J U V E N I L E J U S T I C E B U L L E T I NJ U V E N I L E J U S T I C E B U L L E T I N

In many schools, crime and fear ofcrime are interfering with the educationprocess. Students are concerned aboutcrime in their neighborhoods and schools—with one in five African American and His-panic teens indicating that crime or thethreat of crime has caused him or herto stay home from school or cut class.3

The increase in disruptive and violentbehaviors and weapons possession inschools has been accompanied by a pro-portionate increase in suspensions andexpulsions.4

The costs of these problems, bothfor children and for society, are prohibi-tively high. Children who are not edu-cated will more than likely lack adequateskills to secure employment and becomeself-sufficient adults. In 1993 approxi-mately 63 percent of high school drop-outs were unemployed.5 When they areemployed, high school dropouts are oftenon the low end of the pay scale withoutemployee benefits or job security. Overtheir lifetimes, high school dropouts willearn significantly less than high schoolgraduates and less than half of what col-lege graduates are likely to make in theirlifetimes.6 Similarly, dropouts experiencemore unemployment during their workcareers and are more likely to end up onwelfare.7 Many dropouts struggle to main-tain a minimum standard of living, oftenrequiring welfare system support. Indeed,individuals who do not receive a basic

Reaching Out toYouth Out of theEducation MainstreamSarah Ingersoll and Donni LeBoeuf

This Bulletin introduces a series of OJJDPBulletins focusing on both promising andeffective programs and innovative strate-gies to reach Youth Out of the EducationMainstream (YOEM). YOEM is a joint pro-gram initiative of the Office of JuvenileJustice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S.Department of Justice, and the Safe andDrug-Free Schools Program, U.S. Depart-ment of Education, to address the needsof youth who do not attend school regular-ly because they are truants or dropouts,afraid to attend school, suspended or ex-pelled, or in need of help to be reintegratedinto mainstream schools from juveniledetention and correctional settings. Addi-tional Bulletins will focus on each of thesefive separate but often related categoriesof problems that put youth at risk of fallingout of the education mainstream.

Ensuring that children attend school,are safe, and receive a sound educationhas become a challenging task for parentsand society in general. With some stu-dents, the challenge is simply to get themto come to school and stay in school. In1994 courts formally processed approxi-mately 36,400 truancy cases, a 35-percentincrease since 1990 and a 67-percent in-crease since 1985.1 In 1993, among 16- to24-year-olds, approximately 3.4 million(11 percent of all persons in this age group)had not completed high school and werenot currently enrolled in school.2

From the Administrator

In our technologically sophisticatedworld, education is now, more thanever, the essential ingredient for pro-ducing self-sufficient citizens. Unfor-tunately, the truth of this statement islost on millions of students who dropout of school or who are chronic tru-ants. However, there is no avoidingthis real life lesson, which too manydropouts learn too late. Without basiceducation skills, individuals are se-verely handicapped in their searchfor decent jobs and a fulfilling life.

This Nation cannot afford to lose thepotential of any of its people, and nocommunity can be sanguine aboutthe long-term financial and socialcosts that are associated with schoolfailure. This Bulletin describes a neweffort to reduce the number of juve-niles who leave school prematurelyand who are at risk of delinquencybecause they are truants or dropouts,afraid to attend school, suspendedor expelled, or in need of help to bereintegrated into their mainstreamschool from the juvenile justice sys-tem. Sponsored by the U.S. Depart-ments of Education and Justice, theYouth Out of the Education Mainstreaminitiative also seeks to raise publicawareness of this problem and theneed for programs to help at-risk youthcontinue their education and becomecontributing members of society.

Shay BilchikAdministrator

Shay Bilchik, Administrator February 1997

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Youth Out of theEducation MainstreamInitiative

Educators, government officials,youth-serving professionals, law enforce-ment officials, and parents are calling forpolicies and program interventions thatwill effectively manage and serve youthwho have fallen—or are in danger of fall-ing—out of the education mainstream.States are enacting legislation to dealwith school dropouts and with issues ofsuspension, school safety, and truancy.13

The U.S. Department of Justice andthe U.S. Department of Education havedeveloped a joint initiative, Youth Out ofthe Education Mainstream (YOEM). Thisinitiative, funded through PepperdineUniversity’s National School Safety Center(NSSC) at Westlake Village, California, isdesigned to address the needs of youthwho are truant, who have dropped out,who have been suspended or expelledfrom school, who are afraid to go to schoolbecause of violence or fear of violence, orwho need to be reintegrated into schoolfrom a juvenile justice system setting.The YOEM initiative consists of sharinginformation through regional meetings,providing intensive training and techni-cal assistance to 10 demonstration sites,and disseminating resource documentsto support communities working to helpyoung people avoid the school-relatedrisks that can seriously damage their lifechances and lead to delinquent behavior.

The three goals of the YOEM initiativeare:

◆ To reduce the number of youth whoare in danger of leaving or who haveleft the education mainstream.

◆ To reduce the number of youth at riskof delinquency because of truancy,dropping out of school, suspensionor expulsion, lack of a safe schoolenvironment, or lack of reintegrationservices from juvenile justice systemsettings into the mainstream school.

