Describes how one community (1) realized it had a problem with disaffected and troubled youth; (2) began to learn about the problem; (3) gradually shaped a youth program and then expanded it to reach younger teens; and (4) regained its young people. (SR)

Designed to provide background information and assistance to educators developing arson prevention programs in the schools, this report reviews existing programs and recent research on juvenile firesetting. Following an introduction, information is divided into four sections. Section 1 emphasizes curiosity and emotional disturbances as underlying…

The Youth Environmental Service (YES) aims to rehabilitate adjudicated delinquents and to prevent at-risk youth from entering the juvenile justice system by engaging them in environmental work and education programs on federally owned land. YES is a joint program of the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and the Office of Juvenile Justice and…

Selective organizational change in the school presents one promising approach for delinquency prevention among young people. The organizational change approach assumes that: (1) delinquency will be reduced when young people are able to show their competence and worth; (2) young people learn socially legitimate behavior mainly in the school; and…

Based on a state board of education program to individualize graduation requirements, called the Program Completion Alternative, this guide discusses how and why New Jersey school districts ought to develop a variety of ways for students to meet state and local requirements; outlines the alternative education programs made possible by the new…

This paper is intended to help program developers to initiate or refine school-based, self-contained delinquency prevention programs. These programs are limited, short-term efforts to minimize delinquent behavior among youth by creating school situations in which the factors that contribute to delinquent behavior are reduced. Designed as an…

Elementary schools can play an important role in early identification of and intervention for children with problem behavior by creating the infrastructure to provide preventive, proactive supports for all students. This monograph provides an overview of key features of effective school-wide systems of positive behavior support (PBS) at the…