Biomedical Research on Youth Violence
Program Objective:
These research projects are aimed at enhancing understanding about the causes of and factors relating to juvenile delinquency and violence.
Program Description:
Research projects of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) related to delinquency include prevention, epidemiology, treatment, and applied research and are part of an institute-wide portfolio. NIDA works with other agencies including the National Institute of Justice of the U.S. Department of Justice, the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention and the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the Office of National Drug Control Policy on these research projects. Approximately 20 studies, totaling $7 million, relate to youth violence and delinquency, including studies of Native-American, Mexican-American, Asian-American, and African-American youth; gangs; violence related to drug use and drug dealing; the effectiveness and efficacy of case management and school-based prevention programs; HIV risk behavior, psychiatric disorder, drug use, and criminality; environmental, social, and neurobiological mechanisms underlying behavior change due to opiate and stimulant use; and government policies to minimize drug use and the occurrence of crime.
Sites:
The National Institute on Drug Abuse has funded 20 research projects relating to youth violence.
Agency Contact:
Donald R. Vereen, Jr., M.D., M.P.H.
National Institute on Drug Abuse
National Institutes of Health
Parklawn Building, Room 10-05
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville, MD 20857
301-443-6480
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Community Demonstration Projects
Program Objective:
The purpose of these community demonstration projects is to provide information about the effectiveness of the interaction of multiple community forces in a coordinated violence prevention program that contains multiple interventions.
Program Description:
These projects are designed so that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can help communities design and implement multifaceted community youth-violence prevention programs. The goal of this strategy is to identify successful methods for delivering youth-violence interventions at the community level and to determine if multifaceted community programs can reduce rates of violent behavior, injury, and death associated with youth violence. Programs will ideally consist of several promising interventions that complement each other. The type and design of interventions will be tailored to the unique characteristics, needs, and resources of the communities involved. Preference for participation as a demonstration site was given to communities with established collaboration among community representatives, health departments, and academic institutions. Criteria and methods for short- and long-term program evaluation are built into the demonstration projects.
Sites:
Durham, North Carolina, Guidance and Employment; Houston, Texas, Peer Group Training and Community Empowerment; and New York City (Brooklyn), New York, Education, Counseling, and Community Awareness.
Agency Contact:
Division of Violence Prevention
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
4770 Buford Highway NE.
Atlanta, GA 30341
770-488-4696
Community Partnership Demonstration Grants and Community Coalition Grants
Program Objective:
To support and promote the continued development of community-based, comprehensive prevention systems. To provide Federal leadership in efforts to support, stimulate, and create partnerships and coalitions in communities nationwide.
Program Description:
The Community Prevention and Demonstrations Branch of the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) supports 240 Community Partnership demonstration grants and 120 Community Coalition grants. Community Coalitions often achieve wide-ranging goals that individual organizations cannot attain alone. These grants support strategies for prevention activities and services to help reduce substance abuse-related problems through community mobilization and individual efforts. Grantees include local governments, Indian tribes, private nonprofit groups, school districts, higher education institutions, and juvenile delinquency programs.
Sites:
Five Community Partnership demonstration grants are initiating collaborative strategies using CSAP community-based prevention models and the U.S. Department of Justice's Weed and Seed resources. They are Bradenton, Florida; Shreveport, Louisiana; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Madison, Wisconsin.
Agency Contact:
Ruth Sanchez-Way, Ph.D.
Division of Community Prevention and Training
Center for Substance Abuse Prevention
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Rockwall II, Room 9D-18
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville, MD 20857
301-443-0369
Community Schools Youth Services and Supervision Grant Program (Community Schools)
Program Objective:
To help prevent crime and violent behavior and boost children's academic achievement.
Program Description:
Created by the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, local Community Schools programs will provide afterschool, evening, weekend, and holiday activities and summer education and recreational programs. Through public-private partnerships, grantees will provide a broad spectrum of supervised recreational, extracurricular, and academic programs. The programs also will train teachers, administrators, social workers, guidance counselors, and parent and school volunteers to provide concurrent social services for at-risk students.
