For many years, sharing information—about research, statistics, and programs that work—with practitioners, policymakers, and the public has been a priority at OJJDP. Although OJJDP recently began to change its approach to information dissemination by relying less on bulk mailings and more on its Web site, the Office remains committed to sharing information with the field. In FY 2001, OJJDP used many vehicles to get information out to the field, including publications, electronic products (such as CD–ROMs, listservs, and Web sites), and satellite videoconferences. The Office’s dissemination efforts addressed a number of key national issues, including school safety, youth victimization, and substance abuse. The activities described in this chapter illustrate OJJDP’s commitment to keeping the juvenile justice field informed about research findings, juvenile justice statistics, and promising programs.

Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse

The Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse (JJC), operated by Aspen Systems Corporation of Rockville, MD, has met the information needs of the juvenile justice field since 1979, when it was established by OJJDP. JJC is a one-stop shop that provides toll-free telephone and online access to a wealth of information on all aspects of juvenile justice, delinquency prevention, and child protection. The Clearinghouse offers policymakers, practitioners, researchers, parents, youth, members of the media, and representatives of community organizations easy access to a comprehensive collection of up-to-date research and statistics, program descriptions, publications, practical guides and manuals, information on grants and funding opportunities, and other useful resources—all prepared by the nation’s foremost experts in juvenile justice and related fields.

An OJJDP Bulletin, Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse: Your Information Resource, provides an overview of JJC services and resources. The front page explains how to access information from JJC via telephone, fax, e-mail, and the Internet.

The Clearinghouse produces many of OJJDP’s publications, including research and statistical reports and training and technical assistance manuals. During 2001, JJC distributed close to 3.2 million documents. JJC also maintains a toll-free number (800–638–8736). During 2001, JJC responded to 51,169 telephone, fax, and e-mail requests. JJC also continued to respond to requests related to an antiviolence campaign that OJJDP developed in partnership with MTV during 1999. The campaign included an interactive CD–ROM, Fight for Your Rights: Take a Stand Against Violence; between October 2000 and September 2001, JJC distributed more than 109,347 copies of this CD–ROM.

Juvenile justice publications, videotapes, and other materials can be easily ordered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week through the National Criminal Justice Reference Service’s (NCJRS’s) Online Ordering System (puborder.ncjrs.org). In FY 2001, JJC received 8,096 online orders through the NCJRS System for juvenile justice products. NCJRS also maintains a comprehensive database of approximately 190,000 titles, 57,000 of which are devoted to juvenile justice, delinquency prevention, and child protection. During 2001, the library added some 1,260 titles to the database collection. Most of the titles in the database are available online through the NCJRS Web site (ncjrs.org), but NCJRS also lends its material through interlibrary loan or reproduces requested documents for a nominal fee (depending on copyright).

The Clearinghouse oversees JUVJUST, OJJDP’s popular electronic mailing list that provides timely information about OJJDP and other youth-service-related publications, events, and funding opportunities. JUVJUST subscribers are primarily professionals working in juvenile justice and related youth service fields. The number of subscribers grew from 6,424 to 7,881 between October 2000 and September 2001. Archived JUVJUSTs and instructions for subscribing to JUVJUST are available on the OJJDP Web site at http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org/enews/enews.html.

Web Sites

JJC designed and maintains OJJDP’s Web site (ojjdp.ncjrs.org), which consists of more than 6,100 pages and 23 separate dedicated sites devoted to OJJDP-sponsored programs. JJC began redesigning OJJDP’s Web site in 2001 and plans to unveil the new site in 2002. During 2001, the site’s home page had close to 3.2 million hits, and the overall site had approximately 39 million hits (a 50-percent increase over 2000). The Web site announces new publications, allows users to download nearly all OJJDP-produced publications, lists information about current and past funding opportunities, includes a calendar of events on upcoming OJJDP-sponsored conferences, and provides access to speeches given by the OJJDP Administrator and senior staff.

The site also features a “JJ Facts & Figures” section that provides information on juvenile justice, delinquency prevention, and violence and victimization. This section offers a diagram of how cases proceed through the juvenile justice system. Also included is a “Statistical Briefing Book” with statistics, charts, and tables that answer frequently asked questions and provide online data sets on the juvenile population, juvenile arrests, court processing, supplemental homicide statistics, and juveniles in residential placement. In addition, the section includes statistics-focused publications and offers links to the Web sites of agencies and organizations that focus on statistics. Users can ask their own statistics-related questions through “[email protected],” an e-mail response service. In 2002, OJJDP plans to redesign the Statistical Briefing Book to make it more user friendly.

OJJDP also maintains sites for many of the programs it funds, including the Drug-Free Communities Support Program; Enforcing the Underage Drinking Laws Program; Juvenile Accountability Incentive Block Grants program; and Juvenile Mentoring Program. At the request of the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, OJJDP compiled an online compendium of resources for the EUDL Program in 2001 (ncjrs.org/html/ojjdp/compendium/2001/contents.html).

