference will explore gaps in services, new and improved practices, and cutting-edge research. Featured topics will include crossover youth, deep-end youth, teen dating violence, solitary confinement, domestic sex trafficking of minors, racial and ethnic disparity, child development, mental health, and juvenile and family drug treatment courts. The conference will take place in Las Vegas, NV. Registration information is available online.

National Summit on Youth Homelessness: March 18–19, 2019

2019 National Summit on Youth HomelessnessThe National Network for Youth (NN4Y) will hold its sixth annual summit in Washington, DC. This event focuses on how government agencies, policymakers, young leaders, service providers, and other experts can collaborate to prevent and respond to youth homelessness. Sessions will provide information about practices, resources, and strategies that are relevant to participants’ daily work in preventing and responding to youth homelessness. NN4Y will facilitate a discussion among federal agencies about their work to address youth homelessness, and will encourage agencies to take targeted and systemic actions to address the problem. Registration information is available online.

35th International Symposium on Child Abuse: March 18–21, 2019

35th International Symposium on Child Abuse logoThis event will feature more than 160 workshops in 12 topic areas: administration, child protective services, forensic interviewing, human trafficking/sexual exploitation, law enforcement, medical issues, mental health and mental health treatment, prevention, prosecution, secondary traumatic stress, victim advocacy, and youth-serving organizations. Sponsored by the National Children’s Advocacy Center, the symposium will address all aspects of child maltreatment, including physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, exposure to violence, polyvictimization, exploitation, intervention, trafficking, and prevention. The symposium will be held in Huntsville, AL. Registration information is available online.

Psychology of School Threat Assessments: March 20–21, 2019

Sponsored by the National Criminal Justice Training Center, this training offers guidance on implementing a multidisciplinary threat assessment and management plan, identifying normal versus abnormal childhood behavior, determining accurate youth violence risk and protective factors, and diagnosing problems within threat assessment and management protocols. To be held in the New Orleans, LA, area, the training is designed for educators, law enforcement professionals, prosecutors, and tribal partners. Registration information is available online.

Improving Youth Interactions Through Fair and Impartial Justice: April 15, 2019

This 1-day training, to be held in Appleton, WI, will offer information and tools to improve youth interactions with the justice system, including effective interventions to divert low-risk, nonviolent youth from the justice system. Topics to be covered include the historical impact of disproportionality and disparity on youth in the justice system, conscious and unconscious bias, the intersection between youth behavior and adolescent brain development, and the role of procedural justice in strengthening police legitimacy. The training is sponsored by the National Criminal Justice Training Center. Registration information is available online.

Interviewing Vulnerable Victims: April 16–18, 2019

National Children's Advocacy Center logo To be held in Huntsville, AL, this training will focus on children who are particularly vulnerable to maltreatment and are challenged in their ability to describe their experiences because of social and emotional problems, developmental delays, or other issues. While a discussion of research and theory will be included, the emphasis will be on interviewing strategies that are evidence informed and culturally sensitive. The training will be offered by the National Children’s Advocacy Center. Registration information is available online.

Advanced Forensic Interviewing: April 23–25, 2019

Sponsored by the National Children’s Advocacy Center, this training is designed for experienced interviewers who are responsible for initial forensic interviews of children and who currently work with a multidisciplinary team. The training will begin with an up-to-date review of best practices and then address specific populations that require forensic interviewers to adapt their practice. The training will explore methods to elicit details required by the multidisciplinary team and to assess the effects of trauma on children. It will take place at Kiawah Island, SC, and will also be offered on October 1–3, 2019, in Santa Fe, NM. Registration information is available online.

Multidisciplinary Team Response to Child Sex Trafficking: April 23–26, 2019

This team-based training, sponsored by the National Criminal Justice Training Center, will help attendees recognize and locate youth who are at risk of victimization, differentiate between responses to traditional child abuse and child sex trafficking cases, and create a plan for a multidisciplinary response to child sex trafficking. The training will be held in New Orleans, LA. The registration deadline is February 26. Registration information is available online. The training will also be held May 6–9, 2019, in Portland, OR; July 22–25, 2019, in St. Louis, MO; and September 23–26, 2019, in Burlington, VT.

