2004 Funding Priorities

Mission Statement

The mission of the Juvenile Justice Planning Committee is to provide resources for youth who are at-risk of becoming delinquent due to individual, school, family, peer or community factors. These resources will also provide services for youth who are delinquent, undisciplined or involved in the juvenile court process from intake through aftercare.

Program Priorities

The Juvenile Justice Planning Committee will fund programs in each of the priority areas, with all priority areas receiving equal weight:

A.  Targeted services for youth at risk of involvement with the juvenile justice system
B.  Targeted intervention services for court-involved youth
C.  Services to address Disproportionate Minority Confinement & Involvement
D.  Improve system's response to child abuse and neglect

Research Sources (Click Here to view sources)

A.  Targeted services for youth "at risk"

Link to description of "at risk" of involvement with the juvenile justice system

The committee recognizes the importance of collaboration and multidisciplinary approaches to prevention. High priority will be given to projects in which at least two or more nonprofit agencies work together and apply jointly to receive funding.

Programs should demonstrate one or more of the following outcomes:

• Reduce dropout rate

• Prevent delinquency and undisciplined behavior as indicated by specified reductions of identified risk factors and/or quantitative increases in protective factors

• Improve school readiness as specified by measurable changes in school readiness behaviors, academic progress, and/or pre-vocational or vocational competencies

Strategies/Key Elements:

• Address multiple risk factors

• Increase individual and family problem solving, interaction and life skills

• Demonstrate collaboration with other community agencies

• Provide early intervention services to families at risk

• Include behavior management components such as behavior monitoring and reinforcement

• Incorporate program strategies with the goal of reducing disproportionate minority involvement

Link to Priority A Research Guidelines and Program Examples

B.  Targeted intervention services for court-involved youth

Programs should demonstrate one or more of the following outcomes:

• Decrease the recidivism rate of court-involved youth

• Increase the number of court-involved youth who complete school

• Increase the number of first-time offenders who are diverted to other services and alternatives

 Strategies/Key Elements:

• Increase the involvement of faith-based agencies with court-involved youth

• Increase family participation in services for court-involved youth

• Address mental health needs of child and family

• Address multiple factors contributing to delinquency such as, but not limited to, substance abuse, child abuse and behavior problems

• Provide delinquent youth and family with pro-social, behavior management, and life skills

• Encourage continuation of court-involved youth’s education

• Increase collaboration between court and schools

• Promote involvement of youthful offender, victim, and community in repairing harm as a result of delinquent incident

• Incorporate program strategies with the goal of reducing disproportionate minority involvement and confinement

Link to Priority B Research Guidelines and Program Examples

C.  Services to address Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) in the Juvenile Justice System

 The Disproportionate Minority Contact Committee has identified three demonstration counties to establish, plan, implement and evaluate a process that is intended to reduce the number of minority youth involved with the juvenile justice system in their county. The following counties are invited to apply under this priority: Guilford, New Hanover, and Union. These demonstration sites were chosen based on their diverse geographic locations, minority population, willingness to participate and other specific data related to DMC. These applications must be submitted by the Juvenile Crime Prevention Councils in these counties (the County Manager or similar entity would likely be the applicant agency).

Programs must address each of the following outcomes in a way that focuses on systemic change rather than the individual goals of specific agencies in the county:

• Create a data mapping system to capture information about the overrepresentation of minority youth at specified decision points in the juvenile justice system within the specific county. This system should establish baseline data to be used for future evaluation of impact on the minority youth population.

• Create a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the appropriate stakeholders in the community, especially recognizing the importance of families as a part of this decision making team. This team would be expected to oversee the development of the DMC Plan in their county.

• Develop a comprehensive county plan, including a continuum of programs, which specifically indicates a likelihood of having a positive impact on the reduction of DMC. This comprehensive plan should be based on the data collected at specific decision points, focusing on the points that will best result in the reduction of DMC in the county.

Strategies/Key Elements:

• Provide appropriate detention alternatives for law enforcement and juvenile justice professionals

• Create a uniform data collection instrument to be used at all decision making points within the juvenile justice system and also to be able to measure the program effectiveness and impact on DMC

• Maintain relationships with policy makers and juvenile justice professionals in order to collaborate and positively effect DMC

• Target services specifically for minority youth in an effort to specifically impact the number of minority who are involved in the juvenile justice system

• Ensure minority youth that are suspended or expelled have access to Alternative Learning Programs

Link to Priority C Research Guidelines

D.  Improve system's response to child abuse and neglect

Programs should demonstrate one or more of the following outcomes:

• Improved coordination of stakeholders in child abuse and neglect cases

• Improved collection, sharing, and warehousing of offender data across the
  state and government systems

• Coordination of government agencies, families, and child advocates involved
  in non-caretaker child maltreatment cases(cases not referred to DSS)

• Coordinated data collection and tracking system of cases involving
  perpetrators who are not "caretakers" (not referred to DSS)

• Increased capability of medical professionals to identify, report, refer,
  and treat victims of child maltreatment

• Increased capability of and incentives to medical professionals to conduct
  examinations of suspected victims, particularly in under-served areas

• Increased skills and knowledge of professionals serving maltreated children
  and their families

Strategies and Key Elements (please incorporate one or more elements in design of program)

• Collaboration of all stakeholders

• Development and use of multidisciplinary teams

• Involvement of families, including extended families, of child victims

• Reduced trauma to child victims

• Reduced interviews of child victims

• Use of multi-disciplinary training and cross training

• Provide training in best practices and cultural proficiency

Link to Priority D Research Guidelines and Program Examples

 

ALL PROGRAMS MUST

1. a.) Include a description of the population the program will target and the number of youth to be served. Assess the risk and protective factors of delinquency among juveniles in the targeted community; and, they must describe how specific risk/protective factors shall be reduced/strengthened through their services (leading to objective outcome measures). Identify how they complement and utilize existing resources.
   b.) If your project targets "at risk" youth or families, you must define what specific risk factors make them at risk for involvement with the juvenile justice system, using the theoretical approach described in Priority A.

2. Describe any multi-county collaboration and/or multi-agency partnerships. You should include letters of support from agencies or counties identified in the "Project Operation" of your grant. Attach letters of support to the signature page, letters submitted at a later date will not be included with grant application in time for review.

3. Establish clear and appropriate evaluation components relative to your objectives and performance measures.

4. a.) Explain how the proposed program meets the needs of the county’s plan of action for the expenditure of juvenile sanctions and prevention funds drawn up by the Juvenile Crime Prevention Council (JCPC) as defined in statute 147-33.66. This statute reads as follows:

   The Councils (Juvenile Crime Prevention Councils) shall annually review the needs of juveniles in the county who are at risk of delinquency or who have been adjudicated, undisciplined or delinquent and the resources available to address those needs.

   b.) Notify the JCPC Chair in writing of your intent to apply for funding and how the proposed program activities fit the needs identified in the county’s plan of action. Although approval is not necessary, letters of support may be beneficial. Please attach notice of intent to signature page. To access a current list of the JCPC Chairs in each county, go to the Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Website:  http://www.djjdp.org/Crime_Prevention/chairpersons.htm

   
   

5. Please provide the following information in the "Project Cost Assumption" section of the grant.

a. Name three specific activities that you will be doing in the first year of your grant to financially sustain your project (specific steps you may take to ensure longer term funding).

b. Name the community resources, with which you will be partnering, that have the potential to partially sustain your project in the future (you may include "in kind" contributions, but more importantly, include who may be helping with other funding).

c. Provide a brief description of your plan to financially sustain this project after the two-year funding period.