Sites:
The Family and Youth Services Bureau has funded 48 sites across the country.
Agency Contact:
The Family and Youth Services Bureau
Administration on Children, Youth and Families
Administration for Children and Families
Switzer Building, Room 2428
330 C Street SW.
Washington, DC 20201
202-205-8102
Comprehensive Mental Health Services for Children and Adolescents
Program Objective:
To implement and evaluate systems of care for children and adolescents with serious emotional disturbances and their families.
Program Description:
The program awarded 5-year grants to 21 State and local governments and a Native-American tribe to provide services in systems of care. These systems are comprehensive, community based, coordinated, individualized, culturally competent, and family focused. Components of systems of care are health, mental health, education, social services, and juvenile justice. Among the services often provided to fill gaps in previous care are respite care, day treatment, therapeutic foster care, intensive home- and school-based services, and crisis intervention. Three regional hubs provide technical assistance to grantees through the Washington Business Group on Health with support from the Administration on Children, Youth and Families; the Annie E. Casey Foundation; and the U.S. Department of Education.
Sites:
Twenty-two sites around the country.
Agency Contact:
Division of Demonstration Projects
Center for Mental Health Services
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Parklawn Building, Room 18-49
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville, MD 20857
301-443-1333
Epidemiologic Center for Early Risk Behaviors
Program Objective:
To prevent conduct disorders and related serious behavior problems.
Program Description:
The goals of this initiative are to:
Sites:
Arizona State University, the Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland, and the University of South Florida.
Agency Contact:
Doreen S. Koretz, Ph.D.
Prevention Research Branch
National Institute of Mental Health
National Institutes of Health
Parklawn Building, Room 10-85
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville, MD 20857
301-443-4283
Evaluation of Specific Youth Violence Intervention Projects
Program Objective:
Twelve cooperative agreements have been established to evaluate interventions that may reduce injuries and deaths related to interpersonal violence among adolescents and young adults. The interventions have theoretical and empirical foundations and may influence one or more factors that lead to violence. Interventions are designed to produce measurable behavioral or health (that is, injuries or deaths) improvements.
Program Description:
The Youth Violence Intervention Projects are evaluating the following interventions:
Sites:
Youth Violence Intervention Project sites include Pima County, Arizona; Los Angeles, California; Chicago, Illinois; Bloomington, Indiana; Boston, Massachusetts; Detroit, Michigan; New York, New York; Johnston County, North Carolina; Portland, Oregon; Houston, Texas; and Richmond, Virginia.
Agency Contact:
Division of Violence Prevention
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
4770 Buford Highway NE.
Atlanta, GA 30341
770-488-4696
High-Risk Youth Demonstration Grant Program and Demonstration Grants To Reduce Alcohol- and Other Drug-Related Violence Among High-Risk Youth
Program Objective:
To demonstrate strategies to prevent or reduce factors that place youth at risk for alcohol and other drug (AOD)-related violence and reduce AOD use and the incidence and prevalence of AOD-related violent acts among the target population.
Program Description:
Grantees of the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) violence prevention and high-risk youth demonstration program are implementing and evaluating strategies for youth, parents, and communities to address factors that place youth at risk for delinquency or violence. Interventions for youth include life-skills education, conflict negotiation/resolutions skills, peer counseling, mentoring, tutoring, afterschool activities, alternative activities, and community services. Parental strategies include parent-community teams, skills building, counseling, support groups, empowerment activities, and education. Grantees work with schools, teachers, probation departments, corrections departments, and the community to conduct training programs, create improved school climates, and reduce fear of crime among students and teachers on school grounds. Some work with youth in residential settings. Process and outcome evaluations are being conducted by each project. CSAP provides technical assistance, information, and other opportunities to grantees to strengthen their service components and evaluation designs. In FY 1994, six violence-focused grants were funded totaling approximately $2 million per year for 5 years. Total funding for this project is $10 million.
