U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

A Message From OJJDP

If we are to continue the recent downturn in the rates of juvenile crime and

violence that had been rising at a disturbing pace in the late 1980’s and

early 1990’s, we need to implement a

broad-based response that effectively

addresses the diverse, multiple

causes of delinquency.

Derived from extensive research, the

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s (OJJDP’s) Comprehensive Strategy was developed

to assist States and local communities in preventing at-risk youth from

becoming serious, violent, and

chronic juvenile offenders and in

crafting an appropriate response

to those who do.

After publishing its Comprehensive

Strategy for Serious, Violent, and

Chronic Juvenile Offenders in 1993,

OJJDP tested and refined its prevention and graduated sanctions components over several years. In 1996, the

Office assisted three communities

(Duval and Lee Counties, FL, and

San Diego County, CA) in applying

its principles locally.

This Bulletin offers an overview of the

Comprehensive Strategy, describes

its implementation in the three pilot

sites, and discusses the lessons

learned in that process. It is our hope

that this information will help you to

address juvenile crime and violence

in your own community.

March 2000

The Comprehensive

Strategy: Lessons Learned

From the Pilot Sites

Kathleen Coolbaugh and Cynthia J. Hansel

In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, the

United States witnessed an alarming rise in

juvenile crime and delinquency. Between

1987 and 1994, arrests of juveniles for violent crimes increased 70 percent (Office of

Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 1997). In 1993, the Office of Juvenile

Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)

published its Comprehensive Strategy for

Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Offenders to provide communities with

a strategic yet practical response to juvenile

delinquency and to help prevent juveniles from becoming serious, violent, and

chronic juvenile offenders (Wilson and

Howell, 1993). The Comprehensive Strategy provides a research-based framework

of strategic responses—from early prevention to a range of appropriate and graduated sanctions—to support States and local jurisdictions in their efforts to reduce

juvenile crime and delinquency. After developing and testing both the prevention

and graduated sanctions components of

the Comprehensive Strategy, OJJDP

launched a national training and technical

assistance initiative in 1995 with the publication of its Guide for Implementing the

Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent,

and Chronic Juvenile Offenders (the Guide)

(Howell, 1995).

In 1996, three communities—Lee and Duval

Counties, FL, and San Diego County, CA—

collaborated with OJJDP to apply the

processes and principles set forth in the

Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent,

and Chronic Juvenile Offenders. This Bulletin describes the experiences of and lessons learned by these Comprehensive Strategy pilot sites. Through their commitment

to improving juvenile services and the lives

of youth and their families, these three

communities have made substantial

progress toward planning and implementing targeted and cost-effective ways to promote healthy youth development and arrest the development of serious, violent,

and chronic juvenile offending. They also

have demonstrated how a comprehensive

strategic approach to preventing and reducing juvenile crime and delinquency can be

planned and implemented. The sections

that follow provide an overview of the Comprehensive Strategy and describe the Comprehensive Strategy planning processes and

key lessons learned by each pilot site.

Overview of the

Comprehensive

Strategy

The Comprehensive Strategy incorporates two principal components:

◆ Preventing youth from becoming delinquent through prevention strategies for all youth with a focus on

those at greatest risk.
2

◆ Improving the juvenile justice system

response to delinquent offenders

through a system of graduated sanctions and a continuum of treatment

alternatives that include immediate

intervention, intermediate sanctions,

community-based corrections, and

aftercare services.

The Comprehensive Strategy incorporates the philosophy of balanced and

restorative justice by employing restitution, community service, and other restorative justice programs when appropriate (Howell, 1995). This multidisciplinary,

research-based framework is guided by

the following six principles for preventing and reducing high-risk behaviors:

◆ Strengthening the family in its primary

responsibility to instill moral values

and provide guidance and support to

children.

◆ Supporting core social institutions

(schools, churches, youth service

organizations, community organizations) in their roles to develop capable, mature, and responsible youth.

◆ Promoting delinquency prevention as

the most cost-effective approach to

reducing juvenile delinquency.

◆ Intervening immediately and effectively when delinquent behavior first

occurs to prevent delinquent offenders from becoming chronic offenders

or from progressively committing

more serious and violent crimes.

◆ Establishing a system of graduated

sanctions that holds each juvenile offender accountable, protects public

safety, and provides programs and services that meet identified treatment

needs.

◆ Identifying and controlling the small

percent of serious, violent, and chronic

juvenile offenders who commit the majority of juvenile felony-level offenses.

The primary goal of the Comprehensive

Strategy is to create a seamless continuum

of juvenile and family services and programs

within a community. This “continuum of

care” begins by providing research-based

prevention services for all youth and ensuring targeted programs for youth at greatest

risk. For juvenile offenders, the Comprehensive Strategy provides immediate interventions. In addition, for youth who have committed more serious or repeated delinquent

acts, the juvenile justice system needs to

incorporate research-based graduated

sanctions, like those outlined by the Comprehensive Strategy, that combine accountability and rehabilitation components

designed to deter future delinquency and

protect the community.

The primary objective of a community’s

Comprehensive Strategy process is to

unify and enhance existing programs and

services and to develop a systematic approach for:

◆ Identifying and reaching populations in

need of prevention services.

◆ Increasing communication and information sharing among all participating agencies and services.

◆ Coordinating and strengthening existing effective programs.

◆ Instituting new programs to fill identified

service gaps in the current prevention

and graduated sanctions continuum.

◆ Monitoring and evaluating the implementation and impact of the CompreContinuum of Services

and Strategies

An effective continuum of services in a

community offers a range of programs

and services that provide the “right

resources for the right kid at the right

time.” The services meet the dual

objectives of promoting the healthy

development of children and youth and

ensuring the safety of the community.

hensive Strategy process and its policies, systems, and services.

The process of planning and implementing a comprehensive community strategy

involves several interrelated and ongoing

steps: mobilizing the community, its key

leaders, and other stakeholders and familiarizing them with the goals, principles,

and elements of the Comprehensive Strategy process; conducting community assessments (e.g., analysis of risk factors,

existing systems, and resources); and

conducting a strategic planning process

to identify, implement, and coordinate

appropriate services and monitor their

effectiveness.

Mobilizing the Community

A key goal of the Comprehensive Strategy

is to mobilize all segments of the community—schools, government agencies, law

enforcement, courts and corrections,

public and private social service agencies, businesses, civic organizations, the

faith community, and private citizens—to

cooperate in a coordinated and comprehensive approach to the problems and

needs of juveniles in their neighborhoods

and the community at large. Commitment

from community leaders is crucial to the

success of a coordinated effort. These

individuals must understand and champion the principles and goals of the Comprehensive Strategy and be willing to

commit resources to the assessment,

planning, and implementation processes.

