Parent Efficacy Program to strengthen families and foster healthy development so that at-risk teens succeed in school and life.

The OJJDP FY 10 Earmarks Program furthers 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 Conference Report to accompany the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010 (P.L. 111-117), H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 111-366 at 702-714.

The Centinela Youth Services Parent Efficacy Program will provide critical services to the parents of high risk youth in order to strengthen their ability to foster healthy development in the home, so that their children are less likely to be involved in delinquency and are more likely to be successful in school. The program will service the parents of 100 high risk/high need students, 12 to 16 years of age who are low performers in school, at-risk of dropping out of school, or attached to the juvenile justice system. Services will include family mediation and parent training workshops to assist parents in achieving successful parent-teen interactions and communications; linkages to secondary and post-secondary school systems to equip parents to act as advocates in connecting their teens to education and community resources that enhance learning at home and in school; parent training workshops; and connections to employment and training services to assist parents in achieving economic self-sufficiency. Centinela Youth Services will report on performance measures which will include: number of parents and youth enrolled and completing program; pre- and post-assessment of parenting skills; school attendance; and juvenile justice re-offense rates among those youth already involved in the juvenile justice system.

NCA/NCF