FBI statistics show that between 1994 and 1998, arrests of female juveniles either increased more or decreased less than arrests of male juveniles in most offense categories. In 1980, females represented only 11 percent of all juvenile arrests for violent offenses. By 1998 (the most recent year for which this analysis is available), that proportion had increased to 17 percent. The increase in arrests of female juveniles affects several levels of the juvenile justice system, from probation services to residential programs and aftercare. Between 1988 and 1997, the number of delinquency cases involving males increased 39 percent and cases involving females increased 83 percent. Although the relative change in delinquency case rates was greater for females than for males in all major offense categories, the proportion of females in the juvenile justice system remains relatively small; thus, females continue to be an easily overlooked minority in the system.

OJJDP is helping the Nation address this issue by funding several research and demonstration activities designed to help improve the response of the juvenile justice system to court-involved girls. The Office also developed two major new programs that will help provide the solid research and information needed to prevent and reduce girls� involvement in delinquency and violence. The programs described in this chapter illustrate OJJDP�s commitment to developing and funding programs that meet the ever-changing needs of the juvenile justice field.

Collaborative Effort for Court-Involved Girls

OJJDP is funding a collaborative effort between the State of Connecticut and Cook County (Chicago), IL, to meet the needs of court-involved girls. The collaboration began in 1997. The primary goal of the effort is to create for the juvenile justice system a replicable, systemwide model of change in the way the system deals with female juvenile offenders, including girls who are pregnant and/or young mothers. OJJDP and the U.S. Department of Justice�s Bureau of Justice Assistance initiated the project, which grew out of Cook County�s Girls Link Juvenile Female Offender Project and the Court Involved Girls Project of the Connecticut Judicial Branch Court Support Services Division.

The grantees have conducted comprehensive studies of the Connecticut female juvenile offender population, convened statewide conferences about gender issues, provided training to juvenile justice staff on responding to the needs of court-involved girls, and developed both a case management system for girls and an instrument for assessing risk and needs. The project also has begun to implement a pilot program and test gender-specific services.

Conduct Disorder in Girls

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh are examining the development of conduct disorder in a sample of 2,500 inner-city girls who were ages 6�8 in 1998, when the study began. The study is following the girls annually for 5 years and will provide information that is critical to understanding the etiology, comorbidity, and prognosis of conduct disorder in girls. This research is important because, as noted earlier, delinquency in girls has been steadily increasing over the past decade, and a better understanding of developmental processes in girls will help in identifying effective means of preventing and responding to delinquency in girls. The research is being funded under an interagency agreement between OJJDP and the National Institute of Mental Health.

Field-Initiated Gender Research

OJJDP�s Field-Initiated Research Program allows the Office to seek out and competitively fund innovative research and evaluation on topics suggested by the field. In FY 1999, OJJDP solicited applications for evaluations of projects that focused on at-risk and delinquent girls and selected several for funding; the grantees continued their projects during FY 2000.

Researchers at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI, are examining three community-based models of treatment developed in Wayne County, MI (which includes the city of Detroit), to reduce the number of institutional placements for adjudicated female offenders. The three treatment models are as follows: a new program that incorporates gender-specific programming, home-based intervention, and community involvement (e.g., services for pregnant/parenting adolescents); an intensive probation program that includes limited gender-specific programming; and a secure, female-only residential program that provides limited gender-specific treatment but no specialized programs to address the needs of pregnant/parenting offenders. Initial findings are expected in 2002.

Researchers at the University of Georgia in Athens, GA, are studying two interventions used by the GIRLS (Gaining Insight into Relationships for Lifelong Success) Project of the Athens Clarke County Court System. The first intervention is a counseling group that deals with girls� relationships to self, family, peers, and teachers. The second intervention involves court service workers in local juvenile justice systems and focuses on individual consultation, educational workshops, and local juvenile justice system policies and procedures. Initial findings are expected in 2002.

