Public policy continues to emphasize a public safety agenda that results in a movement of support from delinquency prevention and diversion programs. Existing juvenile justice competency based services are facing funding cuts as resources are diverted to prison construction and deep end programs for serious habitual offenders. Public policy makers continue their inextricable march toward a hardened get tough policy. Regrettably, we find limited resources being channeled to a few select youth and a much larger population of at-risk youth receiving less and less. The increasing demand to target delinquent youth provides a strong example of a national trend to shift resources and redefine the at-risk population as those youth with multiple social problems including delinquency.
Corporations continue to show strong support for social funding.
This is fueled by many motivations. Program staff and grant developers, however, must recognize that employment opportunities for at-risk youth are plentiful due to the tight labor market. Corporations are often willing to fund grant applications that prepare at-risk youth for quality jobs because they increasingly need a skilled trained workforce. Program developers and grant writers must understand this premise and seek out and identify like-minded organizations and entities within the federal government to partner with. Both foundations and corporations are very sensitive to duplication of effort.