Overview of the Comprehensive Strategy

Programs for Programs for Youth Immediate Intermediate Community Training Aftercare All Youth at Greatest Risk Intervention Sanctions Confinement Schools

Prevention

Target Population: At-Risk Youth

Graduated Sanctions

Target Population: Delinquent Youth

Youth Development Goals:

◆ Healthy and nurturing families.

◆ Safe communities.

◆ School attachment.

◆ Prosocial peer relations.

◆ Personal development and life skills.

◆ Healthy lifestyle choices.

Youth Habilitation Goals:

◆ Healthy family participation.

◆ Community reintegration.

◆ Educational success and skills

development.

◆ Healthy peer network development.

◆ Prosocial values development.

◆ Healthy lifestyle choices.

Problem Behavior ➤ Noncriminal Misbehavior ➤ Delinquency ➤ Serious, Violent, and Chronic Offending

➤ ➤ ➤ ➤ ➤➤
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Conducting Community

Assessments

A risk-focused planning approach to reducing juvenile delinquency is a cornerstone of the Comprehensive Strategy.

Both the prevention and graduated sanctions components of the strategy are

based on assessing and responding systematically to risk factors—at the community level for prevention efforts and at the

individual level for objective decisionmaking

about appropriate interventions for

system-involved youth. The ultimate

goal of the Comprehensive Strategy

is a continuum of services, including

research-based prevention programs that

address risk factors in the community

and a system of research-based graduated sanctions that provide a range of

dispositional alternatives for youth in the

juvenile justice system based on their risk

of reoffending and need for treatment.

Prevention. Risk- and protection-focused

prevention is based on the premise that,

to prevent a problem from occurring, the

factors contributing to the development

of the problem (risk factors) must be

identified and addressed. At the same

time, factors that insulate or protect children from problems (protective factors)

also must be strengthened. Considerable

research over the past 30 years has identified a number of risk factors that are

associated with juvenile problem behaviors including substance abuse, delinquency, teen pregnancy, dropping out of

school, and violence (Hawkins, Catalano,

and Miller, 1992; Yoshikawa, 1994). As

illustrated in table 1, these risk factors

operate in multiple domains: the community, family, school, and individual/peer

group. Examples of risk factors include

the exposure to drugs in the community,

extreme economic and social deprivation,

family conflict, favorable parental and

peer attitudes toward problem behaviors,

academic failure, lack of commitment to

school, and alienation and rebelliousness.

Protective factors either reduce the impact of risk factors or change the way

the young person responds to risk. Protective factors are important throughout

a child’s developmental process. They

include certain individual characteristics

(e.g., resilient temperament, prosocial

orientation), strong bonding and attachment to positive adults and the community, and a solid set of healthy beliefs

and clear standards of behavior. Enhancing these protective factors is a goal of

both formal and informal prevention

Risk Factor

Community

Availability of drugs ✔

Availability of firearms ✔ ✔

Community laws and norms favorable

to drug use, firearms, and crime ✔✔ ✔

Media portrayals of violence ✔

Transitions and mobility ✔✔ ✔

Low neighborhood attachment and

community organization ✔✔ ✔

Extreme economic deprivation ✔✔✔✔✔

Family

Family history of the problem behavior ✔✔✔✔

Family management problems ✔✔✔✔✔

Family conflict ✔✔✔✔✔

Favorable parental attitudes toward and

involvement in the problem behavior ✔✔ ✔

School

Early and persistent antisocial behavior ✔✔✔✔ ✔

Academic failure beginning in

elementary school ✔✔✔✔✔

Lack of commitment to school ✔✔✔✔

Individual/Peer

Rebelliousness ✔✔ ✔

Friends who engage in the problem behavior ✔✔✔✔✔

Favorable attitudes toward the problem behavior ✔✔✔✔

Early initiation of the problem behavior ✔✔✔✔✔

Constitutional factors ✔✔ ✔ Substance Abuse Delinquency Teenage Pregnancy School Dropout Violence

Source: Catalano and Hawkins, Risk Focused Prevention, Using the Social Development

Strategy, Seattle, WA: Developmental Research and Programs, Inc. 1995.

Adolescent Problem Behaviors

Table 1: Risk Factors for Health and Behavior Problems

programs and services, whether they

focus on individuals, schools, families,

or communities.

As part of the Comprehensive Strategy process, communities collect and assess data

about the nature and extent of their juvenile problems and the levels of their risk

and protective factors. These assessment

data help determine the types of prevention

strategies needed in the community.

In addition to assessing risk and protective factors, communities also develop an

inventory of available resources for preventing or addressing juvenile problems.
4

This process is designed to identify and

assess existing prevention, early intervention, and graduated sanctions programs

and services in the community and gaps

that exist in the community’s programs,

services, and strategies.

Graduated sanctions. The graduated sanctions component of the Comprehensive

Strategy is based on the belief that the juvenile justice system can effectively handle

delinquent behavior through the judicious

application of a range of graduated sanctions and treatment and rehabilitation

services. To help determine the most appropriate sanctions for juvenile offenders,

communities use a different type of risk assessment. In this case, objective, researchbased risk assessment and classification

tools focus on the individual youth to assess (1) the seriousness of the delinquent

act; (2) the potential risk for reoffending

based on the presence of validated predictors (e.g., delinquency history, life circumstances); and (3) the risk to public safety.

Decisionmakers at all critical points in the

juvenile justice system are guided by this

risk assessment process, which is designed

to promote consistency, rationality, and

equity in the disposition of juvenile cases

along a continuum of sanctions options.

A model continuum of sanctions includes the following:

◆ Immediate sanctions within the community for first-time, nonviolent offenders.

◆ Intermediate sanctions within the

community for more serious and repeat offenders.

◆ Secure care programs for the most serious, violent, and chronic offenders.

◆ Aftercare programs that provide high

levels of social control and treatment.

The Comprehensive Strategy assessment process for graduated sanctions

involves identifying and evaluating existing risk assessment tools and, as with

prevention programs, developing an inventory of community treatment and

sanctions resources to identify gaps.

Broadly defined, risk assessment and

classification in juvenile justice refer to

the process of estimating an individual’s

likelihood of continued involvement in

delinquent behavior and deciding the

most appropriate intervention strategy

for the identified risk level. Classification

decisions based on risk assessment are

made at all levels of the juvenile justice

process, including reporting, arrest, intake, detention, prosecution, disposition,

and placement. In conjunction with risk

assessment, a needs assessment is used

to identify individual problem areas to

help ensure that youthful offenders receive appropriate program services (i.e.,

needs assessments inform case planning

rather than classification decisions).