◆ To heighten awareness of the grow-ing problem of youth out of the edu-cation mainstream and of the need forprevention and intervention programsthat address risk and protective fac-tors (that is, negative and positive in-fluences) in the lives of these youth,so they can continue their educationand work to achieve their full potentialas contributing members of society.

education must overcome tremendousbarriers to achieve financial success inlife or even meet their basic needs.

In addition to harming their chancesof future success, children who are notattending school regularly or who dropout can pose significant problems forschool administrators, police officers,juvenile court judges, probation officers,and the public. Many youth who arehabitually truant and experience schoolfailure are the same youth who bringweapons to school, bully or threatentheir classmates, or regularly disruptthe school’s learning environment. Whenthey are not in school, truants and drop-outs may be engaging in delinquent be-havior. Research has demonstrated thatyouth who are not in school and not inthe labor force are at high risk of delin-quency and crime.8 In Milwaukee, forexample, prior to the introduction ofthe Truancy Abatement/Burglary Sup-pression Program (TABS), truants wereresponsible for a significant number ofdaytime violent crimes. With the incep-tion of TABS, significant reductions oc-curred in the area of violent crime. In1993–94, during scheduled school days,homicides were down 43 percent, sexualassaults were down 24 percent, aggra-vated assaults were down 24 percent,and robberies were down 16 percent. In1994–95 daytime crime declined evenfurther in all areas except homicide.9

Society pays a high price for children’sschool failure. An estimated 34 percentof inmates in 1991 and 29 percent in 1986had completed high school.10 In 1993, 17percent of youth under age 18 enteringadult prisons had not completed gradeschool (eighth grade or less). One-fourthhad completed 10th grade, and 2 percenthad completed high school or had a gen-eral equivalency diploma.11 Each year’sclass of dropouts costs the Nation morethan $240 billion in lost earnings and fore-gone taxes over their lifetimes. Billionsmore will be spent on crime control (in-cluding law enforcement and prison pro-grams), welfare, healthcare, and othersocial services.12 The staggering economicand social costs of providing for the in-creasing population of youth who are atrisk of leaving or who have left the educa-tion mainstream are an intolerable drainon the resources of Federal, State, andlocal governments and the private sector.

YOEM fosters a new way of doing busi-ness—the business of educating, enforc-ing the law, ensuring justice, providingsocial services and supports, and evenof being a parent. The present systemoften fragments services to children andfamilies or burdens schools with the taskof remedying societal ills. YOEM will helpcommunities work together more effec-tively and more efficiently to addressthese issues. It is designed to empowerlocal community partnerships with ideasand strategies that have shown promise.Working within these partnerships, indi-viduals and organizations must make acommitment to achieving a long-termreduction in the number of youth wholeave the education mainstream.

Causes and SolutionsTwo broad, common influences—

school and community/home, each withits own risk factors—underlie the reasonsthat youth end up outside the educationmainstream:14

◆ Factors related to school. These includelack of motivation that results frompoor academic performance, such aslow reading and math scores and fail-ure to keep pace with other studentsin lessons or promotions; low self-esteem resulting from classificationas one who is verbally deficient or aslow learner; lack of personal andeducational goals due to absence ofstimulating academic challenges; andteacher neglect and lack of respectfor students.

◆ Factors related to the community andhome. These risk factors include nega-tive role models exemplified by friends

“Both school performance, whethermeasured by reading achievementor teacher-rated reading perform-ance, and retention in grade relateto delinquency. . . . The relationshipbetween reading performance anddelinquency appears even for firstgraders. Likewise, retention in gradeassociates with delinquency evenfor first graders.”

R. Loeber et al., Urban Delinquencyand Substance Abuse: Initial Find-ings (Washington, DC: Office ofJuvenile Justice and DelinquencyPrevention, U.S. Department of Jus-tice, 1994), 15.

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Fearful Students

Problem SummaryMany students are genuinely afraid

to attend school. In 1991 approximately56 percent of juvenile victimization hap-pened in school or on school property;72 percent of personal thefts from juvenilevictims occurred in school; and 23 percentof violent juvenile victimization occurredin school or on school property.15

In a 1993 U.S. Department of Healthand Human Services study, one in sevenmale students in grades 9 through 12 re-ported having carried a gun within thepast 30 days.16 Another 1993 poll foundthis to be consistent across grades. Of2,508 students surveyed from 96 elemen-tary, middle, and senior high schools na-tionwide, 15 percent reported they hadcarried a handgun on their person withinthe previous 30 days, 4 percent said thatthey had taken a handgun to school dur-ing the previous year, and 22 percent saidthat they felt safer having a handgun ontheir person if they were going to be in aphysical confrontation.17 According to areport by the Center to Prevent HandgunViolence, in the 4 years between 1986and 1990, there were 71 handgun-relateddeaths and 201 woundings at schoolsacross the Nation.18

Many students bring weapons toschool because of the proliferation ofgangs, drug activity, and other studentscarrying weapons. The upward trend ofjuvenile violence and victimization cancreate a climate of fear that pervadesthe school setting. Parents fear for theirchildren’s safety going to and fromschool, and children are often apprehen-sive at school from fear of bullying orthreats of violence. In 1993 more thanhalf of a nationally representative sampleof 6th through 12th grade students wereaware of incidents of bullying with 42percent having witnessed bullying.19

