NCJ Number
76615
Journal
Canadian Police Chief Volume: 70 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1981) Pages: 11-14,38
Date Published
1981
Length
5 pages
Annotation
A successful community intervention program for juvenile delinquents in the Overbrook section of Ottawa, Ontario, is described.
Abstract
Of the 2,495 families living in the Overbrook area, 37.9 percent are one-parent households. The average annual income per family is $10,790, and 33.3 percent of the families receiving social welfare assistance. The Overbrook Community Intervention Program was implemented in the later part of 1978 in an attempt to address delinquency effectively. At present, 72 full-time registrants aged 9 through 15 years attend meetings in a local school 3 nights a week and receive family and group counseling, cultural enrichment, athletic involvement, and community integration opportunities. These services are intended to counter the lack of community resources and opportunities for development which was connected with much of the juvenile-related criminal activity in the area. The cultural enrichment program includes trips to cultural and educational establishments in the city, while the athletic program aims to provide an outlet for aggression and physical energy. The group counseling program calls upon guest speakers from local social agencies to provide information on such topics as narcotics, employment, and crime. Community members participate by describing their career and life experiences to the youths and by offering jobs to delinquents. A 1980 study using a control group and a time-series analysis showed that juvenile crime declined 179.2 percent on an aggregate quarter-to-quarter basis over a 2-year period, compared to an increase of 85.5 percent in the nonprogram area. A data table and footnotes with references are included.