Comprehensive Strategic

Planning

After completing the collection and analysis of risk factors, needs, and resource

data, a community has a great deal of information with which to develop its own

comprehensive strategy for addressing

serious, violent, and chronic juvenile delinquency. The initial goals are to identify

and systematically address three to five

high-priority community risk factors

through prevention efforts and to

establish a full range of appropriate

community-based sanctions for youthful

offenders. To meet these goals, the community identifies and works to fill gaps

in the systems, processes, resources,

services, and programs available to respond to the needs of its youth.

Subsequently, the community examines

its capacity to address the identified community risks and to ensure that the right

resources are available to each youth

(and family) at the right time. This planning process involves developing new

programs and enhancing existing services

to ensure that they are research based,

data driven, and outcome focused and

will address risks and promote the positive social development of youth at all

points along the prevention-to-sanctions

continuum. The process also requires examination of legislative and systems issues that may diminish the effectiveness

of a community’s response.

A long-term plan is not complete without a

process for assessing how well it was implemented and whether it reached its desired

outcomes. Implementation of a comprehensive strategy may involve many changes in

decisionmaking, resource allocation, service and programmatic goals, case processing, information sharing and use, and other

aspects of the human services and juvenile

justice systems. Implicit in the data-driven

approach of the Comprehensive Strategy is

a framework for ongoing evaluation of

whether the desired programmatic and systems changes have occurred and whether

they are having the desired effects.

OJJDP is conducting a national process

evaluation to better understand the factors associated with successful community planning and implementation efforts.

The evaluation will also examine the roles

that OJJDP, State, and local leaders can

play to facilitate these processes. A national impact evaluation to determine the

specific crime-related effects of the Comprehensive Strategy in each community is

also planned. In addition, OJJDP provides

evaluation technical assistance to communities to conduct their own process

and impact evaluations.

Overview of the Three

Comprehensive

Strategy Pilot Sites

Since 1996, OJJDP has provided technical

assistance support for the development of

the Comprehensive Strategy in three pilot

sites, Lee and Duval Counties, FL, and San

Diego County, CA. Developmental Research and Programs, Inc. (DRP), and the

National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD) were selected by OJJDP to

provide training and technical assistance

(TA) to assist these three local communities in developing a Comprehensive Strategy. The training and TA consisted of a series of training events for members of the

communities and designated working

groups and tailored TA consultations to

support the communities’ planning efforts.

As the following summaries show, key

leaders and practitioners in these communities have dedicated countless hours and

shown a strong commitment to the Comprehensive Strategy planning process.

Their experiences have taught important

lessons and, as a result, new tools have

been developed that can help other communities across the country undertake the

Comprehensive Strategy planning process.

Lee County, Florida

Lee County, located on the southwest

side of the Florida peninsula, is the smallest of the three pilot sites, although it is

the third fastest growing metropolitan

area in the United States. With a population of nearly 404,000 in 1998, the county’s

population has been increasing at a rate

twice that of the State and eight times

The Comprehensive Strategy is not just

another program. It is a communityfocused, research-based approach to

juvenile delinquency that coordinates

prevention services with the juvenile

justice system’s response to criminal

behavior.
5

that of the United States. Youth under the

age of 18 represent nearly 20 percent of

the county’s population. This rapid

growth has led to an increased demand

for services, especially law enforcement,

human services, and transportation, particularly in the county’s four cities: Fort

Myers (the county seat), Cape Coral, Fort

Myers Beach, and Sanibel.

Shaken by a series of high profile juvenile

crimes, including the murder of a tourist

and a spree of murders and arson committed by members of a local juvenile cult, Lee

County sought to adopt a comprehensive

approach addressing these alarming problems. A preliminary meeting took place in

early 1996 to provide general information

about the Comprehensive Strategy to key

community leaders. Participants in the orientation session included representatives

from the State Attorney’s office, local law

enforcement, elected officials, juvenile

court, child-serving public agencies, the

State Department of Juvenile Justice, and

nonprofit youth-serving organizations. The

session was designed to familiarize key local leaders with the purposes, principles,

and components of the Comprehensive

Strategy to obtain their endorsement of the

concept and their commitment to devote

the resources of their agencies and constituencies to a long-term planning and

implementation process.

Following the orientation for key leaders,

the first communitywide training session

occurred over a 3-day period in November 1996. Led by trainers from DRP and

NCCD, participants developed a common

vision and goals for Lee County and

learned how to conduct the necessary

planning assessments. As part of their

overall vision to produce Healthy, Ethical, and Productive (HEP) adults, the

community leaders developed specific

objectives, including a 25-percent reduction in the number of minority youth under age 18 living in poverty by 2005, a

20-percent reduction in domestic violence within 5 years, and an increase

in children’s reading and math skills.

The participants divided into two working

committees—one for delinquency prevention and one for graduated sanctions—

based on the principal components of

the Comprehensive Strategy. These two

groups continued to meet over the next

2 years to assess community risks and resources, determine priority areas, and recommend program and policy changes.

Prevention committee. The prevention

committee, initially chaired by an assistant

State attorney, was immediately tasked

with researching and documenting local

risk factors and, ultimately, identifying priority risk areas. After completing a challenging data collection effort, complicated

by inconsistent definitions and counting

mechanisms for many data elements, the

prevention committee identified three priority risk factors for Lee County: friends

who engage in the problem behavior, family conflict/family management problems,

and extreme social and economic deprivation. Based on these risk factors and the

collected data, the committee evaluated

prevention resources available to juveniles

and their families. Each resource was subsequently cataloged in the Lee County

Community Resource Directory (Lee

County Juvenile Justice Council and Comprehensive Strategy Task Force, 1998).

Graduated sanctions committee. The

graduated sanctions committee collected

data to develop a profile of juvenile offenders in Lee County. The committee

inventoried secure and nonsecure programs for juvenile offenders and evaluated the risk assessment and intake instruments used by the State in juvenile

processing. The committee then identified gaps in programs and services for

juvenile offenders according to risk factors. Among the recommendations made

by the graduated sanctions committee

was the creation of a Juvenile Assessment Center to ensure uniform intake

procedures and provide better services

to juveniles and their families. The committee also identified 12 priority tasks to

improve the application and effectiveness of graduated sanctions in Lee

County:

◆ Analysis of the clerk of the court’s

database.

◆ Validation study of the risk-classification

instrument (RCI).

◆ Analysis of recidivism for each of

Florida’s five placement levels.

◆ Automated inventory of programs.

◆ Manual record search of youth in secure detention to assess appropriateness of placement.

◆ Analysis of Lee County youth referred

to community-based programs compared with Lee County youth in secure confinement.

◆ Study of handling of prerelease youth

without aftercare options.

◆ Analysis of time between disposition

and placement.

◆ Study of Notices To Appear.

◆ Refinement of initial screening instrument to collect more data on youth

and family needs.

◆ Design of instrument to replace RCI at

intake as needed.

