NCJ Number
143665
Journal
Juvenile and Family Court Journal Volume: 44 Issue: 2 Dated: (1993) Pages: 57-67
Date Published
1993
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This article reviews some background on community-based delinquency prevention programs, describes the operations of the Oakland County (Michigan) Probate Court Youth Assistance casework services program, and reports on the methodology and findings of an evaluation of the program.
Abstract
Although community-based prevention programs vary from one jurisdiction to another, all of them use available local resources where nondelinquent, prosocial activities are already underway. The secondary prevention casework services component of the Oakland County Probate Court Youth Assistance program provides short-term interventions for at- risk children and families, using community-based resources. The evaluation project collected data on client characteristics from case records, parents, youths involved in the program, and casework staff. Data on subsequent court involvement were also collected to determine the long-term impact of the program. Findings indicate that more than half of all youths and families referred to the program completed a recommended casework plan. Additionally, 92 percent of the youths in the sample remained free of subsequent juvenile court contact, and 98.5 percent of the sample cases now aged 17 or older have not had a subsequent circuit court contact to date. 1 figure and 16 references