In a 1995 survey of 2,023 students ingrades 7 through 12, almost half statedthat they had changed their behavior asa result of crime or the threat of crime.For example, to protect themselves, onein eight has carried weapons, and one innine has stayed home from school or cutclass. Students in at-risk neighborhoodswere four times as likely to have carriedweapons, stayed home from school, orcut class to protect themselves.20 A 1993survey by USA WEEKEND, based onmail-in responses of 65,193 students in

grades 6 to 12, reported that 37 percentof students did not feel safe in schooland 50 percent knew someone whoswitched schools to feel safer. Of thoseresponding to the survey, 43 percentavoided school restrooms, 20 percentavoided school hallways, and 45 percentavoided school grounds in general.21

Promising ApproachesVarious types of partnerships between

school officials and law enforcement offic-ers have addressed the problem of youthwho are afraid to leave their homes orgo to school because of violence, bully-ing, or gang activities.

Improving the School Atmosphere.Some approaches focus on improvementsin the school atmosphere by:

◆ Formulating school security plansand establishing school safety teamsthat involve students.

◆ Providing crime prevention trainingfor students.

◆ Forging partnerships with commu-nity agencies that enhance schoolresources and activities.

◆ Increasing communication amongteachers, students, and law enforce-ment officials.

◆ Organizing parent-student patrolsand safe corridors.

◆ Legislating drug- and gun-free schoolzones.

◆ Sponsoring campuswide cleanups.

◆ Fostering parent involvement.

◆ Offering teachers school safety training.

◆ Creating schoolwide violence preven-tion curriculums.

◆ Establishing peer mediation andconflict resolution programs.

Responding to Perpetrators of Violence.Other programs respond to the perpetra-tors of violence and fear through curricu-lums that engage bullies, gang members,and violent students in learning angermanagement, conflict resolution, resistanceto peer pressure, and appreciation of diver-sity. A number of communities have imple-mented victim/offender programs thatrequire juvenile offenders to make restitu-tion to victims for damage or losses incurredor to perform community services. Othershave established crisis intervention teamsthat help students cope with troubling vio-lent incidents in and around school.

who are chronically truant or absentfrom school; pressures related tofamily health or financial concerns;difficulty coping with teen pregnancy,marriage, or parenthood; lack of familysupport and motivation for educationin general; and violence in or nearyouth’s homes or schools.

The YOEM initiative assists communi-ties to formulate collaborative preventionand intervention programs and servicesfor these young people that will help tokeep them in school.

◆ Prevention programs. These helpmainstream schools create a peacefullearning environment where youth feelwelcome and attend classes knowingthat their academic, social, and physi-cal and mental health needs will bemet in a safe, secure, and nurturingenvironment. Prevention strategiesmay include in-school suspensions,school safety plans, school resourceofficers, mentoring, school-to-worksupport, peer mediation and conflictresolution, peer tutoring, professionaland career academies, and afterschoolactivities. When at-risk youth havethese kinds of support, the educationalquality and school climate improvefor all children and the professionalswho serve them.

◆ Intervention activities and programs.These focus on responding effectivelyto school violence, truancy, studentsuspensions and expulsions, andjuvenile justice system involvement.Intervention strategies may includeschool peace officers; reintegrationapproaches; alternative schools; indi-vidual and family counseling; teencourts; in-school suspension; school-based probation officers; and gangprevention and intervention programs.

Both prevention and intervention strat-egies recognize that the vast majority ofchildren have the ability to achieve andlearn academic, personal, and social skillsthat will help them become self-sufficientand productive adults. Young people cansucceed when they are provided withneeded academic skills, attention, super-vision, encouragement, and support. Thefollowing sections present brief synopsesof the problems confronting each of thefive categories of youth addressed by theYOEM initiative. After each problem sum-mary, promising prevention and interven-tion approaches are presented.

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◆ In New York City, the Nation’s largestschool system, about 150,000 of its1 million public school students areabsent on a typical day.22

◆ The Los Angeles Unified School District,the Nation’s second largest district,reports that an average of 62,000 stu-dents (10 percent of its enrollment)are out of school each day.23

◆ In Detroit, 40 public school attendanceofficers investigated 66,440 chronicabsenteeism complaints during the1994–95 school year.24

The impact of truancy extends beyondthe loss of educational opportunity. Manypolice departments report that daytimecrime rates are rising, in part because somestudents who are not in school are busycommitting crimes such as burglaries,vandalizing cars, shoplifting, and scrawl-ing graffiti on signs and office buildings.When police in Van Nuys, California, con-ducted a 3-week-long school truancy sweep,shoplifting arrests fell 60 percent.25 Policein St. Paul, Minnesota, reported that crimessuch as purse snatching dropped almost50 percent after police began picking uptruants and taking them to a new schoolattendance center.26

Truancy has become such a significantproblem that some cities are now pass-ing ordinances allowing police to issuea citation to either the parent or the tru-ant, which can result in a $500 fine or 30days in jail for the parent and suspensionof the youth’s license to drive.27 In addi-tion to fining parents, courts can orderthem to attend parenting classes andhold them in contempt of court. In some

possession of a firearm, and the needfor learning conflict resolution and an-ger management skills. Programs oftenuse videotapes showing the tragic resultsof gun violence and may also includefirearm safety instruction, public infor-mation campaigns, counseling programs,partnerships with hospital emergencyrooms, and crisis intervention hotlines.