Researchers at Illinois State University in Normal, IL, are studying gang-involved girls in Little Chicago, a Champaign, IL, neighborhood that has chronic gang problems. The research is exploring how young women maintain �social capital� through membership in gangs and how gangs offer female members social supports in neighborhoods plagued by chronic economic deprivation.

Gender Issue of OJJDP�s Journal

To help expand knowledge and understanding of the risk factors that contribute to female juvenile offending and the protective factors that guard against it, OJJDP devoted an issue of its journal, Juvenile Justice, to gender-related topics. The issue includes articles about girls entering the juvenile justice system and the need for the system to invest in girls; the Female Intervention Team, a gender-specific probation program developed by the Maryland Department of Juvenile Justice; and the National Girls� Caucus, an advocacy group that is increasing attention on the special needs of females in the juvenile justice system. Copies of Juvenile Justice (Volume VI, Number 1) are available from the Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse.

Interagency Working Group on Gender Issues

The Interagency Working Group on Gender Issues provides a forum for Federal agencies to share information about gender-specific research, programs, and training and technical assistance. The working group encourages the creation of partnerships among Federal, State, and local agencies and is providing guidance for three OJJDP gender initiatives: the National Girls Institute and the Girls Study Group and a National Girls Symposium (planned for FY 2001). The group also will prepare a report for the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, including an overview of Federal activities and recommendations for additional research, programming, and training and technical assistance focusing on gender issues.

Training and Technical Assistance

OJJDP also funded a national training and technical assistance program to promote gender-specific programming for female juvenile offenders and at-risk girls through Greene, Peters, and Associates (GPA) of Nashville, TN. Between 1996 and 2000, the grantee provided gender-specific programming to decisionmakers, administrators, and program staff in corrections, human services, and other settings that serve young delinquent or at-risk girls. This initiative had three purposes: to enhance the skills needed to plan and implement effective gender-specific services for girls in corrections and community settings; to revise, pilot test, and produce research-based curriculums related to those skills; and to design and conduct �train the trainers� sessions for individuals who are responsible for the professional development of staffs that work with girls.

The grantee established a Web site (www. girlspecificprogram.org) that provides links to services, information, research, best practices, conferences, and other topics relevant to girl-specific programming. During FY 2000, GPA, with assistance from the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL) of Portland, OR, updated Guiding Principles for Promising Female Programming: An Inventory of Best Practices, which has been used extensively in the field since 1998. The update includes a synopsis of promising new programs, innovative practices, data, and approaches to systemic reform that fosters efficiency and effectiveness among agencies and organizations serving girls.

In collaboration with NWREL, the grantee also designed and pilot tested a training series, Beyond Gender Barriers: Programming Specifically for Girls. Curriculum I, a 1-day session, focuses on building support at the State and local levels for young female offenders and at-risk girls. Curriculum II is a 2-day session for staff members who work directly with at-risk or adjudicated girls in juvenile justice, human services, or other settings. The �train the trainers� session is a 5-day workshop that builds trainer skills and provides guidance on effective delivery of Curriculums I and II.

On the Horizon

In FY 2000, OJJDP solicited competitive applications for two major new programs designed to address the needs of girls in the juvenile justice system:

• Girls Study Group. This group will be established to build a sound theoretical and empirical foundation to guide future development, testing, and dissemination of strategies that effectively prevent and reduce girls� involvement in delinquency and violence and minimize the negative consequences of such involvement. The Girls Study Group will collaborate with OJJDP�s new National Girls Institute (see next paragraph) to develop programs, address evaluation issues, and disseminate the study group�s findings to policymakers, practitioners, and researchers. OJJDP will announce an award for this initiative in FY 2001.

• National Girls Institute. To help raise public awareness of the underlying factors that place girls at risk of involvement in the juvenile justice system, OJJDP will establish the National Girls Institute (NGI). The Institute will advance the understanding and application of promising prevention, intervention, treatment, education, detention, and aftercare programs and services for delinquent and at-risk girls. NGI also will promote integrated and innovative programs that employ a comprehensive service delivery system appropriate to the unique developmental and culturally specific needs of girls and their families. OJJDP will award a grant in FY 2001.