O

A Message From OJJD

Although violent crime has decreased P

significantly since publication of Combating

Violence and Delinquency: The National Juvenile Justice

Action Plan in 1996, too many children continue to be

victims of violent crime, child abuse and neglect, and exposure to violence. In turn, this victimization perpetuates a cycle

of violence in which children later become the perpetrators of

violence against others. Fortunately, a variety of programs and

services have been implemented at the State and local levels to

address youth victimization and its effects, with Federal agencies

collaborating to support this work through efforts such as the

Coordinating Council’s call to break the cycle of violence.

It is through such Federal, State, and local collaboration that we will make a positive difference

for America’s children.

Combating Violence and Delinquency: The N

Juvenile Justice Action Plan (Action Plan) p

effective strategies to reduce juvenile vio

delinquency, and victimization and provided info

about Federal training, technical assistance, grant

evaluation, and other resources. Each section of t

Plan addressed one of eight objectives and outlin

research, programs that had been evaluated, and 

strategies for meeting that objective. The Action P

identified specific action steps that Federal agenci

take to work toward each objective.

This Bulletin focuses on objective 5: “Break the cy

lence by addressing youth victimization, abuse, an

Following the organization of the Action Plan, the 

tion presents recent data on juvenile victimizatio

compares it with data in the Action Plan; the seco

discusses victimization trends; the third section d

effective and promising strategies and programs; 

fourth section provides updated information on 

programs since 1996.1

Addressing Youth Victimization

Joy D. Osofsky

The Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention published Combating Violence and Delinq

The National Juvenile Justice Action Plan in 1996. This report established eight objectives as the foundation for innov

and effective action by Federal, State, and local governments, in partnership with private sector organizations, to reduce j

violence and victimization. This Bulletin, the first in a series on the implementation of the Action Plan, summarizes the 

plishments of Council member agencies in meeting one of the Action Plan’s eight objectives and numerous related action 
2

; g

12 (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention,

2000). In the majority of cases of juvenile victimization, the

perpetrator is a family member or an acquaintance rather

than a stranger, a statistic consistent with the findings of

the Action Plan. This fact is particularly important in relation to the victimization of children in violent domestic situations, an area of growing concern and recognition in the

violence prevention field (Office of Juvenile Justice and

Delinquency Prevention, 2000).

Violent Crime

In the United States, homicide is one of the leading causes

of death for juveniles. The Action Plan estimated 2,000 children, most under age 4, are murdered by parents or caretakers each year; of the children in this group who are under

age 12, the majority have been previously abused by the

person who killed them (Coordinating Council on Juvenile

Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 1996:75). More recent

data show that the problems remain very serious. In 1998,

the National Center for Health Statistics listed homicide as

the third leading cause of death for children ages 1–4 and

5–14, and the second leading cause for persons 15–24

(Murphy, 2000:8). Of the 2,691 juvenile murder victims—

an average of 7 per day—in 1998, 20 percent were under

age 5 and 54 percent were between the ages of 17 and 19

(Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention,

2000:3; Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1999:297). Thirty-two

percent were female, and 44 percent were African American

(Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1999:302). Sixty-two percent

of all juvenile murder victims and 57 percent of murdered

youth who were 13 or older were killed with a firearm

(Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1999:297). Forty percent were

killed by family members, 45 percent by acquaintances, and

only 15 percent by strangers (Office of Juvenile Justice and

Delinquency Prevention, 2000). The older juvenile victims,

compared with those under age 13, were more likely to be

male and African American (Bureau of Justice Statistics,

1999:302). The younger victims were more likely to be

of the serious violent victimization—including ag

assault, murder, forcible rape, and robbery—of juv

not reported to police or other authorities (teache

principals) (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinqu

Prevention, 2000:7). Violent crimes that occur in 

those that result in injury, and those that involve 

rather than a juvenile perpetrator are the most lik

be reported (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinq

Prevention, 2000:11). The programs described late

Bulletin are working to address some of these key 

of juvenile victimization.

Child Abuse and Neglect

The following statistics on abused and neglected ch

help practitioners quantify and plan strategies to c

abuse and neglect. In 1999, child protective service

received reports on about 2.97 million allegedly m

children (U.S. Department of Health and Human 

2001), close to the 2.9 million that were reported 

Plan. The allegations in 28 percent of the 1999 rep

substantiated; of those substantiated reports, 52 pe

victims were female (U.S. Department of Health a

Services, 2001). Victimization rates varied by race a

ty. African American children had the highest rate 

ization (25.2 per 1,000), followed by Hispanics (1

1,000), whites (10.6 per 1,000), and Asian/Pacific 

(4.4 per 1,000) (U.S. Department of Health and H

Services, 2001). Children age 3 and younger had th

rates of neglect (10.8 per 1,000 for boys and 10.3 p

for girls), but boys ages 4–11 had the highest rate o

abuse (2.6 per 1,000). Girls were more likely to be 

abused, with 12- to 15-year-olds in the most dang

1,000) (U.S. Department of Health and Human Se

2001). Eighty-seven percent of the victims were ma

one or both parents; 44.7 percent of the substantia

involved a mother acting alone (U.S. Department 

and Human Services, 2001). Children under age 6 

for 86 percent of fatalities caused by child abuse an
from home, which, in turn, increased the risk for juvenile

arrest. The abused and neglected group completed fewer

years of schooling and scored significantly lower than the

control group on intellectual functioning, irrespective of

age, sex, race, and criminal history. Significantly more

members of the abused and neglected group held menial

and semiskilled jobs, and they were more likely to be

unemployed or underemployed than the members of the

control group, who were more likely to be skilled workers

and professionals. As a result, members of the treatment

group had lower earning potential. In their personal lives,

victims of child abuse and neglect also suffered greater marital instability and had a higher incidence of separation and

divorce than members of the control group. The results of

Kaufman and Widom’s study show the long-term effects of

childhood victimization and highlight the importance of

efforts to prevent it.

Witnessing Violence

A major advance in addressing children’s exposure to violence and victimization in the past 5 years has come from

an expanded awareness and understanding of children as

witnesses to violence, especially domestic violence. The

Packard Foundation recently published a comprehensive

volume, Domestic Violence and Children,

2 that highlights

important recent work in the field of domestic violence and

offers a comprehensive perspective on many of the important issues faced by children who are exposed to domestic

violence. While efforts to develop prevention, advocacy, and

support programs for adult victims have increased, much

less attention has been paid to children, who are often considered “invisible victims.”