◆ Evaluation of program effectiveness.

Early in the Comprehensive Strategy planning process, a Youth Advisory Board was

formed to provide a forum for youth to

present their perspectives on issues and

needs in Lee County. Middle and high

school youth are represented on the board

and participate in three committees: Communications and Recruitment, Peers Educating Peers (PEP), and Teen Center Development. At Lee County’s second Comprehensive Strategy training session, held in

April 1997, the board reported its recommendations to the prevention and graduated sanctions committees. The board

recommended expanding mentoring opportunities, increasing community involvement

in the lives of youth, and providing safe

hangouts. The county responded by instituting new and expanded mentoring programs in cooperation with local businesses

and not-for-profit organizations. Denny’s

Corporation, for example, supports staff

involvement in mentoring activities and

donates goods for special events.

The Florida Department of Children and

Families and the Department of Juvenile

Justice in Lee County have jointly implemented the Parenting Project for parents

of children ages 5–18 with attention deficit disorders and other behavioral problems. Selected to address the “family

conflict” priority risk factor, the program

provides counseling, parental training,

and support networks for 60 parents.

Participants are referred by the Department of Children and Families, Alcohol,

Drug Abuse and Mental Health Program;

schools; juvenile court; the sheriff’s department; mental health service providers; and foster parent training programs.

A local mental health facility provides

transportation for program participants.

The collaborative process on this project

has been greatly enhanced through its

focus on an identified priority risk factor.

Lee County’s efforts to establish a comprehensive Juvenile Assessment Center have

been central to its Comprehensive Strategy planning process. Now in its final planning stages, the center will provide booking, receiving, and clinical assessment

services for offenders, housing as many as

60 youth in a secure, modern facility. It
6

also will offer resources for parents and

other citizens concerned about youth behavior and developmental problems. The

center will include offices for the school

board, the Department of Juvenile Justice,

and the Department of Children and Families, with the latter conducting onsite

screening and assessments for abused and

neglected children. County officials are

raising funds for construction of the center

through a bond issue passed in 1999 and

through annual electric franchise taxes.

Lee County also is working to improve

detention placements. The initial graduated sanctions program assessment revealed that juvenile placements tended

to be slot-driven rather than needsdriven—that is, youth placements were

based on where space was available

rather than where needs could best be

met. Researchers from the Lee County

Sheriff’s Office and Florida Gulf Coast

University are evaluating placement

data and will make recommendations for

future placement strategies. In addition,

the county is reviewing and validating

the State’s structured risk assessment

instruments and will make recommendations to the State Department of Juvenile Justice for tailoring the instruments

to the needs of different localities. The

Comprehensive Strategy planning process also led Lee County to streamline

its juvenile court system, replacing parttime judges with one full-time juvenile

judge who is active in Comprehensive

Strategy activities.

The Comprehensive Strategy workgroup

members were assisted by collaboration with several existing Lee County

initiatives:

◆ The Kids Vision and Intervention Program utilizes the faith-based community to intervene in conflict situations

through trained mentors and serves as

an advocate for youth.

◆ The Mentor Center, a collaborative

effort of Weed and Seed, Big Brothers

Big Sisters, and Florida Gulf Coast

University (FGCU), provides free

training for Lee County individuals

wishing to mentor a child.

◆ The Department of Children and Families developed the Kids 1st Program in

an effort to improve Lee County’s child

welfare system. To accomplish this,

the Department works closely with the

Lee County School District to establish

links between the Department and

every school in Lee County. Kids 1st

addresses each of the identified risk

factors for Lee County youth in the dependency system.

◆ FGCU developed its Juvenile Justice

Aftercare Program in cooperation with

the Department of Juvenile Justice. This

program provides intensive supervision and support services for youth

released from confinement, including

a highly structured and intensive

mentoring component. FGCU provides

training to university students who

serve as intensive case monitors working under the direction of a Department

of Juvenile Justice case manager. The

intensive supervision, coupled with

mentoring, increases the likelihood of

the youth successfully completing the

transition back into the community.

Lee County representatives are currently

in the process of finalizing their 5-year

implementation plan for the Comprehensive Strategy.

Duval County, Florida

Duval County and the city of Jacksonville,

located on Florida’s northeast coast, have

the second largest youth population in the

State. The county and city have a combined population of more than 1.7 million

residents, of whom more than 26 percent

are under age 18. Duval County and the

city of Jacksonville have a long history of

collaboration, particularly since they consolidated into a single government structure in 1967. Three of the area’s key

elected officials, the State attorney, the

sheriff, and the mayor of Jacksonville,

work closely together and encourage collaborative, interagency initiatives.

Following a slight decline between 1992 and

1994, the number of delinquency cases in

Duval County rose between 5 and 9 percent

each subsequent year. This increase was

driven primarily by misdemeanor cases, as

illustrated in figure 1. Notable among these

offenses were misdemeanor assault cases,

which nearly doubled, and concealed

weapon cases, which nearly tripled between 1993 and 1997. Also contributing to

the overall increase in misdemeanor cases

were misdemeanor marijuana possession

cases, which rose 160 percent, and nonviolent resisting arrest, which more than

tripled. In this same period, however, several more serious crimes among juveniles

declined. Between 1993 and 1997, rape and

sexual assault declined 20 percent, robbery

declined 22 percent, and auto theft declined 23 percent.

Among subgroups of offenders, the number of females as a proportion of the total youth offender population increased

7 percent from 1993–1997; African Americans increased 27 percent, and Asian

Americans increased 70 percent. The

number of white juvenile offenders increased 16 percent during this same

period (City of Jacksonville Department

of Community Services, 1997).

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

Felonies Misdemeanors Other Offenses

1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97

Figure 1: Number of Delinquency Cases Received by Category of Most

Serious Charge, 1992–97

Source: City of Jacksonville Department of Community Services, 1997. Number of Cases Received
7

In light of this dramatic increase in the

rate of minor offending, and reflecting the

current knowledge that this type of crime

can be a precursor to more serious offending (Office of Juvenile Justice and

Delinquency Prevention, 1998), Duval

County made a commitment to enhance

its efforts at reducing and preventing juvenile crime. Duval County launched its

Comprehensive Strategy initiative in June

1996 with support from the Jessie Ball

duPont Fund, a national private foundation with offices in Jacksonville. The

duPont Fund, which has supported the

planning processes in both Duval and Lee

Counties, convened more than 100 community leaders to learn about and explore

the possibility of implementing the Comprehensive Strategy; provided funding,

staffing, and facility assistance for Duval

County’s planning and training activities;

and served as a “neutral convener” for

Comprehensive Strategy activities and

events. Following the introductory meeting, local leaders formed a Community

Advocates Board, chaired by a local attorney and a volunteer from the mayor’s

office, to guide the planning and implementation processes.

