Although a substantial number of girls are involved with gangs, gang prevention and intervention services are not designed with girls in mind. As Kevin Grant, a service provider working with girls in gangs, notes, "A lot of the [gang prevention and intervention] programs that are available do not fully support the needs of girls in gangs." Girls in gangs require services that respond to their unique experiences and needs. This NCCD Focus highlights the vulnerabilities and consequences of gang involvement for girls, the service needs of girls in gangs and girls at risk of joining gangs, as well as the importance of addressing these service needs as a critical gang violence-prevention strategy. It also provides examples of how various programs are currently addressing the gender-specific needs of girls involved in gangs. Complete listing and access info »

This report is offered to shine a light on the collective efforts underway in Arkansas to transform the state's juvenile justice system. It describes the work that has been done to build reform over the past four years under the steady and skilled stewardship of Ron Angel, Director of the Division of Youth Services (DYS). It also suggests additional changes in policy and practices that might further "revolutionize" youth services, as is called for in the division's strategic reform plan.

The first section of the report discusses the state of juvenile justice in Arkansas prior to the start of reform efforts. The second section describes the building blocks of reform, including the architecture of the reform process and the essential elements of specific reform initiatives. The last section provides hypothetical scenarios that suggest some of the ways current practices could be changed in order to further DYS' efforts to safely reduce the number of youth held in secure custody. These scenarios are offered to aid the discussions among Arkansas policymakers and stakeholders about ways to further the goals of reform in the future.

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Cook County has a long and proud tradition of progressive practice in juvenile justice--not only with the advent of the first juvenile court but as a national leader through the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative. The last two decades, however, have brought intense scrutiny in the area of juvenile detention culminating in a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union alleging a range of violations including overcrowding, unsafe and unsanitary conditions, and regular exposure to violence and abuse. With the intervention of the federal courts, substantial progress has been made to date and additional improvements are planned or underway. Nonetheless, substantial concern continues that such reforms cannot fully resolve the challenges presented by the existing facility.

In the belief that it is time for Cook County to once again set a new standard--this time for youth detention--the Jane Addams Juvenile Court Foundation (JAJCF), on behalf of the Chief Judge of Cook County, has commissioned the National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD) to conduct this study of youth detention in Cook County. This study looks beyond the challenges of the current facility to examine more fundamentally the detention needs of the county and its youth. The ultimate goal of the study is to guide discussion regarding a new vision for detention in Cook County--a vision that holds to the ideals that informed the creation of the court in 1899 while recognizing the current circumstances in which the court operates.

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Focused deterrence, also known as a "call-in," is a strategy in which community stakeholder groups deliver a nonviolence message to community members who are most likely to commit violence. Call-ins have been associated with substantial reductions in gun violence in Boston and Indianapolis (McGarrell, Chermak, Wilson, & Corsaro, 2006), and have become a widely used strategy for gang violence intervention throughout the country. As call-in strategies are implemented in more cities throughout the country, some cities are interested in applying focused deterrence to a new target population: high risk juveniles.

This California Cities Gang Prevention network bulletin draws on academic literature and the experiences of Network cities like Oxnard and Salinas, and other cities including Union City, California; Boston Massachusetts; and Winston-Salem, North Carolina to provide information about juvenile call-ins. Also, to advise effective implementation of juvenile call-ins, this bulletin provides examples from cities that apply call-ins to juveniles, discusses how call-ins may differ for juveniles and adults, and discusses key elements of effective call-ins. Complete listing and access info »

Increasingly, cities have added street outreach to the mix of strategies used in comprehensive gang reduction efforts, drawing upon mounting evidence of impact. Street outreach relies on street workers to support and advocate on behalf of gang members, or those at high risk of joining gang, to change behavior patterns and link them to needed services and institutions. Street outreach workers work day and night to link marginalized and hard-to-serve individuals in communities with high levels of gang activity to social services, and play an important role in diffusing and stopping violence (Decker, Bynum, McDevitt, Farrell, & Varano, 2008; Spergel, 1966; Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention [OJJDP], 2002). These workers reach out to targeted community members at their homes, community events, on street corners, in parks, and in any neighborhood spaces where community members in gangs or at risk of joining gangs spend time (OJJDP, 2002, p. 54). Outreach workers often possess intimate familiarity with the communities in which they work. Their knowledge and skills allow them to work with individuals whom traditional service providers cannot access or support.

California Cities Gang Prevention Network cities (the Network or CCGPN) note that street outreach services are an important piece of their cities' primary intervention strategies, with ties to prevention and enforcement. This bulletin identifies ways outreach programs can strategically support, care for, and hire outreach workers. Complete listing and access info »