NCJ Number
162290
Date Published
1996
Length
98 pages
Annotation
This report identifies Federal programs that serve at-risk or delinquent youth, the fiscal year 1995 appropriations for such programs, program characteristics, and the potential for program overlap and duplication of services.
Abstract
The Federal Government currently has 131 programs, administered by 16 departments and other agencies, that may be used to benefit at-risk or delinquent youth. For the programs for which funding data were available, the total estimated appropriations used for youth in fiscal year 1995 exceeded $4 billion. Many of the programs identified were authorized to provide funding for multiple services, ranging from counseling to job training assistance to research and evaluation efforts. The services most commonly authorized were substance abuse intervention and training and technical assistance (53 programs each). Many programs also had multiple target groups that ranged from economically disadvantaged youth to abused/neglected youth to school dropouts. The current system of Federal programs for at-risk or delinquent youth creates the potential for overlap of services. The analysis showed that, in many cases, it was possible for two or more programs to provide similar services to the same target group. Although the study cannot confirm that overlap is actually occurring, the analysis raises questions about the overall efficiency of Federal efforts to assist at-risk and delinquent youth. 2 tables, 5 figures, and appended supplementary information