NCJ Number
92240
Date Published
Unknown
Length
121 pages
Annotation
This Canadian conference brought together staff of youth and family programs, criminal justice professionals, and public officials to review current youth programs, examine evaluations currently being conducted, and consider ways to assist local communities interested in developing the youth and family counseling concept.
Abstract
The community services workshop considered the development of an effective organization and then analyzed the issues of policy, goals, communication, credibility, and funding. Issues presented for discussion in an evening session were the implications of the labeling perspective, whether and when the state has the right to intervene in the lives of individuals, whether youth and family counseling programs have a legal mandate, and whether referrals by the police are coercive and the programs compulsory. A seminar on evaluation oriented toward police, social workers, policy planners, and researchers involved in the planning of delinquency prevention and youth/family counseling programs considered the role of evaluation in program planning and implementation, types of evaluation, steps involved in planning and conducting evaluations, and development of a contract for evaluation. An outline of the workshop presentation plan and exercises delineates the various assigned tasks related to planning for program evaluation and the steps involved in the tasks. Eight issues that emerged from the workshop session are briefly described. The final session offered some suggestions for future directions in delinquency prevention. A list of conference participants is provided.