NCJ Number
87286
Date Published
1982
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This statement describes the research, demonstration projects, programs, and related activities of the Federal Administration for Children, Youth, and Families (ACYF) concerned with juvenile prostitution, abuse, and sexual exploitation of children.
Abstract
Because runaway youth frequently turn to prostitution to survive, the mandates of the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act relate to juvenile prostitution, sexual abuse, and sexual exploitation of children. A total of 169 runaway shelters in the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico received funding under the act in fiscal 1981, with about 45,000 youth receiving shelter services. The Youth Development Bureau within the ACYF is completing a research project that has examined sexual exploitation, etiological factors, and runaway behavior. In 1978, the Youth Development Bureau awarded one of seven demonstration grants to the Bridge for Runaway Youth in Minneapolis to implement and test social service approaches targeted at adolescent females involved in prostitution. The National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect has supported four research projects over the past 2 years. The two projects dealing with the use of children in pornography are intended to generate new knowledge about this problem and contribute to the development of remedial programs and new approaches to preventing and reducing the problem and its consequences. The other two research projects focus on intrafamily child sexual abuse. Beginning in 1980, the National Center supported 2-year demonstration projects to test ways of preventing child sexual abuse and molestation through the education of school-age children. In fiscal 1981, the National Center provided intensive technical assistance to State social services agencies on analysis and amendment of State child protection legislation to effect inclusion of sexual exploitation as a reportable form of child abuse and neglect requiring child protective intervention. Since 1978, the child protective issues related to the sexual exploitation of children have been included in the coordination mandate of the National Center.