Program of Research on the Causes and Correlates of Delinquency

OJJDPs Demonstration Programs Division Grants were established to provide grants, cooperative agreements, and other assistance to organizations identified in the Conference Report to accompany the Department of Justice Appropriations Act, 2010 (Pub. L. 111-117) -- H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 111-366.

The Rochester Youth Development Study is an ongoing panel study designed to examine the causes and consequences of delinquency. The study has followed a sample of high-risk youth from 1988 through the present and has collected extensive information about their involvement in delinquency, violence, drug use, and other problem behaviors. Detailed information has also been collected on many of the basic causes and correlates of these behaviors. In 1999, the Rochester Youth Development Study added an intergenerational component by studying the children of our original adolescent subjects. During this project period, The Rochester Youth Development Study will focus on two core activities: data archiving and dissemination of policy-relevant findings. First, the project has collected extensive information on the study families, and in conjunction with OJJDP staff, we will begin archiving the data files to make them more generally available to the broader research community. Second, many of the project's findings are policy-relevant and we will prepare a series of Policy Briefs to disseminate them more widely and create a website dedicated to the findings. NCA/NCF

OJJDP's Demonstration Programs Division Grants were established to provide grants, cooperative agreements, and other assistance to organizations. This program is authorized by the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011, Pub. L. 112-110.

The Rochester Youth Development Study is an ongoing longitudinal investigation designed to examine the causes and consequences of delinquency. The study has followed a sample of high-risk youth from 1988 through the present and has collected extensive information about their involvement in delinquency, violence, drug use, and other problem behaviors. Detailed information has also been collected on many of the basic causes and correlates of these behaviors. In 1999, the researchers added an intergenerational component by studying the children of the original adolescent subjects. The two main current goals include: (1) continuing the process of archiving data from the Rochester Youth Development Study and of the other two projects of OJJDP's Program of Research on the Causes and Correlates of Delinquency through the establishment of a secure enclave at the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data, and (2) working with OJJDP to disseminate findings of the Program by developing new policy relevant research reports and creating a website dedicated to the totality of policy relevant and other important findings of the Program of Research on the Causes and Correlates of Delinquency.

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OJJDP has a specific mission to develop and disseminate knowledge about what works to prevent juvenile delinquency and violence and improve the effectiveness of the juvenile justice system. The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, 42 U.S.C. § 5601 et seq authorizes the Administrator of OJJDP to conduct research or evaluations and undertake statistical analyses on a wide range of juvenile justice matters. OJJDP also provides funding to states and localities to carry out research, evaluation, and statistical analyses.

The Rochester Youth Development Study is an ongoing longitudinal investigation designed to examine the causes and consequences of delinquency. The study has followed a sample of high-risk youth from 1988 through the present and has collected extensive information about their involvement in delinquency, violence, drug use, and other problem behaviors. Detailed information has also been collected on many of the basic causes and correlates of these behaviors. In 1999, the researchers added an intergenerational component by studying the children of the original adolescent subjects.

University of Maryland will collaborate with the other two projects of OJJDP's Program of Research on the Causes and Correlates of Delinquency through the establishment of a secure enclave at the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD). This collaborative process between the three Causes and Correlates projects with NACJD will substantially increase the utility of the data and potential yield of secondary analysis particularly with respect to cross-site comparison of key variables, data aggregation, and examination of lower frequency variables and occurrences.

Funding under this supplemental award will support the process of archiving data from the Rochester Youth Development Study with a focus on: (1) continued preparation of the first six waves of student and of parent data and associated documentation for archiving; (2) continued coordination with the NACJD regarding procedures for the transfer of the data; and (3) establishment of protocols for data sharing with qualified researchers that would ensure the protection of human subjects and safeguard their privacy.

NCA/NCF

This program furthers the Department's mission by providing grants and cooperative agreements for research and evaluation activities to organizations that OJJDP designates.

The Rochester Youth Development Study (RYDS) is an ongoing panel study designed to examine the causes and consequences of delinquency. This Program of Research on the Causes and Correlates of Delinquency study has followed a sample of high-risk youth since 1988 and has collected extensive information about their involvement in delinquency, violence, drug use, and other problem behaviors. Detailed information has also been collected on many of the basic causes and correlates of these behaviors. The project has also collected extensive information on the study families.

In conjunction with OJJDP staff, the researchers are archiving the project data files to make them available to the broader research community. This allows more analysis of the data for the development of policy and programs to serve the youth of the United States as well as the entire nation, with a special focus on urban populations.

The archiving project includes processing the data and preparing documentation, creating data transfer agreements, and transferring data and documentation files to National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD). The RYDS researchers will also work with their partners at OJJDP, NACJD, and the Denver and Pittsburgh projects toward the goal of making the data accessible to other researchers. This will be dependent on developing appropriate procedures for sharing data that ensure confidentiality and are acceptable to the relevant Institutional Review Board(s).

Progress toward the project goals will be measured by the number of waves of data processed, the number of waves of data transferred, and, in collaboration with the other partners, the development of a plan for sharing data with other researchers.
NCA/NCF

This program furthers the Department's mission by providing grants and cooperative agreements for research and evaluation activities to organizations that OJJDP designates.

The Rochester Youth Development Study (RYDS) is an ongoing panel study designed to examine the causes and consequences of delinquency. This Program of Research on the Causes and Correlates of Delinquency study has followed a sample of high-risk youth since 1988 and has collected extensive information about their involvement in delinquency, violence, drug use, and other problem behaviors. Detailed information has also been collected on many of the basic causes and correlates of these behaviors. The project has also collected extensive information on the study families.

In conjunction with OJJDP staff, the researchers are archiving the project data files to make them available to the broader research community. This allows more analysis of the data for the development of policy and programs to serve the youth of the United States as well as the entire nation, with a special focus on urban populations. The archiving project includes processing the data and preparing documentation, creating data transfer agreements, and transferring data and documentation files to National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD). The RYDS researchers will also work with their partners at OJJDP, NACJD, and the Denver and Pittsburgh projects toward the goal of making the data accessible to other researchers. This will be dependent on developing appropriate procedures for sharing data that ensure confidentiality and are acceptable to the relevant Institutional Review Board(s).

Deliverables for this project period include collaborative development and planning of the data archive itself (along with OJJDP and NACJD), obtaining IRB approval for the data sharing mechanism (after a specific plan for data sharing is developed), and preparation and transfer of two waves of adolescent data and three waves of parent data (along with the associated documentation) to NACJD for the archive. Along with files that will have been transferred in the previous project periods, this will make a total of 12 waves of data (three for parent and nine for student) that will have been transferred by the end of this project period. Progress toward the project goals will be measured by the number of waves of data processed, the number of waves of data transferred, and, in collaboration with the other partners, the development of a plan for sharing data with other researchers.

NCA/NCF