NCJ Number
164487
Journal
British Juvenile & Family Courts Society Newsletter Dated: (July 1996) Pages: 4-6
Date Published
1996
Length
3 pages
Annotation
The Children-at-Risk (CAR) program, a drug and delinquency prevention program in the United States, targets high-risk adolescents ages 11 to 13 who live in distressed neighborhoods.
Abstract
The program features the integrated delivery of comprehensive services that are tailored to the community and involve collaboration among the police, schools, case managers, and other youth service providers. Case management of the entire family is the core of the program, with each family having a case manager to assess needs and to provide each family member with appropriate services; approximately half of the involved youths have also been recommended for mentoring. Originally implemented in 1992 as a 3-year experimental demonstration program, it is funded by numerous private foundations and the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and the National Institute of Justice. An outcome evaluation is currently underway to determine the program's impact on school performance, family functioning, delinquent behavior, and substance abuse. Preliminary results based on the first year of program operation in the first four cities to begin the program show that youths in the program had fewer contacts with police and courts than the control group and had higher rates of school attendance and promotion to the next grade level. There was evidence of greater declines in neighborhood crime in CAR neighborhoods in three of the four cities.