In partnership with the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform (CJJR), the National Evaluation and Technical Assistance Center for the Education of Children and Youth Who Are Neglected, Delinquent, or At-Risk (NDTAC) has developed a series of practice guides that provide concrete strategies for adopting the principles and practices discussed in the…

The costs of treating youth who sexually harm others can exceed $200,000 Australian (US$220,000) per annum when they are placed in a residential type facility in either Australia or North America. Following the financial meltdown of the past two years, North American based residential-style programs have found themselves under increasing financial…

Little empirical data exist addressing potential iatrogenic effects of placing youth in juvenile justice settings. We took advantage of a natural experiment in one state where juvenile offenders are evaluated in either residential settings characterized by high-density contact with delinquent youth or community settings with naturally varying…

The "Colorado Children's Budget" presents and analyzes investments and spending trends during the past five state fiscal years on services that benefit children. The "Children's Budget" focuses mainly on state investment and spending, with some analysis of federal investments and spending to provide broader context of state…

This short report provides a brief description of a research project presenting an alternative approach to delinquency treatment. Achievement Place is a family-sized residential treatment home for predelinquent and delinquent youngsters. Six to eight boys, aged 12-16, live in a renovated house located in their own community. A specially trained…

The volunteer shelter bed program development guidelines in this booklet are offered as a community-based alternative to the institutionalization of status offenders. The volunteer shelter bed program is described as a nonsecure residential alternative for status offenders, which can be implemented without the creation of new facilities or the…

Programs of diversion and deinstitutionalization are not nearly as revolutionary as experts in the area of juvenile justice would have us believe. They offer control rather than treatment, and have actually increased the length of time that the youth can expect to be detained. (Author)

This evaluation profiles the population and studies the recidivism rate for Florida's three community-based, residential group treatment (GT) programs for juvenile delinquents not requiring the more intensive security and isolation of the state's training schools. Other ERIC documents describe the smaller (serving 7-25 youths) positive peer…

A model for habilitating mentally retarded adolescent offenders is described. Discussion of historical background indicates a lack of programs for this population. A data-based profile of the population covers range of developmental delay, adaptive behavior scores, social skill development, academic achievement, arrest history, racial composition,…

It has become increasingly evident that juveniles are the perpetrators of a substantial nunber of sexual assaults. Programs designed to treat these adolescent perpetrators usually have similar goals. They attempt to reduce the youth's risk of recidivism by helping him to recognize his problem, take responsibility for his actions, learn how to…

The Pendleton Project residential service is a short term intensive care alternative to the long term, costly, and ineffective non-community based institutional model for treating children and families suffering from behavior problems. The residential services are designed to develop community competency from the vantage point of its unique…

The 11 articles in this monograph, selected from more than 100 presentations made at the National Conference on Transitional Services for Troubled Youth, examine the history, current status, best practices, and future needs of troubled youth who are returning from residential to community settings. The papers are the following: "Transitional…

Young offenders present many challenges to the juvenile justice system, the school system and the labor system as they transfer from residential commitment to their home communities. The challenges can be overwhelming, potentially creating a sense of hopelessness for the community and for the youth. In response to the need for appropriate academic…

In recent years the problem of sexually abusive youth has been increasingly recognized as a significant issue in our community. This paper provides a brief overview of the literature that shows sexually abusive youth to be a heterogeneous population. We argue for the development of typologies of adolescent sexual offenders to assist in the guiding…

The problem is well known to every parent of a teenager, every high school teacher, every clinical practitioner, and every social policy maker: vulnerable adolescents risk becoming more deviant through association with deviant peers and peer groups. Deviant peer influences are among the most potent factors in the development of antisocial…