Under a grant from the Office ofJuvenile Justice and DelinquencyPrevention (OJJDP), the Universityof South Carolina is testing a vio-lence prevention program amongrural youth in six South Carolinaschool districts that, in part, focuseson bullying. The program encour-ages teachers to set firm limits forunacceptable behavior and to ob-serve and monitor student activitiesincluding lunch and break times.School staff are trained to intervenequickly when students break therules and respond with consistentsanctions. At the same time, staffreinforce socially acceptable be-havior by acknowledging, praising,and recognizing students who followschool rules and demonstrate so-cially acceptable behavior. The pro-gram is based on a successful modelin Norway that led to a 50-percentdrop in bullying incidences within 2years of implementation. The pro-gram also decreased truancy, van-dalism, theft, and alcohol consump-tion and improved student attitudestoward school.

M. Donnelly, “Nobody Likes a Bully,”South Carolina Family Futures 1(March 1996), 1, 6–7.

In 1994, officials in Tucson, Arizona,developed Firearms Awareness andSafety Training (FAST) to provide anintermediate sanction short of adjudi-cation and incarceration for juveniles—generally first-time offenders—citedfor minor firearms offenses. A multi-agency program staffed by volunteerlaw enforcement and justice systemprofessionals, FAST is a 1-day edu-cational course in gun laws, safetyrules, gun storage responsibility, andfirearms accidents. Those divertedinto FAST may choose to participateor face a court hearing. Parents mustattend with their children. The under-lying theme is that both juveniles andparents are responsible for their ac-tions and decisions. Since its incep-tion, FAST has served 153 juveniles,only 1 of whom has reappeared injuvenile court on a subsequent fire-arms violation. Although further evalua-tion is warranted, initial results dem-onstrate that youth referred to FASTreoffend at a lower rate than overallrates for arrested juveniles.

Richard Wood and Steve Ballance,The FAST Program Evaluation Report:1994–1996 (Tucson, Arizona, PimaCounty Juvenile Court Center, 1996).

Many jurisdictions also focus on fearrelated to gang violence. They employstrategies that include teams of commu-nity volunteers, school officials, andyouth-service providers. Working together,they conduct special outreach programsto juvenile gang members designed toreduce gang threats, recruitment, andrevenge; remove gang graffiti in and nearthe school campus; control campus ac-cess; provide afterschool programs; andestablish comprehensive dress codes oruniform policies that eliminate gang signsand colors from the school environment.

Targeting Weapons. These programstrategies include antiweapon campaignsthat increase student engagement withschool officials, anonymous hotlines forreporting weapons and other criminalactivity, school resource officers, lockersearches, and clear school policies anddiscipline codes. The majority of weaponreduction programs involve curriculumsthat emphasize the prevention of weaponmisuse, the risks involved with the

“There are many things we can dothat are far more cost-effective thanwaiting for the crisis of delinquencyor crime to occur. . . . Truancy pre-vention programs should be devel-oped in every elementary school sothat at the first sign of truancy, po-lice, social service agencies, andthe school join together to identifythe cause and do something aboutit before it is too late.”

— Attorney General Janet Reno

“National Agenda for Children: Onthe Front Lines With Attorney Gen-eral Janet Reno,” Juvenile Justice(Fall/Winter 1993), 2–3.

Truants

Problem SummaryAcross the Nation many children as

young as elementary school age are stayingaway from school for a variety of reasons.Some are slow learners, some lack per-sonal and educational goals because ofan absence of academic challenge, somefear violence, and some have parents whoare guilty of “educational neglect.” Withdaily absentee rates as high as 30 percentin some cities, it is not surprising thattruancy is listed among the major prob-lems facing schools. The statistics speakvolumes:

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to juveniles who commit first-time, minor,or status offenses, including truancy.Based on an assessment provided by amultidisciplinary team housed at theassessment center, services are providedin a timely and comprehensive manner.This comprehensive and immediate inter-vention is designed to help preventrepeat offending.

Alternative Schools. Many truantsbenefit from the smaller classes, higherteacher-to-student ratio, and more hands-on learning found in an alternative schoolsetting. (For a fuller discussion of alter-native schools, see p. 6.)

Suspended andExpelled Students

Problem SummaryWeapons possession, substance abuse,

disruptive behavior, assaults on school staffand students, and criminal acts commit-ted outside school are five reasons schoolsare removing increasing numbers of stu-dents from the educational mainstream.