In November 1996, a communitywide

training session on the Comprehensive

Strategy was sponsored by the duPont

Fund. This training session focused on

needs and tasks specific to Duval

County. The trainers addressed data

collection, risk and resource assessment, and other elements of the Comprehensive Strategy approach. The

training was attended by the cochairs of

the Community Advocates Board and

other key community leaders, including

representatives from the sheriff’s office,

State attorney’s office, public defenders

office, Department of Children and Families, State Department of Juvenile Justice, Jacksonville mayor’s office, Jacksonville Children’s Commission, Jacksonville

Human Services Council, school representatives, nonprofit organizations, the

faith community, private citizens, and

staff of the duPont Fund. Following this

2-day training, participants divided into

prevention and graduated sanctions committees to begin the assessment process.

Prevention committee. The prevention

committee, chaired by a retired local attorney, began its task of collecting and assessing local data to identify and prioritize

risk factors. Gathering information initially

was a major challenge for members of the

committee. However, a concerted collaborative effort between the Jacksonville

Children’s Commission, the school system,

and numerous nonprofit agencies enabled

the committee to collect data and statistical information required to complete the

risk assessment process. Based on its

analysis of the risk factor data, Duval

County identified five priority risk factors:

economic deprivation, early academic failure, family management problems, lack of

commitment to school, and the availability

and use of drugs. For each risk factor, the

committee compiled a list of indicators

and identified promising approaches for

reducing those risks.

Graduated sanctions committee. The

graduated sanctions committee, chaired

by a retired circuit court judge, also collected data on juvenile crime and delinquency. This committee divided into

three subcommittees to focus on structured decisionmaking, data collection,

and programs. Members of the subcommittees included representatives from law

enforcement, judicial, and prosecutorial

agencies; the school system and nonprofit

agencies; defense attorneys; and staff

from the Department of Juvenile Justice.

Together, the subcommittees’ work presented a picture of arrest and incarceration trends and program and service

needs in Duval County. Specifically, the

program subcommittee noted service

gaps in immediate and intermediate sanctions, secure facilities, and aftercare programs and made recommendations for

improvements within each of these categories. For example, after comparing

available resources with rising female

arrest trends, the subcommittee recommended expanding the number of programs and services for female offenders.

Comprehensive strategy plan. Recommendations from both the prevention

and graduated sanctions committees

were published as part of Duval County’s

5-year Comprehensive Strategy strategic

action plan. This plan was formally presented to the community and Attorney

General Janet Reno at a May 1998 ceremony in Jacksonville.

At the time of the printing of this Bulletin,

Duval County’s Comprehensive Strategy

plan included immediate, short-term, and

long-term goals, with the overall goal of

reducing juvenile crime by 40 percent by

2015. Implementation of the plan is

guided by a steering committee, comprising representatives from local agencies

and nonprofit organizations, and by a

Comprehensive Strategy Board, cochaired

by the mayor, sheriff, and State attorney.

Between May and August 1998, four fulltime and one part-time staff were hired

with funding from the duPont Fund, the

Jacksonville Department of Community

Services, and the Local Law Enforcement

Block Grant to coordinate implementation

of Comprehensive Strategy activities. The

city of Jacksonville has allocated $900,000

in Local Law Enforcement Block Grant

program funds and an additional $100,000

in city matching funds for the implementation of Comprehensive Strategy programs. Within the immediate timeframe

(6–12 months), the Comprehensive Strategy staff, steering committee, and board

adopted an annual implementation plan,

now being executed, that awards $502,000

to 18 nonprofit organizations to enhance

existing prevention and sanctions programs that are successful in minimizing

Duval County’s five priority risk factors

and enhancing protective factors. Following are some examples of these programs:

◆ Project Abundant Life provides youth

and their families with afterschool and

weekend tutorial services, family enhancement services, job and career

training, computer training, GED

classes, and a host of summer activities

for youth. This program is a service of

Abundant Life Community Church, Inc.,

which offers certified HIV/AIDS testing,

counseling, and related services.

◆ The nationally recognized Families and

Schools Together (FAST) Program consists of an intensive 8-week cycle of parental and student involvement with a

FAST team of counselors. Program goals

include enhancement of family functioning, prevention of the youth’s failure in

school, prevention of parental and

youth substance abuse, and reduction

of family conflict and stress.

◆ The Family Visitation Center provides a safe, supervised environment

for abused and neglected youth to

visit with their biological parents. The

center is a collaborative effort of the

Junior League of Jacksonville, the

Children’s Home Society, and the Department of Children and Families and

is a critical component of abuse and

violence prevention and intervention.

Through the center, families are given

the opportunity to rebuild healthy relationships free of violence and abuse.

◆ The Together We Will Program (ZIP

code 32209) was developed by the

steering committee after determining

that the identified risk factors were

most prevalent in ZIP code 32209. The
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committee decided to focus funding to

support this comprehensive juvenile

crime prevention program that addresses directly the five priority risk

factors in the predetermined area. Services provided include “Character

Counts” components taught by law

enforcement personnel, tutoring and

mentoring programs, computer skills

classes, recreation programs, FAST

programs at two locations, family finance counseling, and mental health

counseling.

These programs are but a few examples

from the beginning stages of Jacksonville’s

Comprehensive Strategy implementation.

San Diego County,

California

San Diego County, the sixth largest county in

the United States, is the largest of the three

pilot sites. The county’s population of more

than 2.5 million speaks 80 different languages. From 1994 to 2003, the number of

youth ages 10 to 19 in the county is projected to increase 26 percent. Between 1986

and 1996, felony arrests of juveniles rose 22

percent, with violent felony arrests of juvenile females rising 276 percent. From 1988 to

1998, there was a 92-percent increase in the

number of juveniles admitted to Juvenile

Hall (secure detention) for violent crimes

and a 229-percent increase in arrests for

weapons charges. Juvenile gang-related violence has also risen dramatically, from 6 homicides in 1987 to 30 in 1993 (Pennell, 1997).

San Diego County’s public agencies and

private sector organizations have a history

of collaboration in responding to community problems. Government agencies and

community-based organizations meet regularly to discuss problems and explore

promising approaches and have long embraced a shared vision of prevention as

an element of crime control. In fact, the

county had begun a comprehensive planning process even before its first official

Comprehensive Strategy training event.

San Diego County’s Comprehensive Strategy planning events and schedule are presented in table 2, illustrating typical planning steps undertaken by the pilot sites.