Both research and clinical work have shown that witnessing

community and domestic violence has a consistently negative impact on children’s emotional, social, and cognitive

development, although it affects children of different ages

in different ways. The effects of witnessing domestic 

as their parents’ ability to support them and help 

with the trauma). When parents witness violence 

tims of violence themselves, they are more likely 

ficulty being emotionally available to their childr

may become depressed and unable to provide fo

dren’s needs.

Recent Trends Regarding the Relatio

Between Youth Victimization and V

Since the publication of the Action Plan, several n

emerging trends regarding youth violence have b

fied. These trends, including violence perpetrated 

dren within their families and violence by femal

are discussed below.

Increase in Violence Committed by Gir

and Victimization of Girls

In the later part of the 20th century, it became cl

involvement of girls and women in criminal acti

increased so greatly that they accounted for the f

growing segments of both the juvenile and the c

justice systems (Acoca, 1999). Between 1993 and 

increases in arrests were greater (or decreases sm

girls than for boys in almost every offense catego

of Justice Statistics, 1999:352). This trend sugges

vention and intervention programs for youth sho

special attention to the needs of at-risk girls. Ear

ization, including physical, sexual, and emotion

plays an extremely important, and often paramo

in affecting the likelihood that a girl will enter th

justice system and it contributes significantly to 

cy, adult criminality, and violent criminal behavi

70 percent of girls in the juvenile justice system h

ries of physical abuse, compared with approxima

percent of teenage females in the general popula

(Lederman and Brown, 2000). More than 70 per
4

nearly 200 juvenile female offenders who were interviewed

in the NCCD study, 92 percent reported that they had experienced some form of emotional, physical, and/or sexual

abuse. Further, many girls first entered the juvenile justice

system as runaways, a high proportion of them seeking to

escape abuse at home (Chesney-Lind and Shelden, 1998;

Acoca, 1999). Thus, the study found a direct correlation

between victimization in the home and involvement in

the juvenile justice system.

Victimization as a Precursor to Battering

of Parents or Caretakers by Children

Despite the decreasing levels of juvenile arrests for violent

crimes (i.e., murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated

assault), juveniles still accounted for 17 percent of all violent crime arrests in 1998 (Bureau of Justice Statistics,

1999:351). Although accurate data are not available on the

percentage of these youthful offenders who were victims of

child abuse and neglect or were exposed to domestic violence in their own homes, the percentage is probably very

high. In surveys of Federal, State, and local prison inmates

conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, both male

and female respondents were twice as likely as members

of the general population to report childhood physical or

sexual abuse (Harlow, 1999:1). In 1997, the Child Welfare

League of America released a report on a community study

done in Sacramento County, CA, which found that 9- to

12-year-old children known to the child welfare system were

67 times more likely to be arrested than their age cohorts in

the general population (Child Welfare League of America,

1997). In addition, several notable reports by researchers,

interventionists, and judges agree that the majority of children who witness violence in their homes demonstrate a

wide range of problems, including aggression, emotional

instability, and violence (Langer, 1997; Osofsky, 1997).

Some studies have tried to clarify the connection between

victimization and delinquency. Notably, in 1997, the

Honorable Lester Langer, Associate Administrative Judge

include better training that enables police to ide

domestic violence, a broader definition of dome

lence that includes family members other than p

and greater awareness of what is unacceptable be

within a family. In this limited data set, the prim

of juvenile violence in the family is the mother.

Data from calls to a 24-hour hotline for the Viol

tervention Program (VIP) in New Orleans, LA, su

the findings from Miami-Dade. Of the 300 calls 

in 1999, more than half were from parents conc

about violent behavior by their 13- to 17-year-ol

(Osofsky, 2000). Courts nationwide have develo

vations to address child maltreatment and the pr

abuse perpetrated by children that results in call

by a parent.

Effective and Promising Strategies

and Programs

The “Effective and Promising Strategies and Progr

tion of the Action Plan described programs suppo

Federal government to address youth victimizatio

as the State Court Improvement Program, unified 

courts, children’s advocacy centers, and Court Ap

Special Advocate programs. It also emphasized th

tance of programs that focus on family preservati

support, and independent living; early family stre

and support; and victimization prevention (Coor

Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prev

1996:69–72). Some of the same programs and n

grams that support these goals are described later 

Bulletin. This section highlights the proliferation 

tive community-based programs, which have bee

development in the field of violence prevention, 

vention, and identification of and assistance to v

Several programs have been developed across the 

to link mental health professionals with police d

Five such programs are described below.
the efforts of mental health professionals and community

police officers to reduce the impact of violence on children

and their families by providing interdisciplinary interventions to children who are victims, witnesses, or perpetrators

of violent crime. The program applies principles of child

development and human functioning to the daily work of

community police officers to increase their understanding

of the impact of violence on children and of ways to intervene more effectively.

Since its inception, CD–CP has intervened in the lives of

more than 3,000 children and families in New Haven.

Several hundred police supervisors, line officers, and juvenile probation officers have received training through the

Child Development Seminar and Clinical Fellowship components of the program. In addition, CD–CP has consulted

with and provided direct services to multiple school and

child welfare systems in crises.

For more information about CD–CP, contact:

Child Development-Community Policing Program

Yale University

School of Medicine

230 South Frontage Road

New Haven, CT 06520–7900

203–785–7047

203–785–4608 (fax)

VIP in New Orleans represents a collaboration between

mental health professionals in the Department of Psychiatry

at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center and the

New Orleans Police Department. This program uses a systems approach designed to work with the whole community

to solve the problem of violence among local youth (Osofsky, 1997). VIP seeks to decrease violence by providing early

intervention, counseling, and other services to victims and

education and prevention forums to police, parents, and

children.

The Child Witness to Violence Project (CWVP) in Boston,

MA, operates through the Department of Pediatrics at

both national and State training for healthcare pr

police, educators, and other social services practit

confront issues of children witnessing violence. T

is staffed by a multicultural, multilingual staff of 

workers, psychologists, early childhood specialist

consulting child psychiatrist.

For more information about CWVP, contact:

Child Witness to Violence Project

Boston Medical Center

818 Harrison Avenue, T214

Boston, MA 02118

617–534–4244

617–534–7915 (fax)

The Honorable Cindy Lederman, Administrative J

11th Judicial Circuit Miami-Dade Juvenile Court, 

oped the Dependency Court Intervention Prog

Family Violence. Funded by VAWO, this demonst

ect addresses, in a juvenile court setting, the co-oc

child maltreatment and family violence (Lederma

Advocates working with battered mothers of depe

dren assess the developmental and emotional con

the children and plan appropriate interventions t

future problems.

