Child maltreatment is a serious national problem. In fiscal year 2020 alone, approximately 618,000 children in the United States experienced abuse and neglect, and 1,750 died as a result. OJJDP supports the important work of children's advocacy centers and their multidisciplinary teams of child abuse prevention and intervention professionals. In…

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) invests in mentoring programs and services to help ensure positive outcomes for youth. Successful mentoring relationships have been shown to increase youth's self-esteem, improve academic achievement, and steer them away from delinquency, substance use, and other high-risk…

For young people to learn, grow, and thrive, they must first be safe. In fiscal year 2020, approximately 618,000 children in the United States experienced abuse and neglect, and 1,750 died as a result. The effects of child abuse, which can include failure in school, depression, substance use, or involvement in the justice system, can be mitigated…

More than 1.6 million children and youth in the United States attend 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLCs), which are federally funded after-school programs available in each state, particularly for students who attend high poverty and low-performing schools (US Department of Education, 2020). These 10,125 centers are intended to do…

In a context where more than 1,000,000 American adolescents are processed by juvenile courts annually and approximately 160,000 are sent to residential placements, this paper examines "what works" and "what doesn't work" in reducing the criminal behavior of juvenile offenders and presents examples of government initiatives that have successfully…

According to data collected in 2003 by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), just over 96,000 youth were incarcerated in juvenile correctional facilities throughout the United States (not including those being held in detention). An additional 10,000 youth were in state prisons or adult jails during the same time,…