This online newsletter of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) for July/August 2016 features OJJDP's youth violence prevention efforts that were highlighted at the Fifth National Summit on Preventing Youth Violence, a preview of the Defending Childhood Public Awareness Campaign, OJJDP's efforts in meeting the needs of at-risk and justice-involved LGBTQ-GNC Youth, and OJJDP's sponsoring of a symposium that highlighted child protection in Tribal communities.
The Fifth National Summit on Preventing Youth Violence was hosted by the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention and organized by OJJDP and the My Brother's Keeper task force. The National Forum is part of a complement of OJJDP-led Federal initiatives, including Defending Childhood and the Community-based Violence Prevention program, which are committed to addressing youth violence at the national, State, and local levels. OJJDP is developing "Changing Minds," a national campaign to raise awareness about the impact of exposure to violence on children. In June, in honor of Pride Month, OJJDP's Administrator Listenbee blogged about OJJDP's commitment to addressing the needs of lesbian, gay bisexual, transgender, questioning/queer, intersex, or gender noncomforming youth. This is done through a multipronged approach that includes hosting a listening session, providing grants, and supporting research and more inclusive mentoring practices. A conference entitled, "A Focus on Technology -Facilitated Crimes Against Children in Indian Country" included a presentation by OJJDP Administrator Listenbee on how technology contributes to the online victimization and trafficking of children, the importance of recognizing signs of trafficking, and OJJDP efforts to help rectify these problems. Other events described in this newsletter are a research symposium on youth violence prevention and an event in which students pledge to do the "Write" thing to end violence. This involves middle-school students writing essays on their experiences with violence.