In 1996, California’s Senate Bill 1760 (SB

1760) legislation made grant funds available to county governments for developing local action plans to prevent and reduce juvenile crime. With $62,000 in SB

1760 funds, San Diego County developed

a local action plan, completed in March

1997. In 1996, San Diego County had begun working with OJJDP to become one of

the Comprehensive Strategy pilot sites

and received its first training for key leaders in October. Because the State’s SB

1760 grant program included many components that paralleled the Comprehensive Strategy, San Diego County quickly

combined the two efforts, with the local

action plan serving as the framework for

its Comprehensive Strategy initiative.

In preparing the local action plan, local

leaders and members of the Juvenile

Justice Coordinating Council met monthly

to discuss risk and program assessments

and community needs. The coordinating

council, representing the police, probation

office, child welfare, and youth-serving

agencies, is chaired by the chief probation

officer, whose staff completed much of the

planning work in conjunction with staff

from the Children’s Initiative, a local nonprofit agency. The Children’s Initiative was

selected to spearhead the Comprehensive

Strategy initiative, serving as a neutral convener able to “transcend local politics.”

At San Diego County’s first communitywide

Comprehensive Strategy training session in

December 1996, participants were taught

the key elements of the Comprehensive

Strategy approach, including community

risk and resource assessment, graduated

sanctions, and long-range planning. Participants developed a shared vision for the future of children in the community, which

was captured in the acronym CLEAR for

caring, literate, educated, and responsible

children. They also identified potential barriers to the planning and implementation

processes and began to identify ways to

surmount these obstacles.

Following the first training session, participants divided into prevention and graduated

sanctions committees, although they later

merged into a single task force with six subcommittees: policymaker “buy-in, stay-in”;

Table 2: Sample Pilot Site Schedule—Comprehensive Strategy Planning

Events in San Diego County, California

July 1996 ◆ State Senate Bill (SB) 1760 enacted to provide $2 million

to California counties to develop local action plans for

reducing the rate of juvenile crime and delinquency.

October 1996 ◆ Comprehensive Strategy orientation for 50 key leaders

from county agencies and organizations.

November 1996 ◆ Multiagency Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council created

in anticipation of SB 1760 award.

December 1996 ◆ Three-day Comprehensive Strategy training for 200 line

staff and community members.

◆ Graduated sanctions and prevention task forces created.

◆ San Diego receives $62,000 grant through SB 1760 to

develop local action plan.

January 1997 ◆ Prevention and graduated sanctions task forces hold

first meetings.

March 1997 ◆ San Diego County local action plan completed.

April 1997 ◆ Graduated sanctions and prevention task forces combine

to create one task force.

May 1997 ◆ Board of Corrections awarded San Diego Probation

Department $6.9 million in SB 1760 funds for its Breaking

Cycles program.

October 1997 ◆ Two-day training on promising approaches for addressing

identified service gaps.

April 1998 ◆ Full-time Comprehensive Strategy coordinator hired.

June 1998 ◆ Comprehensive Strategy Blueprint for Youth, Family, and

Community developed.
9

resource development; information dissemination and advocacy; coordination/

merging parades (i.e., coordination of

streams of resources); information sharing;

and community engagement/developmentinclusiveness. San Diego County’s Comprehensive Strategy planners identified five

gap areas in which existing programs were

judged insufficient to meet community

needs: substance abuse treatment, afterschool programs, parent training and support, vocational and technical training,

and programming for girls. They also identified geographic gaps—the county covers

more than 4,260 square miles—in day treatment and supervision programs, drug and

alcohol services, and correctional facilities

in particular regions. For each priority area,

participants identified baseline data, indicators of change, and desired outcomes and

a program implementation plan based on

promising program approaches.

Following community assessment, San Diego County began addressing gaps and service needs during the strategic planning

phase. For example, the Comprehensive

Strategy team, with support from the

County Board of Supervisors, implemented

the Critical Hours program to increase the

quantity and quality of positive afterschool

activities for middle school youth. The program served more than 14,000 youth at 27

sites in its first year of operation. In addition, the county obtained eight grants to

implement teen pregnancy programs in

high-risk communities to reduce teen pregnancy and expand programs for girls. A task

force on girls’ programs is developing new

gender-specific opportunities for girls, including those on probation.

The largest program associated with San

Diego County’s Comprehensive Strategy

process is the Breaking Cycles program.

Through a $6.9 million SB 1760 grant, this

program provides a continuum of substance abuse services, from prevention to

graduated sanctions, including treatment

and family counseling. The probation department administers Breaking Cycles, in

collaboration with the juvenile court and

numerous public and private service providers. San Diego County’s community assessment teams concept is also part of

Breaking Cycles. Now operating in four of

the county’s regions, community assessment teams offer strength-based family programs and service referrals to more than

3,000 families in more than 80 languages

and dialects. Other programs initiated

through San Diego County’s Comprehensive

Strategy process include expanded substance abuse treatment, job training for

high-risk youth, and adoption of a shared,

structured decisionmaking process involving family “risk and resiliency” checkups.

In spring 1998, San Diego County hired a

full-time coordinator for its Comprehensive Strategy activities. Its 5-year strategic

action plan was published in fall 1998. Attorney General Janet Reno participated in

San Diego County’s announcement of their

strategic plan.

Critical Success

Factors

The most important lessons learned from

any pilot initiative reveal underlying factors that help ensure a successful effort.

Although the three pilot sites had different players, processes, structures, and

schedules, several critical success factors

were common to their Comprehensive

Strategy planning experiences.

Leadership

In each of the pilot sites, the Comprehensive Strategy planning process was led by a

dynamic, influential, and respected community leader who was able to generate and

sustain commitment from other community

leaders and key community organizations.

They came from different types of organizations in their respective communities, but

each emerged as the community’s leader in

mobilizing the local effort. Equally important were the heads of the various committees, subcommittees, supporting agencies,

and other organizations that helped “make

things happen” in each pilot site. Whether

employed or retired, from the public or private sector, these community leaders ensured that the day-to-day work of assessing

and planning for a Comprehensive Strategy

was accomplished.

Agency and Community

Support

Agency and community support were vital

to the success of the initiative because of

the significant staff time involved in collecting and analyzing data, determining priority

risk factors, assessing community resources

and needs, attending training sessions and

committee meetings, and developing the

community’s strategic action plan. In San

Diego, CA, for example, the city’s chief of

police devoted a full-time detective for

1 year to help develop the local action plan.

In Lee County, the State Attorney’s office

supported the active participation of its

staff in Comprehensive Strategy planning

activities. Although the participation of

volunteers was the foundation of the successful planning process, all three sites underscored the importance of having sufficient and dedicated staff resources to

accomplish the various critically important

and time-consuming assessment and coordination planning activities.

