ARISE Life-Management Skills Intervention/Re-Entry Program for High Risk Youth

The OJJDP FY 09 Earmarks Programs further the Department's mission by providing grants, cooperative agreements, and other assistance authorized by the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, as amended, to organizations identified in the Explanatory Statement Regarding H.R. 1105 (Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009), 155 Cong. Rec. H1653 (daily ed. Feb. 23, 2009) (statement by Rep. Obey, Chairman of the Committee on Appropriations of the House).

ARISE provides training to direct care staff working in juvenile justice facilities throughout Florida on how to handle anger and stress on the job and at home, how to enhance their communication and interpersonal skills when working with the youth, and how to utilize the ARISE Life-Management Skills programs to educate youth on life and social skills. When youth learn life management and social skills from caring and positive staff, they often change their thinking, make better choices and become less likely to recidivate. The goal of the ARISE Life Skill Management Skills Program is to create a more positive culture in Florida's juvenile justice facilities by training direct care staff in effective communication and interpersonal skills, stress and anger management, and the ability to effectively facilitate ARISE Life Skills curricula to the youth in their charge, and thereby lower recidivism. Since 1996, the ARISE program has been statistically analyzed. For this grant funding period, the evaluation will be conducted by the Justice Research Center (JRC), headquartered in Tallahassee, Florida. The JRC is currently conducting evaluation services of ARISE interventions using an experimental design focused on both youth and staff outcomes. The JRC proposes to review currently existing Pre/Post and Youth Knowledge and Attitudes (KA) Surveys which are designed to assess the immediate and sustained impact of training on staff regarding understanding the principles of ARISE Life Skills groups. NCA/NCF