◆ Wisconsin schools expelled about 70percent more students in 1993–94 thanin the previous school year.29

◆ By the end of the 1993–94 school year,Colorado’s public schools recorded65,547 suspensions, some students hav-ing been suspended more than once.30

◆ One Oregon school district expellednearly one student per day during thefirst 3 months of the 1994–95 schoolyear after enacting a zero tolerancepolicy on weapons.31

◆ During the 1993–94 academic year, arecord 17,046 violent incidents plaguedthe New York City schools. More than4,000 teachers were assaulted, and 7,254weapons were confiscated. Accordingto the New York Board of Education,150 students were caught with firearms.32

Under the Improving America’s SchoolsAct, in order to receive Title I funds fromthe U.S. Department of Education, a Statemust have a law “. . . requiring local edu-cational agencies to expel from school fora period of not less than one year a stu-dent who is determined to have broughta weapon to school,” except that the localchief administrative officer may modifythe expulsion requirement on a case-by-case basis.33 As a result, school districtsare increasingly ordering 1-year expulsionsfor students who bring weapons to school,spawning a large number of students rang-ing from elementary to high school age whomust be dealt with in alternative schools,in the juvenile justice system, or on thestreets. Schools and communities mustface the problem of how suspended andexpelled students can continue to receivean education and what kind of academicsetting should be provided for them.

Promising ApproachesIn-School Suspensions. Typically,

disruptive students are suspended fromschool and placed under parental super-vision for the duration of their out-of-school suspension. Students, however,often lack oversight due to parents’ workschedules, repeat the same disruptivebehaviors in the home and community,and miss homework assignments. Schools

The Truancy Abatement and Burglary Suppression (TABS) program was estab-lished in 1993 to address truancy and juvenile crime in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.TABS is a collaborative effort of the Milwaukee County sheriff’s office, police de-partment, and public schools and the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee.Law enforcement officers pick up juveniles who are in the community duringschool hours without an excused absence and take them to TABS centers at theBoys and Girls Clubs. Center staff process the truants and contact the parents.The parents and the student work with the school counselor to set goals for regu-lar school attendance. If social services are needed, the counselor arranges themand any followup conferences. For chronic truants, police may issue citations tothe parents and require the student to participate in counseling and diversion pro-grams. For 1993–94, the police department’s evaluation of TABS shows that asstudent attendance improved over a 30-day tracking period, daytime juvenile crimerates declined. Violent juvenile crime was significantly reduced: homicides by 43percent; sexual assaults, 24 percent; robberies, 16 percent; and aggravated as-saults, 24 percent. Nonviolent crimes were down also, but not as significantly. In1994–95, daytime juvenile crime declined even further in all areas except homicide.

Community Health Concepts, We’re Keeping TABS on Truants (Milwaukee,Wisconsin: August 1995), 3–4.

cases the court may take a child awayfrom a parent and make the child a wardof the court.28

Promising ApproachesTeam Approaches. Schools are joining

with district attorneys’ offices and law en-forcement, social services, and commu-nity agencies in their attempts to addresstruancy. This team approach focuses onboth the parents and child. It determineswhat issues (educational, health, economic,psychological, behavioral) are contribut-ing to the child’s truancy. The team ad-dresses the identified needs and gives aclear message on school attendance tothe parents and the child. If these effortsdo not result in regular school attendance,the team refers the case to the districtattorney’s office for a hearing. Reportsindicate that in many instances this ap-proach is working. In cases where truancypersists, the district attorney’s office willrefer the student, the parents, or both tocourt. Court dispositions may includecounseling on communication, conflictresolution education, parenting skills,and community service or a fine.

Truancy Centers. Centers dedicatedto truancy reduction are being estab-lished across the country as a tool thatschool, law enforcement agencies, andcommunity organizations can use to ad-dress their truancy problems. Boys andGirls Clubs and other youth-serving orga-nizations are making their facilities avail-able to schools to support truancy centerprograms. Jurisdictions are giving policeofficers authority to stop and questionyouth who are in the community duringschool hours. Police take those youthwho do not have a legitimate excuse forbeing absent from school to a truancycenter, where professionals assess thefamily situation to determine what family-based or other services may be neededand whether followup may be required.The center contacts the school and eitherreleases the child to a parent or guardianor transfers the child to an alternativefacility pending release. In order to returnto school, the student must be accompa-nied by his or her parent or guardian.

Community Assessment Centers. Some-times referred to as juvenile assessmentcenters, the community assessment centerconcept is being adopted by jurisdictionsto comprehensively address the needs ofat-risk and delinquent youth. Assessmentcenters combine the efforts of law enforce-ment with social service and mentalhealth agencies to bring needed services

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also lose Average Daily Attendance in-come. These factors created the needto alter the out-of-school suspensionpolicy for many school districts. Theyconcluded that disruptive students needa structured environment to help themchange their behavior while stayingfocused on their education. In-schoolsuspensions are one answer these schooldistricts have chosen to address the prob-lem of disruptive student behavior. Stu-dents with chronic discipline problemsare removed from their regular classroomand placed in a highly structured envi-ronment, generally with no more than 15students, for a specified period of time.These in-school suspension programsprovide academic and counseling com-ponents, including a range of individuallydesigned learning modules and computertutorial programs developed to promotesuccess in the classroom; a counselingprogram based on an assessment of iden-tified needs; an interpersonal trainingprogram to develop coping and communi-cation skills; and conflict resolution andlaw-related education programs. A com-munity service component is included inmany programs to help build self-esteemthrough helping the less fortunate whiledeveloping socially acceptable behaviorsand attitudes.

