Preventing Youth Hate Crimes & Identity-Based Bullying Initiative

• NCJ Number: 309820
• Date Published: November 2024
• Agencies: OJJDP
• Publication Type: Program Description (Model)

Annotation

This website provides an overview of the Preventing Youth Hate Crimes & Identity-Based Bullying Initiative.

Abstract

In 2021 the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) launched a comprehensive national initiative to prevent youth hate crimes and identity-based bullying. OJJDP takes a multipronged approach through this initiative to increasing awareness of youth hate crimes and bias-based bullying; identifying best practices and evidence-based strategies to build protective factors in youth and help youth resist and disengage from extremist hate groups; ensuring youth have a voice on the topic of hate crime and an opportunity for partners to work meaningfully with and for young people; and providing grantees, interested communities, and the field at large tools to change the attitude and behavior of young hate-crime offenders and at-risk youth. The initiative includes national youth roundtables, the development of a youth hate crime prevention curriculum, multiple virtual symposium, and a series of webinars and microlearnings. The Youth Hate Crime and Identity-based Bullying Prevention Curriculum is intended for grantees, interested communities, and the field at large to use with middle and high school age youth, including youth in the juvenile justice system and those at risk for involvement. The goal of the curriculum is to build protective factors in youth, change the attitude and behavior of the young hate crime offender, and help individuals working with these youth to better understand the potential of advanced communications technologies to break down cultural barriers and address bias. The curriculum is informed by the discussions and insights received from youth during the initiative’s youth roundtables. OJJDP has published a one-page fact sheet summarizing key takeaways and resources from the Initiative. The fact sheet also provides an overview of the bullying prevention curriculum OJJDP has developed for the field, elevates important statistics on hate crimes and the prevalence of identity-based bullying, and includes links to related resources on OJJDP’s website.