Forensic Interviews at Trial: Preparation and Presentation: May 8–9, 2019

Designed for prosecutors and forensic interviewers, this course hones the skills needed to successfully present testimony and strategically counter common defense tactics during child abuse trials. To be held in Huntsville, AL, the training is sponsored by the National Children’s Advocacy Center. Training methods include lecture and audience discussion, review of recorded forensic interviews, experiential skill-building exercises, and participation in mock court. Registration information is available online.


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News in Brief

National Law Enforcement Training on Child Exploitation Planned for June

Since its inception in 1998, OJJDP’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force program has helped state and local agencies to develop effective, sustainable responses to online child victimization, including responses to the online sharing of child sexual abuse images. The program has increased the capacity of thousands of communities across the country to combat internet crimes against children.

The ICAC Training and Technical Assistance (TTA) program was established to provide ICAC task forces and their affiliates with the training and technical assistance they need to conduct effective investigations and prosecutions. As part of this TTA commitment, OJJDP and its Department of Justice partners host an annual National Law Enforcement Training on Child Exploitation. The training shares the latest techniques on how to combat child exploitation in the ever-changing Internet environment. The training also offers an opportunity for ICAC task forces and their affiliates to share information and improve collaboration to stop technology-facilitated crimes against children. The 2018 training featured 82 lectures and informational sessions and 45 hands-on computer workshops; 1,490 law enforcement investigators, prosecutors, digital forensic examiners, and other practitioners participated in the event.


The 2019 training, still in the planning stages, is scheduled for June in Atlanta, GA. Additional information will be made available in the near future.

New OJJDP Webpage Offers Information and Resources on Youth Homelessness

Youth run away or become homeless for many reasons, including abuse, neglect, and abandonment. Research has shown that children who run away or are homeless face a range of challenges related to their health, emotional well-being, safety, and development. They are also at high risk of juvenile justice system involvement.

OJJDP remains committed to collaborating with partners to improve information dissemination among local and national stakeholders and improve services provided to these youth. OJJDP has launched a new webpage that describes the Office’s efforts to address youth homelessness through mentoring, drug treatment courts, reentry, research, and other initiatives. The webpage also provides access to a range of other information and resources, including programs, trainings, and publications.

Facts in Focus: OJJDP's Reentry Guide for Youth

Facts in Focus is a new OJJDP video series that highlights key juvenile justice developments and issues. In this first video, Dr. Sanzanna Dean, OJJDP Deputy Associate Administrator, discusses the agency’s toolkit Reentry Starts Here: A Guide for Youth in Long-Term Juvenile Corrections and Treatment Programs.

Every year, tens of thousands of youth return to their communities from residential placement, too often with no reentry plan. The resources provided in this guide speak to common barriers that youth may experience upon reentry. The guide includes specific actions youth can take to address those barriers with the help of a caring adult.

Watch the video.

New Videos Offer First-Hand Feedback From Participants in Core Requirements Training

State representatives who attended OJJDP’s November 2018 Core Requirements Training for States address a range of issues related to the Title II Formula Grants program in a series of videos available on the OJJDP website. Training participants included juvenile justice specialists, compliance monitors, and disproportionate minority contact (DMC) coordinators.

OJJDP’s Formula Grants funds help states address juvenile delinquency and support improvements to the juvenile justice system. The funds also help states address deinstitutionalization of status offenders, separation of juveniles from adult inmates, removal of juveniles from adult jails and lockups, and the reduction of DMC in the juvenile justice system. In the videos, state representatives offer feedback on the following questions:

Access OJJDP’s new Core Requirements Training for States webpage.

OJJDP Updates Statistical Briefing Book

Statistical Briefing  BookOJJDP has updated the following data resources in its Statistical Briefing Book:

Developed for OJJDP by the National Center for Juvenile Justice, the research division of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, the Statistical Briefing Book offers easy online access to statistics on a variety of juvenile justice topics.