Alternative Schools. Many school dis-tricts have chosen alternative schools toprovide academic instruction to studentsexpelled for such offenses as weaponspossession; suspended from their regularschool for a variety of reasons, includingdisruptive behavior; or unable to succeed

in the mainstream school environment.Alternative schools come in all sizes andsettings, from space in a large departmentstore, community center, or empty officebuilding to a portable structure. More im-portant than location is what alternativeschools offer these troubled youth. Formany, an alternative school presents andreinforces the message that students areaccountable for their actions. At the alter-native school, they receive an assessmentof their academic and social abilities andskills, are assigned to a program that al-lows them to succeed while challengingthem to reach higher goals, and receiveassistance through small group and indi-vidualized instruction and counselingsessions. In addition, students and theirfamilies may receive an assessment todetermine if social services such as health-care, parenting classes, and other programservices are indicated.

To help students return to their regu-lar schools, alternative schools developindividualized student plans. For manystudents, however, returning to a settingwhere they failed is not an attractive op-tion. Many students want to remain inthe alternative school, and some schooldistricts permit this. Often, those whodo remain in the alternative school areallowed to graduate with their mainstreamschool classmates. Alternative schoolsthat succeed with this population of youthtypically have the following elements:

◆ Strong leadership.

◆ Lower student-to-staff ratio.

◆ Carefully selected personnel.

◆ Early identification of student riskfactors and problem behaviors.

◆ Intensive counseling/mentoring.

◆ Prosocial skills training.

◆ Strict behavior requirements.

◆ Curriculum based on real life learning.

◆ Emphasis on parental involvement.

◆ Districtwide support of the programs.34

Many alternative schools also have astrong community service component thathelps students recognize their responsi-bility to their community and others whilegaining self-esteem for their contributions.

Students BeingReintegrated Fromthe Juvenile JusticeSystem

Problem SummaryMore than 500,000 delinquency cases

disposed each year by juvenile courtsresult in court orders allowing the juve-nile offender to remain in the communityon probation—or return to the commu-nity following a residential placement—and continue normal activities such asschool and work.35 Regular school atten-dance and community service often areconditions of these orders.

For the vast majority of children onprobation or in aftercare, educationalsuccess is critical to preventing recidi-vism and further involvement in the juve-nile and criminal justice systems. Yetmeeting the educational needs of youthon probation or in aftercare status hasproven to be a particularly difficult prob-lem. Institutional resistance and barriersbetween the educational and justice sys-tems often result in a lack of advanceplanning and coordination that furtherexacerbates the problem. Juvenile of-fenders may arrive at a school withoutadvance notice, institutional scholasticdocumentation, or a reintegration plan.Further, these youth frequently face par-ents who have given up on them, teach-ers and fellow students who fear them,and citizens who do not want them inthe community.

Promising ApproachesPrograms that focus on the population

of court-involved youth tend to fall intothree categories: (1) model learningenvironments that enhance the juvenile’seducation within a detention or alternative

The Barron Assessment and Counseling Center is a promising project of theBoston public school system. If a student is found to have had a weapon onschool property, he or she is charged under the disciplinary code. The parentsare contacted, and the school principal or superintendent conducts a hearing. Ifthe charges are warranted, the student is immediately referred to the center. Atthe center, students (elementary through high school) receive academic, psy-chological, and social assessments and crisis intervention counseling. Staff pre-pare individualized service delivery plans for each client. The students continueto receive assignments from school. The program has an aftercare componentto continue services to the youth after release from the center. Although outsideevaluation has not yet been completed, internal evaluation indicates a recidivismrate of 5 percent for first-time offenders from 1987 to 1993. Northeastern Univer-sity School of Law, the Office of Emergency Medical Services, and VietnamVeterans Against Violence provide special workshops to teach these youth alter-natives to violence. This program is coordinated with the juvenile court, the juve-nile probation department, and the Departments of Youth Services, Social Ser-vices, and Mental Health.

Reducing Youth Gun Violence: An Overview of Programs and Initiatives (Wash-ington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Depart-ment of Justice, May 1996), 26.

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placement setting, (2) prerelease strate-gies that support linkages between juve-nile justice and school agencies, and(3) transitional settings that ensure thejuvenile’s smooth reentry into a main-stream or alternative school setting.

Model Learning Environments. Theselearning environments for detainedand incarcerated youth encompass thephilosophy that education should bethe centerpiece of each juvenile’s institu-tional experience. Facility staff considerthemselves teachers and regard everycontact with a youth as a teaching opportu-nity. This model expands learning beyondclassroom activity into the spectrum of theinstitutional experience—including indi-vidual and family counseling, treatment,and development of conflict resolutionskills—and trains and empowers staff toteach and make learning enjoyable. Edu-cational programs deal with the problemof learning disabilities, which have beenidentified as an important risk factorcontributing to school failure and entryinto the juvenile justice system. Modelcorrectional learning centers are placeswhere residents, their families, and staffare all learners and where youth areequipped with knowledge and skills tolive productively.