For more information about the Dependency Co

vention Program for Family Violence, contact:

Rubin Carreru

Dependency Court Intervention Program for 

Family Violence

175 NW. First Street

Miami, FL 33128

305–375–5278

In addition to the programs described above, nu

other programs have been implemented by Fede

cies in support of the Action Plan. For example, t

agency Initiative on Collaborations To Address 

Violence and Child Maltreatment (commonly k
6

Cases: Guidelines for Policy and Practice, published by the

National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges

(NCJFCJ). The purpose of the Green Book Initiative is to

create and enhance collaborations in selected jurisdictions

among domestic violence service providers, child protective

services, and juvenile and family courts to enhance the safety and well-being of battered women and their children. In

December 2000, six sites were competitively selected to

implement this collaborative approach: El Paso County,

CO; Grafton County, NH; Lane County, OR; St. Louis

County, MO; San Francisco, CA; and Santa Clara County,

CA. Each demonstration site receives up to $350,000 per

year for 3 years. Policies and practices include cross-system

collaboration in identification, safety planning, case management, advocacy, protection, and proper sharing of information; perpetrator accountability; and service provision.

The goal of each site is to improve responses that protect

and empower women who are victims of abuse and their

children.

Additional Federal activities, including other collaborative

efforts, are described in the following section.

Federal Activities in Support of Objective 5

In 1999, the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and

Delinquency Prevention distributed the National Juvenile

Justice Action Plan Survey to determine the progress that

Federal agencies have made since 1996 in meeting the eight

objectives of the Action Plan. Programs and other projects

that were reported by Federal agencies as supporting objective 5 are described below, by action step. Activities that

respond to multiple action steps are discussed in a separate

section. The responses to the survey suggest that DOJ, HHS,

and the Corporation for National Service (CNS) bear primary responsibility for programs related to objective 5. In

some cases, the activities described below are not identical

to those described in the Action Plan, but they accomplish

the Victims Act Model Court (VAMC) Project wit

of improving court practice in child abuse and n

cases. The first step was to develop a document f

juvenile and family court judges interested in im

the processing of child abuse and neglect cases. N

formed a committee of judges, court administrat

neys, child welfare experts, and others who deve

hands-on bench book (i.e., a book judges can us

ence), Resource Guidelines: Improving Court Practic

Abuse and Neglect Cases. The second step was to i

number of courts that would focus on improvin

in child abuse and neglect cases and commit to t

ples outlined in the Resource Guidelines. Currently

Courts participate in the VAMC Project, in local

ing from large urban centers to rural communiti

Model Courts continually assess their processing 

abuse and neglect cases, focus on factors that de

nent placements for youth, develop and institute 

court improvement, and work collaboratively to 

tems change (National Council of Juvenile and F

Court Judges, 2000). The Model Courts can be re

improve court processing of child abuse and neg

in rural, urban, and tribal jurisdictions.

OJJDP supports the national Court Appointed Sp

vocates (CASA) project through a cooperative agr

with the National Court Appointed Special Advoc

ciation. The project is designed to benefit abused 

glected children who are in foster care, or at risk o

placed in foster care, by encouraging the developm

resources and training for CASA programs. It was 

in the “Effective and Promising Programs and Stra

tion under objective 5 of the Action Plan. In 1990, 

Congress passed the Victims of Child Abuse Act, w

cated Federal funds to start and expand CASA pro

OJJDP continues to support CASA programs and 

to increase the number of children who receive re

tion in court hearings through CASA volunteers. A
cases and to identify promising approaches the justice system

can use to deal with these cases. The project’s first phase was

a literature and research review. The second phase included a

mail survey of a nationally representative sample of prosecutors and law enforcement agencies to gather quantitative

information and identify possible sites for two studies: a sixcounty study to obtain qualitative descriptive information on

case processing, and a three-county study to obtain case-level

data on all parental abduction cases and track them from

entry to disposition. OJJDP plans to publish part of the project’s final report as a Bulletin.

To strengthen existing programs and ensure effective evaluations, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is sponsoring

preparation of the Evaluation Guidebook for Child Advocacy

Centers, which describes three types of evaluations: program

monitoring, program outcomes, and impact analysis. The

Guidebook, which will be published later in 2001, gives external evaluators a better understanding of the goals for child

advocacy centers and includes an appendix on how to develop a protocol and measures for evaluating corollary services.

The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) supports the Children’s Justice Act Partnerships for Indian Communities

demonstration program, which provides funds to assist

American Indian communities in developing and managing programs to improve the investigation, prosecution, and

handling of cases involving sexual abuse and serious physical abuse of children. This program reflects DOJ’s increased

emphasis on assistance to tribal youth programs since the

Action Plan was published. Positive outcomes of the program include revised tribal codes that pertain to child sexual

abuse; protocols and procedures for reporting, investigating,

and prosecuting child abuse cases; enhanced case management and treatment services; improved coordination among

tribal, Federal, and State child protection services agencies;

and improved coordination that minimizes the number of

times a child is interviewed.

review and timely resolution of each case, and to 

better outcomes for the Nation’s abused and neg

children. More than 400 professionals and prac

participated in the conference, which included b

disciplinary and interdisciplinary discussions to 

conference’s stated objectives. Results included i

communication, coordination, and collaboratio

and across disciplines.

ACF’s Children’s Bureau supports the State Cour

ment Program, which works with the highest co

State to assess and improve State court proceedin

to foster care and adoption. The program encou

nile and family court collaboration with child w

cies on comprehensive systems reform. It was hi

in the “Effective and Promising Programs and St

section under objective 5 of the Action Plan.

ACF supported the development and publication 

lines for Public Policy and State Legislation Gover

manence for Children to provide States with guid

implementing the Adoption and Safe Families A

at the State level. A working group composed of 

fare professionals, lawyers, judges, advocates, an

workers held discussions for more than a year to 

a document that reflects the best thinking about 

fare policy and legislation. The document was pu

in June 1999.

Activities That Respond to Action Step 

Enhance Local Efforts To Investigate an

Prosecute Child Abuse and Neglect Ca

and Strengthen Child Protective Servic

DOJ. OJJDP funds the Investigation and Prosec

Parental Kidnaping and Child Exploitation pro

a grant to the American Prosecutors Research Ins

(APRI). The program provides training and techn

tance to State and local prosecutors to improve t
8

ment, mental health, and social services aspects of child

abuse and neglect. The Center’s services are available to

prosecutors, investigators, and other professionals in the

field of child abuse and neglect.