Sites:
More than 50 grantees have implemented violence prevention activities or worked with youth involved with or at risk of involvement with the juvenile justice system. Sites include Hartford, Connecticut; Pensacola, Florida; Atlanta, Georgia; Honolulu, Hawaii; Baltimore, Maryland; Boston, Massachusetts; New York, New York; Cincinnati, Ohio; Puerto Rico; and Salt Lake City, Utah. Grantees are located in Mendocino County, California; Mountain View, California; Chicago, Illinois; New Orleans, Louisiana; and Washington, D.C.
Agency Contact:
Rose Kittrell, M.S.W.
Division of Demonstrations for High Risk Populations
Center for Substance Abuse Prevention
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Rockwall II, 9B-03
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville, MD 20857
301-443-0353
Historically Black Colleges and Universities Violence Prevention Demonstration Initiative
Program Objective:
To address the violence epidemic in public housing neighborhoods.
Program Description:
The Bureau of Primary Health Care entered into cooperative agreements with two Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU's) in FY 1994 to address the violence epidemic in public housing neighborhoods. This effort promotes working partnerships between selected HBCU institutions located close to Bureau-supported Public Housing Primary Care projects for the purpose of developing innovative primary care prevention and intervention approaches to reduce community and family violence in public housing neighborhoods. Neighborhood youth are often the target of these efforts. FY 1995 funding for this initiative totaled $250,000 ($125,000 for each grantee).
Sites:
Clark-Atlanta University and the West End Medical Center, Atlanta, Georgia; and Chicago State University and the Altgeld Clinic, Chicago, Illinois.
Agency Contact:
Division of Programs for Special Populations
Bureau of Primary Health Care
Health Resources and Services Administration
4350 East-West Highway, 9-6D2
Bethesda, MD 20814
301-594-4430
Inventory of Mental Health Services in Juvenile Justice Facilities
Program Objective:
To document the availability of mental health services to children and adolescents in juvenile justice facilities and to describe the characteristics of those juveniles who use mental health services.
Program Description:
This one-time national survey was designed in cooperation with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) of the U.S. Department of Justice. In addition to gathering basic data on service availability and client characteristics, the survey will also describe mental health staffing patterns in the different types of facilities, location of service provision, coordination with other agencies and organizations around services, and funding sources and expenditures for mental health services. National and comparable State data will be reported. The information gathered is expected to enhance planning capability at the Federal, State, and local levels and will provide the Center for Mental Health Services and OJJDP with information for policy and program development in this area.
Sites:
Every juvenile justice facility in the country.
Agency Contact:
Division of State and Community Systems Development
Center for Mental Health Services
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Parklawn Building, Room 15C-04
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville, MD 20857
301-443-3343
Model Comprehensive Treatment for Critical Populations
Program Objective:
To expand the knowledge base regarding which interventions or array of interventions have the greatest impact on improving treatment outcomes for critical populations.
Program Description:
The goals of the program are to reduce crime associated with alcohol and drug abuse and to increase work productivity and family and social functioning. Comprehensive patient assessments and a continuum of services and interventions are cornerstones of these projects.
These demonstration projects develop treatment program enhancements for adolescents (ages 10-21); racial and ethnic minority populations; residents of public housing; women, their infants, and children; and rural populations. Many adolescent programs focus on reducing gang-related activity. In addition to these critical population groups, programs also are aimed at HIV/AIDS patients and at homeless individuals who are addicted to drugs or who suffer from alcoholism.
Sites:
Nationwide.
Agency Contact:
Joyce Johnson, D.O.
Division of National Treatment Demonstrations
Center for Substance Abuse Treatment
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Rockwall II, Suite 740
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville, MD 20857
301-443-7745
Multisite Prevention of Conduct Disorder
Program Objective:
To prevent conduct disorders and related serious behavior problems.