Prerelease Strategies. These strategiesare critical for supporting the juvenile’stransition from the juvenile justice systeminto the community. A cluster group

composed of multiple agencies (mentalhealth, social service, probation, childprotection, and education) can provideservices or treatment for a family. Thegroup meets on a regular basis to shareinformation and provide integrated serv-ices. A school representative (principal,social worker, counselor, or homeroomteacher) typically chairs the cluster group,and all group members provide informa-tion related to the child that is sharedwith other cluster members. Placementconsiderations and discussions with reg-ular school officials begin well beforethe student is scheduled to leave residen-tial care. Juvenile justice officials shareinformation on the therapeutic needs,academic functioning, educational goals,and aftercare conditions with the school.A key factor in easing the reintegrationprocess is a visit by the student to theschool prior to release.37

Transitional Settings. Several ap-proaches can be used to help a juvenilemove smoothly back into school froma correctional facility.

Alternative schools. An alternativeschool facility may provide an appropri-ate interim placement for a juvenile exit-ing a detention facility or a residentialplacement. An alternative setting reducesthe risk that a child will be lost in thesystem without needed support services.Such a setting provides an appropriateenvironment in which to incrementally

reduce the level of attention and structurethe student has required and is accus-tomed to receiving.

Short-term enrollment. This approachcan be used in transitioning a juvenile froma more restrictive alternative school intoa regular or less restrictive alternativeschool setting. This may be complementedwith a student admission interview; a re-view of policies and procedures; a clearexplanation of a zero tolerance policywithin the school environment for sub-stance abuse or other delinquent behav-iors; a violence elimination contract;parent notification of accountability; assign-ment of cluster or interagency representa-tives; and identification of target academic,behavioral, and vocational goals.

Restorative justice model. As theoffender moves into the education main-stream, it may be appropriate to tailorthe curriculum to the juvenile offender,thereby addressing the needs of the stu-dent and the community. For example,under the restorative justice model, theoffender may be required to pay restitu-tion for damages inflicted upon the victimand to pursue a personalized educationalplan. This plan helps the student com-plete educational and vocational goalsand may provide school credit for com-munity service projects.

Probation officers on campus/law-related education. Other program ap-proaches include (1) placing probationofficers on campus to provide intensivesupervision for students who are onprobation or parole, or (2) implementinga law-related education curriculum. Aprime purpose of these programs is tohelp prevent the returning juvenile fromengaging—or reengaging—in delinquentactivity, including gang behavior. Involve-ment with gangs appears to be commonwith many juvenile offenders, especiallythose juvenile offenders leaving institu-tional care. Whether these juveniles areactually members of a gang or “wannabe”members, the potential gang influence isa reality. Gang influences can seriouslyundermine the effectiveness of educationalprograms that assist the juvenile offender.Therefore, schools should also developstrategies to combat the presence ofgangs in the community and the school.

School-to-work programs. Theseprograms emphasize the connectionbetween the classroom and the worksetting. Students have an agenda that

Studies have shown that youth who are learning disabled are very likely to dropout of school rather than face the ridicule of their peers for their school failure.Research has also shown that a strong relationship exists between learningdisabilities and delinquency. In the eyes of many students with learning disabili-ties—and in the eyes of some of their peers, it may be better to be a delinquentthan to be labeled the “class dummy.” A 1993 report of the King County JuvenileDetention Special Education Project in Seattle, Washington, disclosed someinteresting data. Fifty percent of the 1,700 detained youth in the project werein special education classes and, of those youth, 48 percent were identified aslearning disabled.36

To better address the needs of these youth, greater attention needs to be paidat a much younger age to the nature of learning disabilities, their impact onlearning and the processing of information in the classroom setting, and theirrelationship to dropping out and delinquency. Parents, schools, and the juvenilecourts need to be more aware of this “hidden handicap.” Many youth whochoose delinquency over failure in school could be helped if their disabilitieswere properly diagnosed and treated early enough in their school careers.Those professions that directly interact with the learning disabled need toshare their knowledge and information on how best to identify and treat learningdisabilities. This could lead to a significant reduction in the number of delin-quents who are learning disabled and keep more children in the educationmainstream.

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includes academic subjects and goal set-ting, management, problem solving, andconflict resolution education. These lifeskills are incorporated into the program-ming to reflect real world contexts suchas thinking creatively and working in teamsto achieve a common goal. To be effec-tive, the school setting must providestructure, and teachers, counselors, andadministrators must document studentbehavior and progress toward programcompletion. Appropriate individualizationis required for each student. A hierarchythat provides the kind of structure andconsistency often associated with resi-dential facility “programming” is helpfulin assisting the student to acquire skillsfor reentry into a regular education setting.

For each of these approaches, it is im-portant to remember that the impact ofthe family on the emotional and academicwell-being of the juvenile is crucial. Ifthe family is not functional, then the riskfor academic failure and further justicesystem involvement is significantly in-creased. Consequently, schools mustassist in educating families and helpingfamilies obtain necessary services.

