Effective Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Model

• NCJ Number: 118575
• Author(s): R Martin
• Date Published: 1988
• Length: 18 pages
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: A statement before the Federal Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, June 22, 1988.

Annotation

After documenting the seriousness of the juvenile gang problem in Chicago and reasons for increased gang recruitment, this statement describes the Chicago Intervention Network (CIN) model and recommends the creation of a national coordinating council/organization.

Abstract

Juvenile gang warfare, violence, and recruitment has reached epidemic proportions. The primary attraction of youth gangs is their offering of a socioeconomic structure for truants, school dropouts, and homeless youth with weak family ties and meager job skills. The CIN model aims to offer disadvantaged youth a lifestyle alternative to gangs. CIN currently has five major programs. One program is designed to reduce gang violence in and around Chicago schools, and another encourages citizen involvement in addressing gang problems. A program provides employment and training opportunity for youth, with a focus on gang members. Other programs provide services to institutionalized delinquents and offer a variety of opportunities for positive youth development. A mobile street intervention unit, the core of CIN programs, intervenes in gang-related situations that may lead to violence. The recommended national coordinating council/organization would be an information clearinghouse on gang/juvenile problems to coordinate prevention programs and to disburse funds nationally for juvenile delinquency programs.