Reducing Youth Violence and Delinquency in Pennsylvania: PCCD's Research-Based Programs Initiative

• NCJ Number: 229167
• Author(s): Sarah Meyer Chilenski Ph.D.; Brian K. Bumbarger; Sandee Kyler; Mark T. Greenberg Ph.D.
• Date Published: October 2007
• Length: 72 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Pennsylvania Cmssn on Crime and Delinquency
• Corporate Author: Penn State University Prevention Research Ctr
• Sale Source: Pennsylvania Cmssn on Crime and Delinquency
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Program Description (Model)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Downloaded December 24, 2009

Annotation

This report details Pennsylvania's approach to effectively address juvenile crime, by presenting case studies of model prevention programs being implemented throughout the State through the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) funding, and describing the positive outcomes being seen in these communities.

Abstract

Youth violence and delinquency are problems that continue to challenge communities across the United States. Pennsylvania has been a national leader in confronting youth problem behavior in a progressive and proactive fashion. To empower communities to capitalize on prevention science and the public health approach to delinquency, the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) has supported a community crime prevention planning model called Communities That Care (CTC) for over a decade. CTC is a delinquency prevention planning process that uses locally collected data on the prevalence of risk and protective factors to aid in the selection of prevention priorities specific to each community. The use of proven-effective prevention programs targeted at locally identified risk and protective factors are emphasized. With this goal in mind and support of the CTC, PCCD has invested millions in supporting the replication of the following blueprints and promising programs in over 140 communities throughout Pennsylvania since 1998: 1) Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies, 2) Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, 3) Big Brothers Big Sisters, 4) Families and Schools Together, 5) Nurse-Family Partnership, 6) Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care, 7) LifeSkills Training, 8) Multisystemic Therapy, and 9) Functional Family Therapy. Case studies of these model prevention programs being implemented throughout Pennsylvania through PCCD funding are presented in this report. These case studies demonstrate that communities and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania have benefited from PCCD's investment in proven-effective prevention programs. Figures and appendix