NCJ Number
74955
Date Published
1976
Length
327 pages
Annotation
The Department of Social and Rehabilitative Services of Little Rock, Ark., presents a comprehensive plan focusing on juvenile delinquency in the State; prevention, treatment, control, and systems analysis are emphasized.
Abstract
This study follows a descriptive, analytical design with the overall systems model approach. The total planning project is divided into the four phases of documentation of the existing system, conceptualization of an ideal system, identification of strategies for achieving the ideal system, and analysis of the available alternataives and recommendations for a realistic system of youth services in Arkansas. Data were collected in the general areas of current programming, youth profile information, and systems impact information. The project goal is to develop a total integrated system of services for troubled youth by January 1987. To achieve this goal, the study suggests that the department established and sanction one State organization to serve as the focal point for coordination of all youth services activities. A statewide system of comprehensive community-based youth services programs should be completed by July 1980. Professional court services including intake, probation, referral, and aftercare should be established for all juvenile courts by the same date. The completed system will be composed of three major components: a State youth serices organization, statewide professional juvenile court services, and a series of comprehensive community-based youth services programs. The primary function of the State organization will be to implement and maintain a total integrated youth services delivery system, with major emphasis on private, communty-based services. Eventually, the vast majority of all juvenile corrections and treatment will take place at the community level, including what is typically thought of as training school services. Extensive tables and appendixes presenting youth profiles, youth-related statutes, the planning approach, and other data pertaining to the study are provided. Regional maps and organizational flow charts are also furnished.