Maximizing Existing

Resources and Systems

One of the cornerstones of the Comprehensive Strategy is its multiagency, coordinated approach to reducing juvenile

crime and delinquency. Each of the three

pilot sites incorporated existing organizational and programmatic resources into

its Comprehensive Strategy planning process. In Duval County, for example, key

leaders from local civic organizations

were recruited, and existing data sources

from the Children’s Commission were

tapped. Lee County drew on the framework of its existing Juvenile Justice Council, which adopted Comprehensive Strategy principles and provided support

throughout the planning process. San Diego County built on risk and resource assessments that already had been completed in 10 of the county’s communities

and merged its State-funded local action

plan efforts with Comprehensive Strategy

planning to avoid duplication and maximize participants’ contributions and time.

Marketing

Engaging the media early in the Comprehensive Strategy planning process can provide

the initiative with a powerful ally. As key

partners in the process, the media can help

promote public awareness of positive youth

issues and generate community support for

the planning process. Through their active

involvement, local media can be sensitized

to the need to ensure that incidents of crime

and delinquency involving local youth are

portrayed fairly and accurately. In Lee

County, for example, the media not only enhanced public awareness of the community’s

comprehensive youth planning efforts by

regularly covering Comprehensive Strategy

activities, but also served as a public watchdog of the initiative’s progress—a role welcomed by members of the planning team.

Training and Technical

Assistance

Participants in Comprehensive Strategy

planning efforts at all three pilot sites

believed that the training and technical assistance they received were essential to

their success. The training helped ensure
10

that participants shared a common language

and a common understanding of the Comprehensive Strategy framework. For example, the Comprehensive Strategy process

ideally involves a broad range of community

participants, many of whom may have

limited knowledge of the actual workings

of both prevention programs and the juvenile justice system. A critical part of the community orientation phase, therefore, was to

ensure that everyone understood the basic

components of the continuum of care, characteristics of youth at risk of entering or in

the juvenile justice system, system decision points, and agencies and issues involved. The site-specific technical assistance helped local planners stay focused

and provided guidance during the challenging assessment and decisionmaking

processes.

Early Wins

Even while still in the planning phase of

their Comprehensive Strategy initiatives,

the pilot sites achieved early wins—small

(and sometimes large) accomplishments

that came about largely because of their

coordinated, systematic assessment and

planning efforts. These accomplishments—

new funding, stronger partnerships, positive system changes—no matter how small,

were enormously important motivators and

served as early evidence of the gains the

community could achieve with a comprehensive juvenile delinquency plan in place.

Challenges and

Obstacles

Equally important lessons came from the

challenges and obstacles Comprehensive

Strategy pilot sites encountered and the

steps they took to overcome them. In general, as with the critical success factors, the

pilot sites experienced a common set of

challenges and obstacles as they undertook

their Comprehensive Strategy initiatives.

Data Collection

A cornerstone of the Comprehensive Strategy is its data-driven framework for planning

and decisionmaking in the provision of

youth services. Collecting data is the core

of the risk assessment process, and the pilot

sites found the data collection task to be a

considerable challenge. They encountered

difficulty in identifying appropriate data

and data sources, accessing these data, and

analyzing data that were often discordant.

They also faced agency and institutional concerns about the consequences of sharing or

revealing “unfavorable” data, particularly the

concern about potentially adverse effects on

funding. Data collection challenges were generally overcome through a combination of

patience, perseverance, technical assistance,

cooperation, and compromise. When information could not be found, someone was

willing to continue looking. The DRP and

NCCD trainers often were able to help point

the data collection efforts in the right direction, and the very collaborative nature of the

process often led to the discovery of new

sources of information. When different

counting or tracking systems led to inconsistent numbers, members of the data collection team decided which data to use.

Turf Issues

“Put your resources on the table and remove your hands.” This rule was adopted

by one of the pilot site’s workgroups. Interagency “turf” issues emerged in varying

degrees in each site, in part because many

of the people, organizations, and agencies

involved were not used to working together. Some feared potential loss of funding because of weaknesses that might be

revealed during the data collection and

assessment process. Others feared that

they might “lose [their] market if others

hear what [they’re] doing.” In general, turf

issues dissipated as trust among participants grew and as they grew more comfortable working together. In San Diego County,

for example, one agency representative

described how identifying service gaps

helped her organization better target its

services to particular geographic regions

within certain service categories, allowing

other providers to focus on other areas.

Scheduling and Time

Demands

The Comprehensive Strategy planning process required a significant time commitment from participants, which presented

scheduling and coordination challenges in

each site. The support of key agency leaders facilitated staff participation, but most

participants contributed to the Comprehensive Strategy planning process on their own

time. Lee County found it helpful to schedule meetings at the same location and same

time each month to allow participants to

plan their schedules accordingly. Meeting

agendas and minutes were circulated to

help people plan and keep apprised of

events. In San Diego County, key agency

leaders were required to attend weekly

meetings during the first 3 months to expedite the decisionmaking process.

Community Participation

Bringing “all the right players to the

table” proved to be somewhat of a challenge to the pilot sites, especially in

the early planning stages. Particularly

challenging was engaging grassroots,

community-based organizations and local citizens. As with turf issues, lack of

trust and fear of the implications of this

new process made some reluctant to participate. Over time, persistent invitations

to become involved and increasing community awareness of the Comprehensive

Strategy process and its potential for

service and system improvements led

to increased levels of participation.

Accomplishments and

Outcomes

Each of the three pilot sites has benefited

significantly from the Comprehensive

Strategy planning process. While it is still

too soon to assess the long-term impact on

juvenile crime and delinquency, there are

numerous short-term indicators of success, including promising plans for each

community’s future. Among the pilot sites’

accomplishments are the following:

◆ Enhanced communitywide understanding of prevention services and

sanctions options for juveniles.

◆ Expanded networking capacity and

better coordination among agencies

and service providers.

◆ Institution of performance measurement systems.

◆ Hiring of staff to spearhead the ongoing Comprehensive Strategy planning and implementation efforts.

◆ Development of comprehensive 5-year

strategic action plans.

Overall, the pilot sites’ Comprehensive

Strategy participants expressed a great

sense of accomplishment in their hard

work. Bill Scheu, chair of the Comprehensive Strategy Task Force in Duval County,

FL, stated: “None of us really realized how

mammoth the undertaking was, but all

things said and done, we’re glad we did it.

It’s exhausting, but we’re glad.” All three

sites have made progress toward implementing a comprehensive continuum-ofcare approach to reducing juvenile crime

and delinquency in their communities, and

they have begun incorporating Comprehensive Strategy principles into their existing prevention and juvenile justice systems. These communities are already
11

making budget and program decisions

consistent with identified priorities and

developing research-based solutions to

address them. Moreover, they are already

finding themselves better positioned, with

a systematically developed, data-driven

strategic plan, to leverage Federal, State,

local, and foundation funds to achieve

their strategic objectives.