Through an interagency agreement with NIJ, OJJDP is 

funding the Evaluation of the Transfer of Responsibility

for Child Protective Investigations to Law Enforcement

Agencies program with a grant to the Center for the Study

of Youth Policy at the University of Pennsylvania’s School

of Social Work. This program will compare the outcomes in

three Florida counties where responsibility for investigations

is being transferred to the sheriff’s office with outcomes in

three comparison counties. The program will consider

whether children are safer, whether perpetrators of severe

child abuse are more likely to face criminal sanctions, and

whether other parts of the child welfare system are affected

by the transfer of responsibility. A thorough process evaluation will be conducted to describe and compare the implementation processes in the three counties and to identify

major factors that could affect outcomes. Findings will be

released when the grant ends in 2002.

VAWO supports the OASIS II program with funds from

the Rural Domestic Violence and Child Victimization

Enforcement Grant Program. Through a multiagency task

force and coordination with OASIS, a program to combat

domestic violence against adult women, OASIS II serves

and protects child victims of domestic violence and child

abuse in Twin Falls, ID, by supporting the local prosecutor’s child abuse investigator and a child victim coordinator who works at the local women’s shelter. It also runs

a media campaign and community outreach program to

educate victims, parents, and the general public about child

abuse and victimization and collects correlated data about

child abuse cases as baseline material for statistics, research,

and program evaluation.

Activities That Respond to Action Step 

Strengthen At-Risk Families and Suppo

Healthy Start Programs for Children

DOJ. With a grant to the American Bar Associati

Center on Children and the Law, OJJDP is suppo

Prevention of Parent or Family Abduction of C

Through Early Identification of Risk Factors pr

which reflects DOJ’s increased emphasis on the 

of abduction since the Action Plan was published

ect’s goal is to reduce the number of parental ab

by identifying the circumstances that are likely to 

tate an abduction by a parent or other family me

identifying and documenting strategies to mitiga

factors, and recommending ways of implementin

tion strategies. The project includes two major d

tion efforts in California and a test of high-confl

ing couples to determine factors identified with 

abduction. The final Report, entitled Prevention o

and Family Abduction of Children Through Early Id

of Risk Factors, was completed in 2000. An OJJDP 

based on the larger Report, Family Abductors: Des

Profiles and Preventive Interventions, was published 

ary 2001, and a second Bulletin, Early Identificat

Factors for Parental Abduction, was published in 

The Community Oriented Policing Services (C

gram is run by the Yale Child Study Center with 

from OVC. The COPS program provides school-

cal interventions to selected youth who have bee

to community violence in an urban setting. The 

also evaluates the impact of the intervention by 

children’s psychosocial functioning and their att

toward police, school, and violent behavior. The 

goal is to help children who live and attend scho
specialized services for victims of domestic violence who

are referred to child protective services. The project seeks to

increase the safety of battered women and their children

who are referred to child protective services by enhancing

collaboration between local SCF branches and domestic violence programs and developing and evaluating specialized,

effective services for battered women served by SCF. The

project will develop replicable intervention models to support victims and ensure their safety; develop and refine protocols and practice standards for SCF staff, domestic violence programs, and other program partners; and increase

staff knowledge about domestic violence and child abuse.

The project will be run by an existing statewide work group

of domestic violence advocates and SCF staff, with training

and technical assistance provided to local sites by the State

Office and a working group. The project will be formally

evaluated through a contract with Portland State University’s Child Welfare Partnership.

HHS. ACF provides grants for School-Based Child Maltreatment Prevention, Identification, and Treatment

Services to 18 local nonprofit organizations throughout the

Nation. The grants support development and demonstration

of service models that address the prevention, identification,

and treatment of child abuse and neglect. These models are

developed by communities in cooperation with preschool,

elementary school, and secondary school systems. The grant

program was established in response to the Child Abuse

Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), as amended by

Public Law 104–235.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has awarded 10 community-based

grants for the Parenting Adolescents and Welfare Reform

program. The program studies the effects of providing comprehensive services to adolescents and their families who

are affected by welfare reform to prevent substance abuse

and other problems that negatively affect their health and

dren from birth to age 5. SESS provides assistanc

treatment and comparison settings.

Activities That Respond to Action Step 

Support Community-Based Services Th

Reduce Family Violence and Victimizat

DOJ. The Yale Child Study Center runs the Schoo

Crisis Intervention project with a grant from OJJ

project has developed a standardized protocol fo

ing to the emotional needs of students and the o

tional needs of schools during times of crisis to m

the trauma of students, staff, and parents. The m

lines the need for specific roles within the crisis t

importance of and mechanisms for timely notific

administrators, staff, students, and parents; issues 

er when providing short-term support through cl

discussion and support groups; and issues to con

memorializing a deceased member of the school 

ty. The project offers training and technical assist

The Executive Office for Weed and Seed is supp

Victim Services Initiative at various Weed and S

The initiative develops strategies to address crim

juvenile justice topics that are of particular conc

the designated neighborhoods. Funds for this in

may also be used for counseling services, works

educational and resource materials, legal assista

training for law enforcement and support perso

NIJ is funding the American Bar Association’s pr

Children Exposed to Domestic Violence: Provi

Through Community Oriented Policing and C

Partnerships. The project is investigating both th

of law enforcement agencies working with comm

providers to help children exposed to domestic v

and the types of partnerships the agencies are fo

The project will determine existing approaches t

be replicated and compile data to measure the im
1 0

Battered Women, Battered Children. Because violence

against women and violence against children often coexist

in families, this project will study interventions for families

in which both domestic violence and child abuse occur,

with an emphasis on the role of law enforcement agencies.

The project will identify efforts to address the co-occurrence

of domestic violence and child abuse, examine existing law

enforcement policies and practices, and document promising interventions and services. After studying existing approaches to the problem, the project will use the findings

to guide future research and policy analysis. Research methods will include both telephone surveys of national experts,

police departments, and domestic violence personnel and

site visits in communities with promising approaches.

HHS. ACF’s Children’s Bureau awarded a grant to Parents

Anonymous, Inc., of Santa Clara, CA, to build a national

network of parent self-help and mutual support groups that

work in close cooperation with State- and community-based

child abuse prevention and treatment programs. The collaborative 3-year project encouraged the development of a

continuum of community-based prevention services that

responded to the needs of families and formed a bridge

between shared leadership strategies and more traditional

programs. This national network is now operated by Prevent

Child Abuse America of Chicago, IL. The new grantee will

oversee the national network and establish 100 new parent

support groups in currently unserved locations across the

country.