2018 National Missing Children's Day Poster Contest Winner2018 National Missing Children's Day Poster Contest Winner

Entries Sought for 2019 Missing Children’s Day Poster Contest

With an annual theme of "Bringing Our Missing Children Home Safely," OJJDP invites fifth graders each year to participate in the Missing Children's Day poster contest. The annual contest creates an opportunity for schools, law enforcement, and child advocates to discuss the issue of missing and exploited children with youth, parents, and guardians and to promote child safety.

Each state hosts its own local poster competition, and the winning poster from each state is submitted to OJJDP for selection as the national winner. OJJDP invites the student who wins the national contest and his or her teacher, parents, and state clearinghouse manager to Washington, DC, to participate in the National Missing Children's Day commemoration in May

The winning poster is the design inspiration for the National Missing Children's Day poster and artwork for the following year. View the gallery of national posters from previous years. Prospective participants should check with their state contest manager for the state submission deadline. The national deadline for states to submit their winning poster is March 5, 2019. The National Missing Children's Day ceremony will be held on May 22, 2019. Contest rules, contact information for state contest managers, discussion materials, and additional information are available in the contest packet.

Image of KidSmartz “KidSmartz" Adds New Personal Safety Lessons

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s KidSmartz program offers video resources, lesson plans, checklists, and other tools for educators and parents to teach children about personal safety. The center recently added two new lesson plans: “Uncomfortable Touch” and “Surprises vs. Secrets.”

Using sample scenarios, the lessons teach children how to identify situations in which they should express discomfort; how to express discomfort both verbally and in writing; how to demonstrate confidence when telling an adult “no”; why being told to “keep things secret” makes them less safe; and how to identify trusted adults with whom to share “secrets.”

Visit the OJJDP-supported KidSmartz website to learn more about the program’s resources for keeping children safe.

OJJDP Supports National Drug & Alcohol Facts Week

Drug & Alcohol Facts WeekThe National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) sponsored National Drug & Alcohol Facts Week from January 22 to 27, 2019.

This observance brought together teens and scientific experts through community events nationwide and internationally to discuss facts about drug and alcohol abuse. NIDA offered online guidance on planning a National Drug & Alcohol Facts Week event, organized a Web Chat Day to discuss the effects of drugs and alcohol on the brain and body, and made available free educational resources and tools to help families and youth address the consequences of substance abuse, including drunk driving, drugged driving, and underage drinking. NIDA and NIAAA are part of the National Institutes of Health. Learn more about National Drug & Alcohol Facts Week.

Judicial Bench Card Developed To Serve Homeless Youth

The Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children, Youth and Families conducted interviews of 654 runaway and homeless youth in 11 U.S. cities in 2013. Findings show that at some point in their lives, nearly 44 percent had stayed in a jail, prison, or juvenile detention center; almost 78 percent had at least one interaction with the police; and nearly 62 percent had been arrested.

A judicial bench card is now available that provides judges and other court personnel with tools to effectively address the intersection of youth homelessness and system involvement. The bench card recommends diverting youth who commit "survival crimes" from the justice system, providing services and followups to ensure basic needs are met, avoiding the use of fines and the application of other monetary costs for youth, minimizing educational disruption by keeping youth in their schools, and ensuring records and other information transfer smoothly. The bench card emphasizes that detention should never be used as a solution to homelessness.

The bench card was released by the Coalition for Juvenile Justice, National Network for Youth, and National League of Cities Institution for Youth, Education, and Families.


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New Publications

All OJJDP publications may be viewed and downloaded on the publications section of the OJJDP website. Print publications may be ordered online at the National Criminal Justice Reference Service website.

Studying Drivers  of Risk and Needs Assessment Instrument Implementation in Juvenile Justice Studying Drivers of Risk and Needs Assessment Instrument Implementation in Juvenile Justice (Bulletin)
NCJ 251809

Juvenile justice practitioners often use risk and needs instruments to assess a youth’s risk of reoffending and identify factors that, if addressed, can reduce the risk of recidivism. In addition, these professionals rely on assessment findings to develop a treatment and service plan that will appropriately target a youth’s individual needs and promote the best possible outcomes. Research suggests that the effectiveness of an assessment instrument is influenced by how well it is implemented. This bulletin examines two OJJDP-supported studies that examine the factors—such as staff training and buy-in, managerial support, and stakeholder engagement—that appear to drive effective implementation.

