Red Hook Community Justice Center's Youth Programs

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).

The Red Hook Community Justice Center, an award-winning community court that handles criminal, housing and family court cases in southwest Brooklyn, seeks funding for its youth programs. For many years, Red Hook youth have been deeply susceptible to a plethora of risk factors that contribute to youth violence, including economic and social deprivation, academic failure, and community norms favorable toward drug use. The Justice Center seeks to alleviate the impact of these conditions by implementing a set of programmatic interventions that will reduce delinquency and increase positive youth development. To track progress, the Justice Center will look at measures like program participation and compliance, parental involvement, changes in educational status, and recidivism. The Justice Center will provide juvenile offenders with the services and supports they need to avoid further interactions with the justice system; divert teens who have committed minor infractions from further negative behavior through a Youth Court, where such cases are heard in front of a jury of the young person's peers; design and disseminate a youth-led anti-crime media campaign that will change youth perceptions of criminal behavior; and engage local youth in recreational and community service opportunities through a neighborhood baseball league. NCA/NCF