JJC developed two new Web sites in 2001 for the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) and its component agency OJJDP. The Web site for OJP’s Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative (www.ojp.usdoj.gov/reentry/) provides an overview of the initiative and links to funding information, describes reentry programs throughout the Nation, lists publications related to each phase of the reentry process, and offers a calendar of events. The Web site for OJJDP’s Title V Community Prevention Grants Program (ojjdp.ncjrs.org/titlev/index.html) introduces the program, outlines available training and technical assistance, lists Title V allocations for the current fiscal year and contact information for each State’s or territory’s Title V Coordinator or Juvenile Justice Specialist, describes Title V eligibility and guidelines, and provides links to publications related to the program and information on the national evaluation of Title V.

Publications

During FY 2001, OJJDP produced more than 80 publications that informed the juvenile justice field about Office activities and promising approaches to juvenile delinquency. The Office markets and disseminates its publications to ensure that they reach a wide audience, including policymakers, practitioners, members of the media, and many others. Most OJJDP publications are available online through the Web site, and many are available via fax-on-demand, a popular automated service that can be used to order short publications such as Fact Sheets and Bulletins. (The fax-on-demand number is 800–638–8736.) The publications highlighted below and those discussed throughout this Report are only a sample of the documents OJJDP produced in FY 2001. All are available from JJC. A complete list of OJJDP publications released in FY 2001 appears in the appendix.

OJJDP’s Journal

OJJDP publishes Juvenile Justice, a journal that explores a range of topics about juvenile delinquency prevention, control, and system improvement programs. The June 2001 issue (Volume VIII, Number 1) examines the nature of school violence and reviews promising approaches to creating safe schools and resolving conflicts peacefully. The first article draws on data related to the occurrence of crime in the Nation’s schools, the second article discusses comprehensive safe school planning, and the third article proposes that conflict resolution education be used in schools to prepare youth for a less violent future.

Juvenile Offenders and Victims National Report Series

Published every 4 years, OJJDP’s National Report, Juvenile Offenders and Victims, offers a comprehensive statistical overview of the problems of juvenile crime, violence, and victimization and the response of the juvenile justice system. The last National Report was published in 1999. During each interim year until publication of the next National Report, Bulletins and Fact Sheets in the National Report Series will provide access to the latest information on juvenile arrests, court cases, juveniles in custody, and other topics of interest. Each publication in the series highlights selected topics at the forefront of juvenile justice policymaking, giving readers focused access to statistics on some of the most critical issues.

Upcoming publications in the National Report Series include the following:

• Female Offenders in the Juvenile Justice System.

• Juvenile Residential Facility Census, 2000: Selected Findings.

• Juvenile Sex Offenders: A National Picture.

• Juveniles in Court, 2002.

• Juveniles in Corrections.

Satellite Videoconferencing

OJJDP has successfully used satellite telecommunications for several years to provide information and training programs more readily to juvenile justice professionals. This cost-effective medium allows practitioners, policymakers, and researchers from across the country to keep abreast of developments in the field without having to travel far from home. OJJDP has sponsored satellite videoconferences since 1995 through its grantee, Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) of Richmond, KY. A typical videoconference can reach some 500 sites and approximately 15,000 persons. OJJDP also continues to use Internet streaming, which allows individuals to simultaneously observe and hear satellite videoconferences from desktop personal computers. During the 2001 calendar year, EKU produced four “live” satellite videoconferences and cybercast three of these on the Internet.

“Employment and Training for Court-Involved Youth,” which was presented on February 1, 2001, highlighted key findings from OJJDP’s Report of the same name. In particular, the broadcast provided guidance in designing and implementing training programs that meet the needs of employers and highlighted promising programs and effective strategies for linking court-involved youth to the job market. The videoconference was telecast to 223 downlink sites.

“Mental Health Issues and Juvenile Justice,” which was presented on April 19, 2001, highlighted the inadequacies of mental health care in juvenile corrections facilities, barriers to providing adequate services, and ways in which the juvenile justice and mental health systems can collaborate to increase the level and quality of services. Promising programs and effective strategies for linking the juvenile justice, mental health, and substance abuse service systems were discussed, as were efforts to divert youth from the juvenile justice system to effective community-based services. In addition, means to incorporate culturally appropriate and sensitive strategies in mental health programming for these youth were highlighted. The videoconference was telecast to 350 downlink sites.

“Balanced and Restorative Justice,” which was presented on June 28, 2001, highlighted some of the key principles involved in the balanced and restorative justice model and provided guidance to agencies that want to design and implement such a model. Diverse strategies that are thought to lead to successful implementation of restorative practices, including, for example, leadership, programs and policies, staff roles, allocation of resources, and use of information were discussed. In addition, the videoconference featured three jurisdictions that are implementing restorative justice programs. Representatives of those programs were available to discuss their successes and to answer participants’ questions. The videoconference was telecast to 343 downlink sites.

All of these broadcasts may be viewed free of charge at www.juvenilenet.org and also are available for purchase from JJC.