ACF has awarded 13 grants for the development of mutual

support programs that will assist families, provide early

and ongoing support for parents, increase family stability,

improve family access to other formal or informal resources

available in communities, and support the additional needs

of families that have children with disabilities.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is supporting

the randomized trial of Families and Schools Together

(FAST), a widely used comprehensive prevention program

America project with a research grant. The projec

obtain data on drug use by rural adolescents to p

foundation for policy decisions and prevention p

rural communities. The project will provide detai

alcohol and drug use and the relationships of ind

risk factors, violence, victimization, high-risk dru

delinquency to rates of drug use among rural you

study will also determine how differences in drug 

across schools are related to different levels of pe

social risk factors and school and community cha

CNS. AmeriCorps*VISTA members work to redu

tic abuse and sexual assault through the South D

Network Against Family Violence/Sexual Assau

bers help with administrative tasks, victim advoc

ing, and community fundraising in shelters in ei

munities. Volunteers also form community netw

help homeless victims of abuse with housing, em

childcare, and other services.

AmeriCorps*VISTA members also work with the 

partment of Public Health and Human Services 

MT, to support and promote interagency collabo

They support the development of interagency pr

programs and services that can be delivered in a 

manner to meet the needs of at-risk children and 

families.

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). I

ship with the President’s Committee on the Arts 

Humanities, NEA has sponsored the Coming Up 

Awards program since 1998. The awards recogni

reward arts and humanities programs that give c

safe, stable environments in which to learn and 

ties to develop their skills. One winner of the Co

Taller Awards in 2000 was the Illusion Theater, w

uses the power of theater as a catalyst for person

social change. The theater’s nationally acclaimed 

abuse prevention play, Touch, was created in 197

a unique collaboration with the Child Sexual Ab
other groups the rights to perform Illusions educational

plays for their own communities, with scripts, training,

performance direction, evaluation, and ongoing technical

assistance from the theater’s staff of trained professionals.

The most popular peer education model is TRUST: Teaching Reaching Using Students and Theater. At TRUST sites,

high school students perform Illusion’s educational plays

for local elementary, middle, and high schools.4

Activities That Respond to Action Step 5:

Provide Training and Technical Assistance To

Strengthen Agencies Serving Children and

Their Families

DOJ. OJJDP awarded a grant to the Child Welfare League

of America in support of its project Strengthening Services

for Chemically Involved Children, Youth, and Families.

The project provides training and technical assistance that

teach professionals in the fields of child welfare, substance

abuse prevention, and family law how to use the project’s

assessment tool and decisionmaking guidelines and how to

promote their use.

OJJDP and the U.S. Department of Education’s Safe and

Drug-Free Schools Program fund the Partners Against 

Hate Program, which offers comprehensive outreach, education, and training that addresses youth-initiated violence.

The Anti-Defamation League, the Leadership Conference

Education Fund, and the Center for the Prevention of Hate

Violence administer the program. Highlights of the program

include the development of an activity guide and Web site;

a training program for middle school hate crime prevention initiatives; a guide for peer leadership that includes

information for parents and families, community members, and law enforcement officials; and the development

of a training program for national and State policymakers.

For more information about the Partners Against Hate

Program, contact:

created through an OJJDP grant to the National V

Center in 1994 and is the only national nonprof

zation of its type. In fiscal year (FY) 1998, OJJDP 

funding to AMECO to establish a coordinator po

coordinator is responsible for conducting the day

administrative activities, finalizing and dissemina

ardized intake forms, developing an AMECO ALE

of response, and supporting the dissemination of 

tion on missing children through AMECO’s mem

coordinator also oversees the association’s newsle

maintains a calendar of ongoing events to raise a

of missing and exploited children’s issues and rel

ing opportunities. 

Shortly after the coordinator position was estab

AMECO underwent several positive changes, incl

development of ethics standards for membershi

accountability, and regular meetings of the Boar

rectors. Since 1998, AMECO has also accomplis

following with OJJDP support: increased its me

from 9 to 42 organizations, adapted standardize

forms for members, and produced a newsletter 

support nonprofit missing and exploited childre

zations. AMECO also created an online “AMECO 

service for its members and other interested parti

receives the newsletter and has a direct link to AM

its Web site. This project ensures that missing and 

children’s activities are effectively managed and c

with both public (governmental) and private age

serve these children.

For more information about AMECO, contact:

Janice Rench, Executive Director

AMECO

167 Washington Street

Norwell, MA 02061

781–878–3033

781–878–4974 (fax)
1 2

NIJ supported the University of Minnesota’s Office of

Sponsored Programs Conference on Domestic Violence

and Children with a research grant. The 12-month project

planned and convened a small conference to develop and

organize the national and international research agenda for

studying families in which both children and their mothers

are abused and in which children witness domestic violence. The 3-day conference, held in February 1999, included 18 participants.

HHS. ACF’s Children’s Bureau supports 10 National Resource Centers, which provide training and technical assistance in foster care and permanency planning, information

technology in child welfare services, organizational improvement, special needs adoption, youth development,

addressing child maltreatment, family-centered practice,

legal and judicial issues, abandoned infants assistance, and

community-based family resource and support programs.

Centers were established to provide training and technical

assistance to community-based programs to support statutorily mandated programs and to provide services to grantees.

ACF’s Children’s Bureau operates the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information to meet

the cross-disciplinary needs of professionals working in the

areas of child abuse and neglect, child welfare, and adoption. The clearinghouse offers access to government and

other resources related to these fields by maintaining an

extensive document collection and providing information

and referrals, technical assistance, and other products and

services.5

A project of the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse

and Neglect Information, the Child Welfare Training Online Network is designed to enable State trainers, practitioners, social work educators, and other stakeholders to

locate the most current training and resource materials

available for the child welfare workforce. The Online

Network also offers opportunities to share information

and communicate with other colleagues about training

model program, Making Medicine.

NIDA is supporting a study entitled Diffusion of 

Risk/Protective Focused Prevention. Risk- and p

focused prevention planning is promising, yet lit

known about the process for or effectiveness of c

State and community prevention systems to imp

model. The study is a joint effort by the Social D

Research Group of the University of Washington 

and substance abuse agencies in Colorado, Illino

Maine, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. Detailed 

tion is being collected in 41 communities in thes

Activities That Respond to Action Step 

Improve Services to Children Who Are 

of Abuse and Other Crimes

DOJ. OVC is supporting the development of Gui

Mental Health Treatment of Child Victims of Intra

Abuse by the National Crime Victims Research an

ment Center at the Medical University of South C

An advisory committee composed of experts in th

ment of child abuse victims has reviewed current 

guidelines in the field and established criteria for 

both the problems associated with abuse and the 

ness of common treatments for abuse-related trau

will publish the Guidelines and distribute them to 

tim compensation programs, providers of menta

treatment to children, and child abuse profession

has awarded a grant to the American Professiona

the Abuse of Children to conduct training on the 

health practices recommended in the Guidelines.

