Addressing Youth Victimization

• NCJ Number: 186667
• Author(s): Joy D. Osofsky
• Date Published: October 2001
• Length: 20 pages
• Agencies: OJJDP
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description

Annotation

This report summarizes the accomplishments of the Federal Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in meeting one of the eight objectives of the action plan published in 1996 and titled Combating Violence and Delinquency: The National Juvenile Justice Action Plan.

Abstract

The action plan presented effective strategies to reduce juvenile violence, delinquency, and victimization and provided information about Federal training, technical assistance, grants, research, evaluation, and other resources. The report focuses on the fifth objective which was to break the cycle of violence by addressing youth victimization, abuse, and neglect. The report presents recent and earlier data on juvenile victimization, discusses victimization trends, describes effective and promising strategies and programs, and provides updated information on Federal programs since 1996. Activities focused on improving juvenile and family court handling of child abuse and neglect cases and enhancing local efforts to investigate and prosecute child abuse and neglect cases and strengthen child protective services. Additional activities focused on strengthening at-risk families, supporting Health Start programs for children supporting community-based services to reduce family violence and victimization, and providing training and technical assistance to agencies serving children and their families. Further efforts involved improving services to children who were victims of child abuse and other crimes and programs conducted by the Department of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Services, and other agencies. The report concluded that practitioners can help break the cycle of violence by minimizing youth victimization and exposure to violence through incorporating such activities into future prevention and intervention programs and continuing to study effective strategies. Lists of sources of additional information, list of coordinating council members, and 22 references