Program Description:
This project is part of a multisite, multicohort prevention trial (Phase IV clinical trial) to implement and evaluate a developmentally based, long-term, comprehensive intervention to prevent conduct disorder and social maladaptation in adolescence and adulthood. It is hypothesized that the intervention will lead to early improvements in child behavior and in family and school ecologies and that these improvements will lead to long-term prevention of conduct disorder and related problems. Subjects include 960 high-risk and 400 low-risk, urban and rural, African-American and Caucasian, male and female, 6- to 14-year-old children in 3 successive cohorts.
The initial 2-year-long intervention addresses multiple risk factors, including noncompliant and aggressive behavior, poor social-cognitive skills, poor peer relations, poor academic performance, and poor coordination between families and schools. The intervention package consists of three coordinated components: a classroom-based program, a Saturday day camp (run by teachers and parents as paid staff), and school-based case management for high-risk children. Further preventive intervention is planned for the transition to middle school and early adolescence.
Sites:
Durham, North Carolina; rural Pennsylvania; Nashville, Tennessee; and Seattle, Washington.
Agency Contact:
Doreen S. Koretz, Ph.D.
Prevention Research Branch
National Institute of Mental Health
National Institutes of Health
Parklawn Building, Room 10-85
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville, MD 20857
301-443-4283
Preventing Problem Behavior Among Middle School Students
Program Objective:
The purpose of this research is to develop, implement, and test the efficacy of school-based interventions in the primary prevention of multiple problem behaviors, including delinquency, substance use, and school misconduct.
Program Description:
The study is being conducted in a school district that has seven middle schools with a student body that is 73 percent Caucasian and 25 percent African American. This study is examining problem behaviors such as tobacco, alcohol, and other substance use and student misconduct at school, home, and in the community. Objectives of the interventions are to increase students' social skills and self-efficacy, facilitate conservative social norms, increase school bonding, and foster parental support and control. Interventions are directed toward students to improve their social skills and resistance to peer pressure; toward the school environment to encourage student bonding; and toward parents to foster support for student prosocial behavior. Students in three of the seven middle schools receive special interventions that include (1) a social skills curriculum, (2) parent education, and (3) school environmental enhancement. Students in the other four middle schools receive the enhanced school environment only.
Sites:
The study includes the middle schools in Charles County, Maryland.
Agency Contact:
Bruce Simons-Morton, Ed.D., M.P.H.
National Institute for Child Health and Human Development
National Institutes of Health
6100 Executive Boulevard, 7B05
Bethesda, MD 20892
301-496-1126
Preventing Underage Drinking, Youthful Alcohol-Related Violence, and Drinking and Driving
Program Objective:
This National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) research initiative focuses on identifying the risk factors for and preventing the initiation of the use and abuse of alcohol.
Program Description:
The purchase, possession, and/or use of alcohol is prohibited for persons under 21. Alcohol use, homelessness, and high-risk sexual behavior frequently are risk factors for delinquency, and alcohol consumption is often associated with other delinquent behavior, including gang activities, sexual assaults, and other violent crime. NIAAA's Research on the Prevention of Alcohol Abuse Among Youth and Research on Alcohol-Related Interpersonal Violence includes juvenile delinquency and its prevention as priority areas for research.
Sites:
Because this is a research program, there are no individual project sites.
Agency Contact:
Susan E. Martin, Ph.D.
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
National Institutes of Health
6000 Executive Boulevard
Rockville, MD 20892
301-443-8767
Research on Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Violence, and Pregnancy Prevention
Program Objective:
To develop, implement, and evaluate a coordinated program of community-based health-behavior interventions to lower the unacceptably high rates of morbidity and mortality among minority youth.
Program Description:
Strategies for decreasing violence-related injuries and deaths, sexually transmitted diseases, and unwanted or unintended pregnancies in minority youth ages 10 to 18 are being developed under eight cooperative agreements. Six projects focus on programs for African-American, Native-American, or Hispanic youth. The University of Washington project is working in the multiethnic communities of Seattle. Three programs provide services in various neighborhood and community organizations, while four others offer programs in local schools. Parents also receive services and support at most sites. A few programs include strategies to help young people resist other health-compromising behaviors such as tobacco, alcohol, and drug use. Several projects are collaborations between minority and majority institutions, and all include community-based groups and organizations in both the design and the implementation phases. Programs are funded for at least 2 years of intervention and followup. The total project cost in FY 1995 was $5 million.