In working with the pilot sites, OJJDP and

the DRP and NCCD training and TA teams

learned a great deal about ways to launch

Comprehensive Strategy planning efforts.

These lessons have been captured in three

planning tools: a Comprehensive Strategy

training curriculum, a workplan development packet, and an action guide for community planning teams. The three planning

tools, which will help other communities

achieve similar results, are significant outcomes of the pilot sites’ Comprehensive

Strategy planning experiences.

Training Curriculum

OJJDP has supported the development of

an extensive curriculum to assist in providing systematic and flexible training to communities in the Comprehensive Strategy

planning process. The DRP and NCCD trainers have documented, through a series of

four training events, the goals, principles,

concepts, and processes of the Comprehensive Strategy to help communities understand and adopt its framework for providing effective juvenile services. These four

training events include:

◆ Key Leader Orientation. A 1-day session designed to orient key policymakers

and decisionmakers representing all

areas of the prevention and juvenile

justice systems to the principles of

the Comprehensive Strategy.

◆ Community Planning Team Orientation. A 2-day session to orient members of the community planning team,

who represent all areas of the prevention and juvenile justice systems, to

the Comprehensive Strategy, their role

in the planning process, the phases of

the planning process, and the tasks

involved in developing the 5-year strategic plan. The training emphasizes

the importance of teamwork, collaboration, and coordination among members of the community planning team.

◆ Community Assessment Training. A

3-day training session designed to

provide the community planning team

with the knowledge, skills, and tools

necessary to create the data-based

profile of its community that will form

the basis of their strategic plan. The

team learns how to gather, organize,

and analyze the data necessary to prioritize, plan, monitor, and evaluate

the community’s continuum of care.

◆ Community Planning Training. A 3-day

session designed to assist the community planning team in developing an

outcome-focused, data-driven, researchbased 5-year strategic plan. Three major areas are covered in this training:

outcome-focused planning and evaluation, promising approaches to fill identified service/programmatic gaps, and

development of the strategic plan.

Workplan Development

Packet

A workplan development packet is currently being used to determine how local

training and TA events are designed and

delivered to help communities develop

strategic plans and implement a comprehensive approach for addressing their juvenile justice needs. Completed by a core

team of community members, the packet

captures baseline information about the

community’s existing initiatives, planning

processes, key leadership, and strengths

and areas for improvement in existing systems and structures. With this information,

the training team tailors a training and TA

plan that builds on the current circumstances, direction, and needs of the community to ensure a successful Comprehensive Strategy planning process.

Action Guide for

Community Planning Teams

Just as the training curriculum was designed to assist in building community

capacity to plan and implement a Comprehensive Strategy, an action guide was designed to make the community an active

player in the process. It provides a comprehensive set of worksheets, questions,

checklists, and forms to help communities

organize their assessment and planning

efforts and guide the training and TA

processes as they develop their 5-year

strategic plans.

These tools draw extensively on the experiences of the three pilot sites and are being

developed and tested in eight competitively

selected States and up to six communities

in each State. Selected States and communities receive training and technical assistance to develop local strategic plans for

preventing and reducing juvenile crime and

delinquency. As the eight States—Florida,

Iowa, Maryland, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, and Wisconsin—and their local

communities begin to develop and implement their own Comprehensive Strategy

plans to address serious, violent, and

chronic delinquency, they are benefiting

enormously from the experiences and products of the pilot sites. Once the tools are

tested, it is anticipated that they will assist

other States and communities to develop a

Comprehensive Strategy plan.

References

Catalano, R.F., and Hawkins, J.D. 1995.

Risk Focused Prevention, Using the Social

Development Strategy. Seattle, WA: Developmental Research and Programs, Inc.

City of Jacksonville Department of Community Services. 1997. Delinquency

cases received. Unpublished manuscript.

Jacksonville, FL: City of Jacksonville Department of Community Services.

Comprehensive Strategy Task Force. 1998.

What Do You See? Report of the Comprehensive Strategy Task Force on Serious,

Violent and Chronic Juvenile Offenders.

Jacksonville, FL: Jessie Ball duPont Fund.

Hawkins, J.D., Catalano R.F., and Miller,

J.Y. 1992. Risk and protective factors for

alcohol and other drug problems in adolescence and early adulthood: Implications for substance abuse prevention.

Psychological Bulletin 112:64–105.

Howell, J.C., ed. 1995. Guide for Implementing the Comprehensive Strategy for Serious,

Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Offenders.

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

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

Lee County Juvenile Justice Council and

Comprehensive Strategy Task Force.

1998 (Revised from 1997). Lee County

Community resource directory. Unpublished manuscript. Fort Myers, FL: Lee

County Juvenile Justice Council and Comprehensive Strategy Task Force.

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency

Prevention. 1997. Juvenile Offenders and

Victims: 1997 Update on Violence. Summary.

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

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

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency

Prevention. 1998. Serious and Violent Juvenile Offenders. Bulletin. Washington, DC:

U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice

and Delinquency Prevention.
PRESORTED STANDARD

POSTAGE & FEES PAID

DOJ/OJJDP

PERMIT NO. G–91

Bulletin NCJ 178258

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

Washington, DC 20531

Official Business

Penalty for Private Use $300

This Bulletin was prepared under contract

number OJP–95–C–006 from the Office of

Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention,

U.S. Department of Justice.

Points of view or opinions expressed in this

document are those of the authors and do not

necessarily represent the official position or

policies of OJJDP or the U.S. Department of

Justice.

Pennell, S. 1997. Summary of Juvenile Profile: San Diego Region. San Diego, CA: San

Diego Association of Governments.

Wilson, J.J., and Howell, J.C. 1993. The

Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Offenders. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice,

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

Yoshikawa, H. 1994. Prevention as cumulative protection: Effects of early family

support and education on chronic delinquency and its risks. Psychological Bulletin 115:28–54.

For Further Information

For more information on OJJDP’s Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent,

and Chronic Juvenile Offenders, contact:

Mark A. Matese

Program Manager

State Relations and Assistance Division

202–307–5924

For more information about the Comprehensive Strategy pilot site in Lee County,

FL, contact:

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.

Marshall T. Bower

Assistant State Attorney

941–335–2700

For more information on the Comprehensive Strategy pilot site in Duval County,

FL, contact:

Daniel J. D’Alesio, Jr.

Project Director

Juvenile Justice Comprehensive Strategy

904–630–6450

For more information on the Comprehensive Strategy pilot site in San Diego

County, CA, contact:

Sandy McBrayer

Executive Director

The Children’s Initiative

619–490–1670

Acknowledgments

Kathleen Coolbaugh is a former Principal and Cynthia Hansel is an Associate

with Caliber Associates, a Washington, DC-based research and consulting firm

that is conducting the national process evaluation of the Comprehensive Strategy.