As this year draws to a close, I want to thank all of OJJDP’s partners. Together, our work helps enhance public safety, ensure youth are held appropriately accountable to crime victims, and empower youth to live productive lives. Much has been accomplished this year.

In fiscal year 2018, OJJDP awarded approximately $300 million in grants to support states, tribes, and communities in their efforts to enhance public safety and protect children.

OJJDP awarded about $43 million in Title II Formula Grants funding. We reorganized our internal structure to promote consistent communication between OJJDP and the states, and to enhance monitoring and performance related to the four core requirements of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act.

To help ensure compliance with the core requirements, we just completed a comprehensive 4-day training in Baltimore for juvenile justice specialists, compliance monitors, and DMC [disproportionate minority contact] coordinators from across the country. Additional information about the training, as well as participant feedback, will be available soon.

To promote positive outcomes for at-risk youth, OJJDP awarded more than $83 million to mentoring programs and services for youth. In fiscal year 2018, $9.7 million was specifically targeted to mentoring strategies for youth impacted by the opioid crisis.

OJJDP also awarded upward of $23 million to fund family and youth drug courts, and statewide coordinated responses to the opioid crisis.

Gang activity continues to disrupt communities and cultivate violence. OJJDP recalibrated its work in this area to strengthen violence reduction strategies. In fiscal year 2018, we awarded supplemental funding of $800,000 to support the National Gang Center, a national resource for information on gang prevention, intervention, and enforcement. OJJDP’s Comprehensive Gang Model continues to serve as a proven framework for coordinating effective violence reduction strategies.

Even as we work to deter delinquency and criminal behavior among youth, we remain deeply committed to protecting young people from exploitation and abuse. In fiscal year 2018, the Office awarded more than $29 million to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force program, which supports task forces that conduct investigations, forensic examinations, and prosecutions related to the technology-facilitated sexual exploitation of children. In a 3-month nationwide operation this past spring, the task forces investigated more than 25,000 complaints and arrested more than 2,300 suspected online child sex offenders. Also during that time, the task forces delivered more than 3,700 presentations on Internet safety to over 390,000 youth and adults.

To support law enforcement and all our other partners in effectively carrying out their work, OJJDP offers training and technical assistance through an extensive network of providers. In 2018, our providers received nearly 1,000 requests for service. OJJDP’s National Training and Technical Assistance Center also hosted 45 webinars on a variety of topics, reaching more than 5,400 participants. In June, OJJDP hosted the National Law Enforcement Training on Child Exploitation, where 1,500 law enforcement professionals received specialized training on investigating and prosecuting technology-facilitated crimes.

It’s critical that our training and technical assistance—and all of OJJDP’s work—be informed by, and respond to, the needs of the juvenile justice field. To further our partnership, the Office engaged with practitioners and researchers through listening sessions and presentations at conferences, meetings, and special events. We also disseminated the latest news and developments through social media, as well as through our JUVJUST listserv and online newsletter, OJJDP News @ a Glance. We have received positive feedback from the field, and our Office was honored with five national awards in 2018 for our communication products.

In the coming year, OJJDP will build on these accomplishments, expand our outreach activities, and continue our efforts to protect children and communities, hold youth appropriately accountable for their delinquent conduct, and help them develop the life skills they need to build a successful future.

On a personal note, I'm incredibly grateful for the dedicated, hard-working, professionals at OJJDP, and their unwavering commitment to improving the lives of children.