Challenge Activity E

• NCJ Number: 165934
• Author(s): R Maniglia
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 6 pages
• Contract Number(s): OJP-94-C-004
• Sponsoring Agency: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/NCJRS; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: From Challenge Activities Program Areas.

Annotation

This paper reviews Challenge Activity E under the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 as reauthorized in 1992; this activity pertains to the development and adoption of policies to prohibit gender bias in placement and treatment and establishing programs to ensure that female youth have access to the full range of services they need.

Abstract

The 1992 reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 added Part E, State Challenge Activities, to the programs funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. The purpose of Part E is to provide initiatives for States participating in the Formula Grants Programs to develop, adopt, and improve policies and programs in one or more of 10 specified Challenge areas. In focusing on Challenge Activity E, this paper profiles programs designed to ensure that female youth have access to the full range of health and mental health services, treatment for physical or sexual assault and abuse, self-defense instruction, education in parenting, and other training and vocational services. Following an overview of female delinquents in the juvenile justice system, this paper emphasizes the importance of understanding gender-specific services. Such services should meet the unique needs of females, value the female perspective, honor the female experience, celebrate the contributions of girls and women, respect female development, empower girls and young women to reach their full potential, and work to change established attitudes that prevent or discourage girls and young women from recognizing that potential. Many States have begun to recognize the need to develop secure residential programs that incorporate gender-specific treatment practices. This paper provides a sampling of five programs across the Nation that are using model concepts to develop appropriate prevention, intervention, and treatment services for juvenile female offenders. 7 references and 16 notes