Effective service interventions greatly enhance the well-being of foster youth. A study of 262 foster youth examined one such intervention, therapeutic mentoring. Results showed that mentored youth improved significantly in the areas of family and social functioning, school behavior, and recreational activities, as well as in the reduction of…

Data from a nationally representative sample of shelters for runaway and homeless youths (n=160) were analyzed to determine shelter capacity, occupancy, and occupancy ratios. Analysis focused in particular on occupancy ratios by funding status, shelter size, metropolitan statistical area, season, and day of the week. Results showed a relatively…

Presents logical, theoretical, and empirical arguments for a new rehabilitative agenda for juvenile justice, based on positive principles of youth development. Offers critical examination of dominant intervention paradigms within juvenile justice, compares underlying assumptions of a competency-based rehabilitative model with deficit-based…

Describes a pilot project in York, Pennsylvania which provides therapy for the families of status offender youths (i.e. incorrigibles, runaways, truants). Results indicate that the program is effective in reducing placements and costs. (BD)

Describes the results of an experiment in Florida in which jurisdiction over juvenile status offenders (i.e., runaways, truants, or incorrigibles) was transferred from the juvenile justice system to the child welfare system. (BD)

Describes the staff, clients and program components of the interagency Community Reentry Program, which is designed to facilitate the transition of multi-problem adolescents from institution to community. Program components include vocational counseling, job placement and milieu activities simulating a community-based setting within the…

Assessed exit status of older Missouri youths leaving out-of-home care. Found that most exited in unplanned ways, without employment or high school diploma. The most common living arrangement was with relatives. The number of placements and high school completion predicted employment status. High school completion or noncompletion was associated…

Describes conversion to a coeducational program of a residential school for delinquent girls. Discusses problems of staff attitudes, residents' reactions, destructiveness, sexual acting-out and drug use in the 70-student, private correctional center. (BF)

Examined nature and distribution of HIV-risk behavior in a broad, street-based sample of homeless and runaway youths in New York City (N=929). Found street youths in general to be at high risk, with the highest risks within older age segments of the male street youth population; paradoxically, these youths are least likely to be in contact with…

Notes that this curriculum, for use by human services professionals in a small group format, is a solid contribution to the field of prevention within a positive youth development context. Suggests it has significant potential for enhancing cognitive and emotional development of youth, and facilitates the acquisition of skills that allow them to…

Compares rationales and outcome research for five areas of programming for maltreated and other at-risk adolescents: adolescent competence and skills development programs, family- and parent-focused programs, social integration programs, multiple component programs, and neighborhood transformation programs. Finds that several program models have…

Examined youth gang problem in U.S. Guam. Found that changes in island traditionalism and culture wrought by modern society and modern Western individualism can isolate some youth. Concluded that gang members must be viewed as members of a culture that proposes moral visions and prescribes group behaviors for its membership. (Author/SD)

Claims that the juvenile justice system provides an array of interventions but that culturally relevant programs are necessary to deal with the myriad of social problems. Introduces the MAAT (Egyptian for virtuous or moral life) Center for Human and Organizational Enhancement Inc. and its Rites of Passage program, which uses an Afrocentric…