WINNING THE BATTLES AND THE WARS. An evaluation of comprehensive, community‐based delinquency prevention programming

Abstract

This three‐year program evaluation investigated the primary prevention aspects of Youth Assistance (YA), a community‐based program of the Oakland County Probate Court providing casework and prevention services. The activities studied included parent education sessions, supervised teen recreation, summer camp scholarships, skill building activities, and a one‐to‐one mentorship program. The goals of the study were to determine how effectively the program succeeded in mobilizing community volunteers, and to examine whether the incidence of neglect and delinquency had been reduced as a result of children and parents participating in one or more of these primary prevention activities. Ethnographical as well as quasi‐experimental approaches were used. The following results are highlighted: YA primary prevention services do serve “at risk” populations in the community; overall, participation in the YA activities had positive effects on the participants, such as improved communication skills, increased respect for authority, and more use of positive discipline techniques; 92% of the primary prevention program participants had no subsequent contact with YA or the Court; the program is cost‐effective. The study also confirmed that volunteers are an essential part of the success of a community‐based prevention program. The study resulted in a number of specific recommendations which will be implemented over the next few years in order to continuously improve the program.

Effectiveness of Mentoring Programs for Youth: A Meta‐Analytic Review

“…The information needed to calculate this type of effect size was available for nine independent samples, each of which appeared in a different study. The relationship factors assessed in these reports included longevity (Royse, 1998), frequency and amount of contact (Howitt, Moore, & Gaulier, 1998), and whether or not a mentor was actually received within the context of the multicomponent Career Beginnings program (Cave & Quint, 1990); in the remaining studies, broader indices or categories of relationship quality were derived from sources that included mentor visit reports (Dicken, Bryson, & Kass, 1977), nominations from teachers (Huisman, 1992) or program staff (LoSciuto, Rajala, Townsend, & Taylor, 1996), and youth ratings of their experiences with mentors (Johnson, 1997;Slicker & Palmer, 1993;Stanwyck & Anson, 1989). Effect sizes were calculated for all relevant comparisons and coded such that positive values indicated more favorable outcomes for youth experiencing greater intensity or quality of mentoring.…”

Assessing the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency: An Evaluation of a Court‐Based Delinquency Prevention Program

“…In 1961, the President's Commission on Juvenile Delinquency and Youth Crime recognized the need for deinstitutionalization of status offenders and community-based programs, which led to the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 and establishment of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). Funding became available for implementing and evaluating prevention and diversion programs, and despite a regression toward "get tough" juvenile policies in the 1990s (Howitt, Moore, & Gaulier, 1998), delinquency prevention programs continue to be popular (Mihalic, Irwin, Fagan, Ballard, & Elliott, 2004;Bartollas & Schmalleger, 2013).…”

Recidivism in a juvenile court‐sponsored delinquency prevention program

“…The second level for OCYA caseworkers is working closely with the school, municipality and police department to develop and implement programs that in the broad sense may help families and potentially could prevent delinquency (Howitt, Moore & Gaulier, 1998). Examples of such programs would include parent training programs, skills training programs for teens, after school programs, and summer camp programs for disadvantaged youth.…”

“…Founded in 1953, the OCYA has a presence in every one of the 26 school districts in Oakland County and the program involves a cooperative relationship between the Oakland County Family Court, the local school district and the local municipality, including the local police department (Howitt, Moore & Gaulier, 1998). Each local program has an office in the school district which is maintained by one or more caseworkers.…”

“…Children are referred to OCYA by the schools, the police or parents. The reason for the referral may be associated with a minor law violation, a school behavior problem or for a status offense – those offenses which are offenses for juveniles but not adults (such as running away from home or skipping school) (Howitt, Moore & Gaulier, 1998).…”