NCJ Number
112655
Date Published
1987
Length
5 pages
Annotation
Inaugurated in 1969, the Family Development Research Program offered an extensive range of education, health, and counseling services to 82 low-income families in Syracuse, New York.
Abstract
Program participants were primarily black, single-parent families. Services were offered from the last trimester of pregnancy and continued until the children reached the age of 5 years. In addition to formal services, home visitors offered friendship, advice, support, encouragement, and information on child-rearing practices. In a 10-year followup study, school, court, and personal interview data were used to compare 65 of the children who had participated in the original study with 54 control children (61 and 54 percent of the original samples, respectively). The biggest difference between the groups was found in juvenile delinquency. Compared to controls, program children showed lower delinquency rates (6 percent as compared to 22 percent for controls) and less severe offending. Of four program children with probation records, three were charged with unruliness and one with a single delinquent offense. By contrast, of 12 control children with records; 5 were charged with chronic offending, including burglary, assault, robbery, and sexual assault. Female program participants performed significantly better in school than did their control counterparts. Program parents had more positive attitudes toward their children and higher expectations of them than did control parents, and control children had more positive attitudes about themselves and their continuing education than did control children.