University of Alabama Juvenile Justice Program

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 University of Alabama Juvenile Justice Program proposes to provide instruction in applied music, free of charge, in its after-school and summer enrichment programs. The target population is school-age children, ages five to seventeen years, who have economically disadvantaged backgrounds and who are at greater risk of involvement in delinquent activity. Lessons will be provided three times weekly during the school year for two hours each afternoon and twice weekly during the summer months for three hours daily. Courses of study offered during the school year will include piano only, while summer program offerings will be expanded to include lessons in drum, organ, and the recorder. Students will divide their time between individual and supervised practice time and instructional time. Degreed music teachers teach students one-on-one and provide the guidance necessary for them to become proficient on the instruments. School and community leaders will be asked to assist in the program's efforts to identify additional students who meet enrollment criteria and have a desire to study music. As students graduate from the program, new students are to be recruited.

At the culmination of the after-school and summer enrichment programs, recitals will be held in order to give participants an opportunity to share their accomplishments with family and friends. Students who are graduating from the program will receive special recognition. Many advanced students audition for and are admitted into middle and high school bands and at least five have gone on to receive college music scholarships as a result of the level of musical proficiency they were able to attain.

NCA/NCF