Proposal to Help Convene Three Policy Forums on Crime Issues for State Policy Makers

• NCJ Number: 187673
• Date Published: March 2001
• Length: 95 pages
• Grant Number(s): 98-IJ-CX-0054
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)

Annotation

This report provides agenda outlines and issue briefs on three executive policy forums held from 1999 to 2000 by the National Governors’ Association Center for Best Practices in conjunction with the National Institute of Justice addressing Governors’ concerns about juvenile crime.

Abstract

The executive policy forums, “Combating School Violence”, “Dealing with Violent Juvenile Offenders”, and “Preventing Family Violence” were designed to be highly interactive and to engage Governors’ policy advisors and provide them with information on current research, best practices, and State examples. For each of the forums a corresponding Issue Brief was produced and disseminated. The first forum on “Combating School Violence” produced the report, Making Schools Safe. The ultimate goal of any school violence prevention program is to create safe and orderly schools. The strategy to combat school violence must be a multimodal, comprehensive, and coordinated effort that involves schools, communities, businesses, public and private agencies, parents, and elected officials. As understanding increases about the causes of school violence, policymakers will be able to create and implement more effective policy. The second forum and report on “Dealing with Violent Juvenile Offenders” states that understanding the factors that increase a youth’s chance for becoming violent is important. State strategies that recognize the role and influence of risk factors and build upon the characteristics of youth hold the key to a long-term comprehensive violence reduction strategy. The third forum, “Preventing Family Violence” produced the report, Building Bridges Across Systems: State Innovations to Address and Prevent Family Violence. Research shows that children with a history of maltreatment are 25 percent more likely to engage in antisocial behavior and suffer from mental illness, and approximately 20 to 30 percent of women on welfare are victims of domestic abuse. Effective family violence strategies are collaborative in their approach. Successful strategies involve law enforcement, the courts, human services, health agencies, community-based providers, employers, and schools addressing multiple aspects of the problem simultaneously. Appendices A-C