HHS. HHS supports the Foster Care Funding pr

through Title IV–E of the Social Security Act. The 

provides funds to State agencies to assist with th

foster care, the administrative costs of managing 

gram, and training for staff, foster parents, and p

agency staff. The funds help States provide prope

children who need placement outside their hom
skills they need to move from foster care to self-supported,

independent living. ILP provides educational and employment assistance, training in daily living skills, counseling,

coordination of services, outreach programs, and individualized transitional living plans. In addition to assisting

youth in the process of moving out of foster care, ILP

reaches some children under age 16 and former foster care

youth ages 18–21 who have left the child welfare system.

In response to a new Federal regulation that outlines

Federal/State partnerships to review the foster care eligibility and family service systems in each State, ACF sponsors

the Foster Care Eligibility Reviews and Child and Family

Services (CFS) Reviews programs. The regulation implements existing legislation and adds new requirements governing a State’s conformity with its plans under relevant

legislation. The regulation clarifies certain eligibility criteria

that govern foster care eligibility review and also makes

technical changes to the race and ethnicity data in the

Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System.

CFS Reviews seek to ensure the safety, permanency, and

well-being of children in the child welfare system.

Activities That Respond to Multiple

Action Steps

DOJ. The Children Exposed to Violence Initiative (CEVI),

launched in December 1998 and currently coordinated

by the Office for Victims of Crime at DOJ, is a far-reaching,

multistakeholder, multisector, comprehensive framework

that encompasses more than two dozen programs and

strategies designed to improve the justice system’s approach

and communities’ responses to child crime victims and

witnesses. There are five goal areas under CEVI: (1) justice

system reform, (2) Federal and State legislative reform,

(3) program support and development, (4) community

outreach/public awareness, and (5) parenting education.

Work in these areas spans prevention strategies, intervention programs, and offender accountability.

regional, and State summits and the developmen

distribution of resource materials.

OJJDP established the National Center for Chil

Exposed to Violence (NCCEV) at the Yale Child 

Center as part of the Children Exposed to Violen

Initiative. NCCEV, through support from OJJDP, 

source and training and technical assistance faci

with enhancing public awareness of the negative 

quences of children’s exposure to violence. With 

community capacity to respond to that exposure

three primary objectives are to promote public a

sional awareness of the effects of violence on ch

provide training and technical assistance to com

around the country that are developing collabor

to respond to children and families exposed to v

and to establish a national clearinghouse and W

information about violent traumatization and su

approaches to intervention. NCCEV pursues its g

coordinating and providing a range of training a

cal assistance to the Safe Start demonstration sit

operating a national clearinghouse and resource 

a repository of information about the developm

and long-term consequences of children’s exposu

violence.

The Children’s Advocacy Center Program is imp

through OJJDP’s support of the National Childr

ance and the Regional Children’s Advocacy Cent

National Children’s Alliance administers a natio

program and a training and technical assistance 

These programs respond to action steps 1, 2, 4, 5

The programs help communities improve their r

to child abuse by establishing children’s advocac

(CACs) and providing training and technical ass

emerging, developing, and established CACs. Th

also collect national data from CACs on number

of cases and outcomes, and they administer stan

CACs through site visits, consultations, and tech

assistance.
1 4

ties develop appropriate responses to child abuse, offer

multidisciplinary services to child victims and their families,

enhance the skills of volunteers, provide support for nonoffending family members of child victims, enhance coordination among community agencies, support national coordination, develop and use training and technical assistance

materials, and implement national standards of practice.

The Safe Start Initiative, funded by OJJDP, responds to

action steps 1–6. This initiative seeks to prevent and reduce

the impact of family and community violence on children

from birth to age 6 by creating coordinated and comprehensive service delivery systems. Safe Start demonstration communities are working to expand existing partnerships among

service providers in the areas of early childhood education/

development, health, mental health, family support and

strengthening, domestic violence, substance abuse prevention and treatment, crisis intervention, child welfare, law

enforcement, courts, and legal services. This comprehensive

service-providing system is designed to improve the availability, delivery, and quality of services for young children who

are at high risk of exposure to violence or who have been

exposed to violence, along with their families and caregivers,

at any point of entry into the system.

NIJ is funding an ongoing research project on childhood

victimization and delinquency with a grant to the Washington Department of Social and Human Services. The

study was designed to replicate the original NIJ study that

established the connection between child abuse and neglect

and increased risk of later criminal behavior. The study will

attempt to document the prevalence of delinquency, criminality, and violence in a cohort of abused and/or neglected

children and a control group in the Northwest, including

American Indians, for the years 1985–98; determine the

extent to which different types of maltreatment are associated with the development of later violent criminal behavior;

and determine the extent to which out-of-home placement

mediates the criminal consequences of abuse and neglect.

This study will improve the American Indian comparison

of an advisory committee that was convened by 

states that community leaders should collaborat

op responses that provide meaningful help, supp

services for families exposed to domestic violenc

maltreatment. Communities should hold perpet

countable for their behavior and provide legal in

tions to stop violence. These Guidelines serve as t

tion for the Green Book Initiative which, as prev

described, is designed to implement the recomm

policies and practices of the Guidelines.

With a grant to the University of Cincinnati, OH

funding the Developmental Theory and Batteri

dents research project. The project is examining 

tionships of parolees and their spouses in light o

(1993) developmental theory of offending beha

identifies two varieties of offending behavior: lif

persistent and adolescent-linked. The project exa

factors related to serious intimate partner violen

across discrete offender groups. The project asks 

developmental theory is related to intimate part

lence; whether there is a relationship between pa

lence and early family characteristics, such as ch

exposure to violence; and whether development

domestic violence differ from those toward othe

violence. The data, including official demograph

report information from a sample of 285 parole

spouses or partners, were collected in Buffalo, N

The National Resource Center and Clearinghou

Clearinghouse), a training and technical assistan

supported by OJJDP through a cooperative agree

the National Center for Missing and Exploited C

(NCMEC), responds to action steps 2 and 5. Thr

Clearinghouse, NCMEC offers a variety of service

lies, law enforcement agencies, and the media to 

searches for missing children. NCMEC offers tech

case assistance, imaging identification services, ph

and poster distribution, age-enhancement of pho
clearinghouses, and nonprofit organizations on issues relating to missing, exploited, and abducted children. Training

emphasizes investigative techniques, interview strategies,

comprehensive response planning, media relations, lead

and case management, and other relevant topics. Each year,

the college trains more than 1,500 practitioners and provides technical assistance to more than 4,300 practitioners.