Sites:
Huntsville, Alabama; Chicago, Illinois; Trenton, New Jersey; East New York, New York; Durham, North Carolina; Seattle, Washington; and Northern Wisconsin.
Agency Contact:
Susan Newcomer, D.B.S.
National Institute for Child Health and Human Development
National Institutes of Health
Building 61E, Room 8B13
6100 Executive Boulevard
Bethesda, MD 20892
301-496-1174
School-Based Violence Prevention Program
Program Objective:
To prevent and reduce violence and its negative health consequences among school-age youth.
Program Description:
In FY 1993, as part of its efforts to address violence and related issues, the Bureau of Primary Health Care funded three community health centers to improve and increase violence prevention and mental health services in the school-based clinic setting. Each of the three recipients has an established school-based clinic. Through this funding, violence prevention, mental health treatment, and psychosocial support services are being expanded and integrated into the service packages of the three school-based programs. Each center has developed a unique program of mental health services designed to meet the needs of its different populations and address specific issues related to violence. FY 1995 funding for this effort totaled $75,000 ($25,000 for each grantee).
Sites:
Northeast Valley Health Corporation, San Francisco, California; Baltimore Medical Systems, Inc., Baltimore, Maryland; and E.A. Hawse Health Center, Hardy County, West Virginia.
Agency Contact:
Laura Visser
Division of Programs for Special Populations
Bureau of Primary Health Care
Health Resources and Services Administration
4350 East-West Highway, 9-5A1
Bethesda, MD 20814
301-594-4476
Program Objective:
To improve the effectiveness of treatment services for alcohol- and other drug-abusing individuals in metropolitan areas and to demonstrate models that can be replicated across the country.
Program Description:
The Target Cities Program helps major metropolitan areas link, integrate, and enhance the components of their addiction treatment, health, and human service systems to address the needs of alcohol- and drug-involved individuals and their families who live near or below the poverty line. Comprehensive patient assessments are done at entry and at various stages in the treatment continuum to address issues related to violence. Individuals and family members are referred to and receive treatment and support services suited to their needs. Improved treatment outcomes include reduced alcohol and drug use; increased overall physical, psychiatric, and psychological health; improved social and family functioning; and reduced involvement with the criminal justice system. The program targets racial and ethnic minorities; women, including pregnant and postpartum women, their infants, and children; adolescents; public housing residents; the homeless; persons suffering from diagnosable mental illnesses in addition to alcohol and other drug problems; and individuals involved in the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems.
Sites:
Nationwide.
Agency Contact:
Joyce Johnson, D.O.
Division of National Treatment Demonstrations
Center for Substance Abuse Treatment
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Rockwall II, Suite 740
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville, MD 20857
301-443-7745
Youth Gang Drug Prevention Program
Program Objective:
To assist communities in controlling the spread of gang- and drug-related activities through prevention, early intervention, and diversion of at-risk youth from gang and drug involvement.
Program Description:
The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 established a prevention program for youth at risk of involvement with gangs and drugs. Through the Youth Gang Drug Prevention Program, communities are assisted in taking a proactive approach to halting the escalation of illegal gang and drug activity. Since 1989, the Family and Youth Services Bureau has awarded grants to develop community-based consortia; to implement single-purpose youth gang prevention, intervention, and diversion programs; to implement employment and training programs for at-risk youth; to explore methods for gang-proofing young children; and to implement research aimed at gang families and the factors that predispose youth to avoid gang involvement.
Sites:
Nationwide.
Agency Contact:
The Family and Youth Services Bureau
Administration on Children, Youth and Families
Administration for Children and Families
Switzer Building, Room 2428
330 C Street SW.
Washington, DC 20201
202-205-8102