Pursuant to Section 504(4) of Title V of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, as amended, this 1996 Report to Congress reviews the activities of the Community Prevention Grants Program, a program to prevent the Nation's youth from becoming involved in the juvenile justice system.
Since 1994 this watershed delinquency prevention program has provided the framework, tools, and funding for communities to assess their needs, mobilize their resources, and address their local problems to help divert at-risk youth from crime to a life of positive growth and development. The report begins with a review of current trends in juvenile justice and the role the Community Prevention Grants Program plays in the prevention and control of juvenile problem behaviors. This includes a presentation of the key principles of the Community Prevention Grants Program, a description of a risk-focused and protection- focused approach to prevention, and a review of the structure of the Community Prevention Grants Program. The second chapter describes the implementation process and highlights real-life local success stories. This chapter reports on the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's design of a national evaluation that is intended to examine whether a comprehensive, locally defined prevention model is more effective in preventing juvenile delinquency than the more traditional, single-agency approach. In the third chapter, the contribution of State and Federal support to local delinquency prevention efforts is discussed. The last chapter offers recommendations on future investment in prevention. It urges Congress to give full consideration to increased delinquency prevention and early intervention funding. 80 references and an appended discussion of risk factors for unhealthy adolescent behaviors