With grants to Parents Anonymous, Inc., and its affiliates

in nine States, OJJDP supports Strengthening Families All

Across America, which responds to action steps 2 and 5.

The program works to build and support strong, safe families in partnership with local communities by using the

Parents Anonymous® model to help break the cycle of

child abuse and delinquency. It offers resources including

training and technical assistance, a program manual, program material, and subcontracted funds for program expansion. Services include designing a national helpline,

refining a national database, and providing training on

strategies for best practice for staff who serve as Parents

Anonymous® certified trainers.

OJJDP is funding research on Impacts of Childhood

Abuse on Juvenile Violence and Domestic Violence: 

Measuring and Detecting the Intervening Influences 

of Race and Poverty. This research project examines the

relationship between child abuse, juvenile delinquency,

and domestic violence. The project will measure the independent impacts of race and poverty on violence from

youth to early adulthood.

The Secondary Analysis of Childhood Victimization

Data, which investigates the relationship between running

away, substance abuse, and child abuse and neglect, is

another research project being funded by OJJDP. The project uses a large database that was constructed in 1996 with

initial support from NIJ. The data set includes detailed

information on psychiatric, cognitive, intellectual, social,

and behavioral functioning in addition to documented

and self-reported criminal and runaway behavior in a large

hood victimization places children at increased r

delinquency, adult criminality, violent criminal b

and victimization.

HHS is also supporting a research project on Int

ational Transmission of Antisocial Behavior. The 

includes a series of studies that will help clarify 

and discontinuity of a range of antisocial behavi

parent to child.

ACF supports the Children’s Justice Act (CJA) p

funded by the Victims of Crimes Act of 1984 and 

tered by the Office of Child Abuse and Neglect. 

to improve the investigation and prosecution of 

child abuse and neglect, particularly child sexual 

exploitation, in a manner that limits additional 

the child victim. It also supports the investigatio

ecution of maltreatment-related child fatality cas

responds to action steps 1 and 2.

Through its grants to lead State agencies, ACF’s C

Bureau supports the Community-Based Family 

Grants Program, which was mandated by Title I

Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention and Treatme

amended October 3, 1996. The program, which r

to action steps 3 and 4, seeks to develop, operate

and enhance statewide networks of community-b

prevention-focused family resource and support 

provide early, comprehensive support for parents

the development of parenting skills; increase fam

ty; improve family access to resources within the 

ty; support the special needs of families that have 

with disabilities; and decrease the risk of homele

program also encourages the development of a c

of preventive services for children and families th

and community-based collaboration.

ACF also supports Promoting Safe and Stable F

which responds to action steps 3 and 6. The pro

State programs to prevent the unnecessary separ
1 6

will conduct national studies of children who are at risk of

abuse or neglect or who are in the child welfare system. The

studies will address the program, practice, and policy issues

that are relevant to the child welfare system and that affect

outcomes for children and families. Uniform baseline assessments of child, maternal, and family characteristics across

sites are used, beginning when the children’s ages range from

infancy to 4 years. Comprehensive assessments are being carried out at ages 4, 6, 8, and 12, with additional collections

planned for ages 16 and 20, with tracking in interim years.

In addition to a common battery of measures, each site will

collect site-specific data.

Through a contract with Research Triangle Institute, ACF is

supporting the National Survey of Child and Adolescent

Well-Being, a national study of children who are at risk of

abuse or neglect or who are in the child welfare system. The

study will describe the children and families who come

into contact with the child welfare system and will examine

child and family risk factors, service needs, and services received. In the long term, the study will describe the child

welfare system and the experiences of children and families

involved in the system, examine outcomes for these children and families, and describe the interaction of the child

welfare system with other service systems.

ACF supported a publication entitled Child Maltreatment

1999: Reports From the States to the National Child Abuse

and Neglect Data System (U.S. Department of Health and

Human Services, Administration on Children, Youth and

Families, 2001).7 This data system, which was developed in

consultation with State and local protective service agencies, has two components. The summary data component

collects aggregate data from each State through an annual

survey, and the detailed case data component collects

automated, case-level data from States on an annual basis.

correlates of drug use among American Indian y

on reservations; determines rates of violence, vic

and other criminal behavior; and studies the int

ship among these variables to provide a foundat

policy decisions and prevention programs in trib

communities.

Conclusion

Through the programs described above, DOJ, HH

and NEA are working to break the cycle of violen

addressing youth victimization, abuse, and negle

search on programs that address youth victimiza

identified key elements of effective programs an

that should be emphasized by new programs (C

King, 1998). Effective prevention efforts and pro

to be directed toward parents, caregivers, and fam

should focus on issues of violence within the fam

fective primary prevention should focus on train

ents, teachers, principals, daycare providers, law 

ment officers, and juvenile justice system profess

recognize “red flags” and identify risk factors for 

tion early in a child’s life. From a law enforceme

tive, community-oriented policing that builds tru

relationships with both juveniles and family me

that is primarily proactive rather than reactive w

long way toward preventing juvenile crime and c

timization. Programs to help children cope with 

must be able to address the issues of domestic v

trauma to parents or caregivers. By incorporating 

ments into future prevention and intervention p

and continuing to study effective strategies, prac

can help break the cycle of violence by minimizi

victimization and exposure to violence.
qy 

810 Seventh Street NW.

Washington, DC 20531

www.ojjdp.ncjrs.org

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

200 Independence Avenue SW.

Washington, DC 20201

www.hhs.gov

Corporation for National Service

1201 New York Avenue NW.

Washington, DC 20525

www.cns.gov

National Endowment for the Arts

1100 Pennsylvania Avenue NW.

Washington, DC 20506

arts.endow.gov

National Center for Children Exposed to Violence

Yale Child Study Center

230 South Frontage Road

P.O. Box 207900

New Haven, CT 06520–7900

www.nccev.org

For an annotated list of resource documents related to this

Bulletin, call the Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse (JJC) at

800–638–8736. The list is also available through JJC’s Faxon-Demand service at the same toll-free number (select

option 1) and online at puborder.ncjrs.org.