View and download this publication.

Juvenile Arrests, 2016 Juvenile Arrests, 2016 (Bulletin, National Report Series)
NCJ 251861

This bulletin describes the latest trends in arrests involving juveniles (youth younger than age 18) from 1980 to 2016, based on analyses of data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Overall, juvenile arrests have been on the decline for more than a decade; however, patterns vary by offense and demographic group. Juvenile arrest rates for violent crimes, such as robbery and aggravated assault, have declined in the past 5 years. Conversely, juvenile arrest rates for murder have increased since 2012. Property crimes have declined in recent years and by 2016, the juvenile arrest rates for larceny-theft, burglary, and arson were at their lowest levels since at least 1980. Following 6 years of decline, the juvenile arrest rate for drug law violations in 2016 was at its lowest level since the early 1990s.

View and download this publication.

Juvenile Residential Facility Census, 2016: Selected Findings Juvenile Residential Facility Census, 2016: Selected Findings (Bulletin, National Report Series)
NCJ 251785

On October 26, 2016, OJJDP conducted the ninth Juvenile Residential Facility Census, a snapshot of the facilities—both publicly and privately operated—that house youth charged with or adjudicated for law violations. OJJDP’s biennial census collects data on how juvenile facilities operate and the services they provide. Data from the 2016 census indicate that the number of youth in residential placement continues to decline, a trend that has lasted nearly two decades. In 2016, more youth were held in county, city, or municipally operated facilities on the census date than were held in state-operated facilities. Facility crowding affected a relatively small proportion of youth in custody. Most responding facilities routinely evaluated all youth for suicide risk, education needs, substance abuse, and mental health needs.

View and download this publication.

Delinquency Cases in Juvenile Court, 2015 Delinquency Cases in Juvenile Court, 2015 (Fact Sheet, National Report Series)
NCJ 252046

This fact sheet presents national estimates of delinquency cases handled by juvenile courts in 2015 and analyzes caseload trends since 2005. In 2015, juvenile courts in the United States handled 884,900 delinquency cases that involved juveniles charged with criminal law violations. From 2005 through 2015, the number of delinquency cases declined 47 percent, with decreases experienced in all four offense categories: property offense cases (down 51 percent), public order offense cases (down 49 percent), person offense cases (down 43 percent), and drug law violation cases (down 39 percent). In 2015, property offense cases accounted for the largest proportion (34 percent) of the delinquency caseload, followed by person offense cases (28 percent), public order offense cases (25 percent), and drug offense cases (13 percent).

View and download this publication.


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News From the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
Seal of Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice  and Delinquency Prevention

On December 19, 2018, OJJDP hosted a public meeting of the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. The meeting highlighted Bureau of Indian Affairs’ initiatives to support youth in Indian country and the Family and Youth Services Bureau’s programs to address runaway and homeless youth. The meeting also included reports on current juvenile justice-related activities by the Council’s member agency representatives and practitioner members.

Jesse Panuccio, Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General (center), Matt M. Dummermuth, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs (left), and Caren Harp, OJJDP Administrator, offered introductory remarks at the Coordinating Council meeting.Jesse Panuccio, Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General (center), Matt M. Dummermuth, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs (left), and Caren Harp, OJJDP Administrator, offered introductory remarks at the Coordinating Council meeting.
In his introductory remarks, Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General Jesse Panuccio noted positive trends in the juvenile justice system, including a significant decline in juvenile residential placement rates. However, he cautioned that the placement trends conceal more discouraging news: The rates for black, Hispanic, and American Indian and Alaska Native youth are still considerably higher than they are for white youth. “These facts serve as urgent reminders that progress is neither inevitable nor irreversible,” he said.

The urgent needs of youth in Indian country were the focus of a presentation by Jason Thompson, an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, a police officer, and Assistant Director of the Office of Justice Services (OJS) at the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs.

