NCJ Number
92995
Date Published
1983
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This field report uses the material published by the Cambridge Intermediate Treatment (IT) Partnership to illustrate the application of the principles of community participation in IT.
Abstract
The term IT refers to the overall range of community resources and activities which work under the Cambridge scheme to meet the needs of young people in trouble. The IT Partnership is composed of four main agencies and two support organizations. Two features are considered particularly important to understanding the model: the relationship between IT and the youth service, and the scheme's strategy with regard to delinquency. The Cambridge IT scheme advocates a collaborative strategy of solving the problems of young people as adolescents rather than as delinquents. The approach seeks to bring young people into contact with resources and support which they would otherwise not get. The target audience for IT has limited access to and opportunities for engagement in facilities generally available to young people. The Cambridge strategy functions at three levels for different delinquency groups: intensive -- alternatives to custody for persistent juvenile offenders; medium -- work with juveniles on supervision orders who are not in immediate danger of being placed in custody; and preventive -- diversion of juveniles at risk of entering the justice system. Each level has for its characteristic target group a set of program methods but the three levels are at the same time integrated into a single scheme of provision.