Endnotes

1. The data year cited in the Action Plan was 1994. Because

of the time required for analysis and publication, dates of

the most current data cited in this Bulletin range from

1996 to 1999.

2. Behrman, R.E., ed. 1999. Domestic Violence and Children.

The Future of Children series 9(3).

Illusion Theater and School, Inc.

528 Hennepin Avenue, Suite 704

Minneapolis, MN 55403

612–339–4944

612–337–8042 (fax)

mrobins@illusiontheater.org

5. More information about the clearinghouse is 

online at www.calib.com/nccanch.

6. More information about the Child Welfare Tr

ing Online Network is available online at www.

childwelfaretraining.org.

7. The publication is available online at www.ac

programs/cb/publications/cm99/index.htm.

References

Acoca, L. 1999. Investing in girls: A 21st century 

Juvenile Justice 6(1):3–13.

Bureau of Justice Statistics. 1999. Sourcebook of C

Justice Statistics 1999, edited by A.L. Pastore and 

Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Of

Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Chalk, R., and King, P.A. 1998. Violence in Famili

ing Prevention and Treatment Programs. Washingto

National Academy Press.

Chesney-Lind, M., and Shelden, R.G. 1998. Girls

quency, and Juvenile Justice. Belmont, CA: West W

Press.

Child Welfare League of America. 1997. Sacrame

County Community Intervention Program: Findings 

Comprehensive Study by Community Partners in Ch

Law Enforcement, Juvenile Justice, and the Child W

League of America. Washington, DC: Child Welfa

of America.
1 8

Groves, B., and Zuckerman, B. 1997. Interventions with

parents and caregivers of children who are exposed to

violence. In Children in a Violent Society, edited by J.D.

Osofsky. New York, NY: Guilford Publishers, pp. 183–201.

Harlow, C.W. 1999. Prior Abuse Reported by Inmates and

Probationers. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice,

Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Kaufman, J.G., and Widom, C.S. 1999. Childhood victimization: Running away and delinquency. Journal of Research

in Crime and Delinquency 36(4):347–370.

Langer, L. 1997. Final Report of the Juvenile Domestic Violence Project. Miami, FL: 11th District Court.

Lederman, C. 1999. Putting research to work for prevention. Juvenile Justice 6(2):22–31.

Lederman, C.S., and Brown, E.N. 2000. Entangled in the

shadows: Girls in the juvenile justice system. Buffalo Law

Review 48(3).

Marans, S., and Berkman, M. 1997. Child DevelopmentCommunity Policing: Partnership in a Climate of Violence.

Bulletin. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice,

Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and

Delinquency Prevention.

1999. Technical Assistance Bulletin 4(1). Reno, N

National Council of Juvenile and Family Court J

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Preve

2000. Children as Victims. Bulletin. Washington, 

Department of Justice, Office of Justice Program

of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Osofsky, J.D. 1997. Children in a Violent Society. N

NY: Guilford Press.

Osofsky, J.D. 2000. Final Report: Violence Interven

Program, Mental Health Initiative With Police. New 

LA: Louisiana State University Health Sciences C

Osofsky, J.D., and Fenichel, E. 1999. Infants and 

Building Community Strengths. Washington, DC: Z

Three/National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and 

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

istration on Children, Youth and Families. 2001. 

Maltreatment 1999: Reports From the States to the N

Child Abuse and Neglect Data System. Washington

U.S. Government Printing Office. 
Attorney General

U.S. Department of Justice

950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW.

Washington, DC 20530

John J. Wilson, Vice Chair

Acting Administrator

Office of Juvenile Justice and

Delinquency Prevention

U.S. Department of Justice

810 Seventh Street NW.

Washington, DC 20531

The Honorable Tommy G.

Thompson

Secretary

U.S. Department of Health and

Human Services

Hubert H. Humphrey Building

200 Independence Avenue SW.

Washington, DC 20201

The Honorable Elaine Chao

Secretary

U.S. Department of Labor

Francis Perkins Building

200 Constitution Avenue NW. 

Washington, DC 20210

Portals Building

600 Independence Avenue SW.

Washington, DC 20202–6100

The Honorable Mel Martinez

Secretary

U.S. Department of Housing and

Urban Development

451 Seventh Street SW.

Washington, DC 20410

The Honorable Edward H. Jurith

Acting Director

Office of National Drug 

Control Policy

Executive Office of the President

750 17th Street NW.

Washington, DC 20503

Kevin D. Rooney

Acting Commissioner

Immigration and Naturalization

Service

U.S. Department of Justice

Chester A. Arthur Building

425 Eye Street NW.

Washington, DC 20536

Wendy Zenker

Acting Chief Executive Officer

Corporation for National Service

1201 New York Avenue NW.

Washington, DC 20525

Senior Managing Partner

InterSouth, Inc.

Larry K. Brendtro, Ph.D.

President

Reclaiming Youth Internation

John A. Calhoun

President and Chief Executiv

National Crime Prevention C

Larry EchoHawk

Professor

Brigham Young University

The Honorable Adele Grubb

Judge

Juvenile Court of Cobb Coun

Georgia

Michael J. Mahoney

President

John Howard Association

The Honorable Gordon A. M

Associate Justice

Massachusetts Trial Court

The Honorable Michael W. M

Judge

County and Youth Courts of 

County, Mississippi

Charles Sims

Chief of Police

Police Department of 

Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Action Plan Bulletin N

Acknowledgments

Joy D. Osofsky, Ph.D., is Professor of Public Health, Psychiatry, and

Pediatrics in the Department of Psychiatry, Louisiana State University

Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA.

Lucy Hudson, M.S., Project Manager for the Juvenile Justice Resource

Center in Rockville, MD, researched and updated statistical information

in the Bulletin. Heather E. Frey, M.A., Senior Writer/Editor for the Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse in Rockville, assisted in writing the original

draft and revising Bulletin content.

Points of view or opinions expressed in this document are those of the

author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of

OJJDP or the U.S. Department of Justice.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is a component of

the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice

Assistance, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice,

and the Office for Victims of Crime.

Objectives of the National

 Juvenile Justice Action Plan

1. Provide immediate intervention and appro

sanctions and treatment for delinquent juv

2. Prosecute certain serious, violent, and chro

juvenile offenders in criminal court.

3. Reduce youth involvement with guns, drug

gangs.

4. Provide opportunities for children and you

5. Break the cycle of violence by addressing yo

victimization, abuse, and neglect.

6. Strengthen and mobilize communities.

7. Support the development of innovative app

to research and evaluation.

8. Implement an aggressive public outreach ca

on effective strategies to combat juvenile vi