American Indian and Alaska Native youth are one of the most vulnerable populations in the nation; however, because they represent a small percentage of the juvenile population, their needs can “at times be overlooked,” Thompson said. Tribal youth experience high rates of poverty, substance abuse, school failure, and incarceration—problems that are often intergenerational. Thompson emphasized that youth incarceration is often ineffective at deterring delinquent behavior and helping youth to overcome these challenges. “I’m a police officer, and we are an enforcement agency. We enforce and incarcerate, but this painfully misses the mark. . . .One big takeaway is that there’s kids that have got to go to jail, but it shouldn’t be the norm,” he said.

left quoteI believe that we need to find a way to balance the public safety demands for accountability with the important rehabilitative mission of our juvenile justice system . . . . This is a Department of Justice that is committed to both. right quote

—Matt M. Dummermuth
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General
Office of Justice Programs

Thompson described a range of OJS initiatives to support alternatives to detention and restorative justice practices, including the 2016 update of the Model Indian Juvenile Code, which favors restorative approaches that seek to maintain accountability and community safety while focusing on rehabilitation. OJS also funds tribal courts that offer restorative justice through “talking circles,” a traditional way for people in Indian country to resolve issues in a nonadversarial setting. In addition, the agency supports Healing to Wellness courts, which respond to the substance-related issues of tribal youth through a combination of intensive supervision, incentives and sanctions, and treatment and rehabilitation. OJS provides funds for training directed to the specific needs of tribal court personnel. Through evaluations and assessments, the office helps tribal courts identify existing problems and formulate strategies for improvement. In cases where incarceration is essential, OJS supports the provision of educational support, counseling, and mental health and behavioral health services while youth are in confinement.

Curtis Porter, Special Assistant to the Associate Commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Family and Youth Services Bureau, offered the second presentation. He described the work of the bureau’s Runaway and Homeless Youth Program (RHYP), which supports street outreach, emergency shelters, and longer term transitional living and maternity group home programs to serve and protect homeless youth.

Youth run away or become homeless for many reasons, including abuse, neglect, abandonment, or release from the juvenile justice system back into their communities without having stable housing arrangements. In addition, because runaway and homeless youth are at risk of becoming victims of sex trafficking to survive on the streets, RHYP sets a priority on building the capacity of grantees to address human trafficking. RHYP provides tailored resources and technical support to funded programs to identify, intervene, and provide services and referrals for youth who have been trafficked.

left quoteThe Runaway Safeline [1–800–RUNAWAY] is a federally designated system to help runaway and homeless youth. It’s one of the best resources.right quote

—Caren Harp
OJJDP Administrator

RHYP also supports the National Runaway Safeline, which provides, among other services, crisis intervention, information and referrals to community resources and support, free travel home where appropriate, and advocacy for youth to ensure they get support and guidance from authorities, school administrators, social service agencies, and medical and legal professionals.

The Coordinating Council meeting also included reports on juvenile-justice related programs by representatives of the following member agencies: the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Education, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Homeland Security, and Labor; the Corporation for National and Community Service; and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

In addition, the following practitioner members offered brief statements: Maura Corrigan, Director, Michigan Department of Human Services; Jacob Horowitz, Director, Public Safety Performance Project, The Pew Charitable Trusts; Jim St. Germain, Executive Director, Preparing Leaders of Tomorrow, Inc.; David A. Tapp, Judge, 28th Judicial Circuit of Kentucky; and William Thorn, Judge, Utah Court of Appeals.

Resource:

A summary and webcast of the meeting will be made available on the Coordinating Council’s website.

The Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is an independent body within the executive branch of the federal government operated under the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The council's primary functions are to coordinate federal juvenile delinquency prevention programs, federal programs and activities that detain or care for unaccompanied juveniles, and federal programs relating to missing and exploited children. 

The council is made up of 22 members—13 ex officio and affiliate members and 9 practitioners. The ex officio members are: the Attorney General; the Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; the Secretaries of the U.S. Departments of Education, Health and Human Services (HHS), Housing and Urban Development, and Labor; the Assistant Secretary of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy; and the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service. Affiliate members are the Secretaries of the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Defense, and the Interior, and the Administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of HHS. The nine juvenile justice practitioner members are appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Senate Majority Leader, and the President of the United States. In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the Council holds public meetings up to four times a year in which members discuss activities to facilitate and support cross-agency coordination.

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