Dropouts

Problem SummaryDropouts quit school for a number

of reasons: academic problems, diffi-culties with other students, boredom,

employment, teenage pregnancy, lack ofparental concern, difficulties at home, andexpulsion because of discipline problems.38

Dropout rates not only affect individualstudents’ lives negatively but can also,as indicated earlier, have a broader im-pact on the economy because “dropoutsare more likely than high school gradu-ates to be unemployed and on welfare.”39

Promising ApproachesSchools with low dropout rates share

common factors: relatively small size; ex-tensive one-on-one work with students;teaching methods that draw students intothe learning process; and teachers, staff,and parents who are personally involvedwith helping students learn. Throughthese approaches, they create a bondbetween students and the school environ-ment that keeps students enrolled andinvolved in “their” school.

School-to-Work Programs. Schoolsand communities need to view the drop-out problem from both prevention andintervention perspectives. Two similarbut different approaches are needed tohelp keep youth at risk from droppingout of school and to provide programsto bring those youth who have droppedout of school back to complete theireducation requirements and graduate orearn a general equivalency diploma. Inter-vention approaches can use alternativeschools or develop ties to the business

community to provide academic and jobtraining that addresses the needs and in-terests of the student. These school-to-work programs provide students not onlywith their high school diploma but also acertificate of achievement for learning askill or trade that helps them gain entryto employment after high school.

Career Academy Programs. Someschools implement career academy pro-grams that allow students to choose aprofessional track such as emergencyservices, law and justice, nursing andmedical care, computer technology, andother professional fields. The key featureof these dropout programs is their abilityto place the academic process into a con-text that provides on-the-job experience,experiential learning, future employmentopportunities, career options, or advance-ment to higher education programs. Also,many of the same features of successfulalternative school programs are provided

Communities In Schools, Inc. (formerlyCities In Schools, Inc.) (CIS) is theNation’s largest stay-in-school net-work. Funded in part by OJJDP, CISworks to connect a community’s ex-isting health, education, and humanresources with students and theirfamilies. CIS emphasizes four basicprinciples: Every child needs and de-serves a personal one-on-one rela-tionship with a caring adult, a safeplace to learn and grow, a marketableskill to use upon graduation, and achance to give back to peers andcommunity.

A report of outcome data on CIS stu-dents for 1992–1993 indicated sig-nificant success in keeping studentsin school and increasing their per-formance. A longitudinal study foundthat by 1993 nearly 80 percent werestill in school. In addition, 70 percentof students with high absenteeismprior to entering CIS improved theirattendance, and 60 percent of stu-dents with unsatisfactory grade pointaverages improved their averagesin the year in which they joined CIS.

S.B. Rossman and E. Morley, TheNational Evaluation of Cities InSchools: Executive Summary (Wash-ington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justiceand Delinquency Prevention, U.S.Department of Justice, April 1995),81, 84.

The Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections (ADJC) Education System op-erates three secure care schools for adjudicated youth: Adobe Mountain School(located in Phoenix) and Catalina Mountain School (located in Tucson) servemale youth, and Black Canyon School (located in Phoenix) serves both maleand female youth. The ADJC Education System is accredited and provides theSuccess School alternative education program to transition students from securecare to the appropriate public school or work environment. Youth (85 percentmale and 15 percent female) between the ages of 12 and 17 who come to theprogram are behind academically by 2 to 3 years. As a result of their participa-tion in this program, they score an average of 40 percent higher on tests of read-ing, writing, and math than they had previously.

Success School is the result of research on Effective Schools; the Coalition ofEssential Schools methodology; Total Quality Management techniques; andOutcome-Based Education strategies. Students are served by multidisciplinaryteams of teachers and receive a full vocational and social skills assessment,standardized testing, and appropriate placement. Once released, those studentswho are unable to return to their school districts of residence attend CharterSuccess Schools located in the community. The community transition componentof Success Schools allows for a systemic implementation of effective educationalpractices, and ultimately for a juvenile’s educational success.

A. Wright, “Success Guaranteed: The Pathfinder Project,” Preventing SchoolFailure 40 (2) (Winter 1996), 67, 70–71.

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by successful dropout prevention andintervention programs, particularly lowerstudent-to-staff ratio, districtwide support,intensive counseling/mentoring, strictbehavior requirements, and a curriculumbased on real life learning.

Overview of YOEMInitiative Activities

As noted, the Departments of Educationand Justice have provided a grant to theNational School Safety Center (NSSC) toimplement the YOEM initiative. NSSC isworking with communities to expand, share,and use information on effective ways toaddress school safety and student fear,truancy, suspensions and expulsions, drop-outs, and reintegration. Several activitieshave been designed and implemented tofurther the goals of the initiative.

Kickoff MeetingA meeting was held in Boston, Mas-

sachusetts, in May 1996 at the John F.Kennedy Library to announce the YOEMinitiative and raise public awarenessof this critical issue. More than 325 rep-resentatives from the juvenile justicesystem, law enforcement, education,business/corporate community, founda-tions and associations, social services,youth-serving agencies, and other relatedfields attended the 1-day meeting to sharetheir concerns, experiences, and commit-ment to addressing this population ofyouth. Attorney General Janet Reno’s mes-sage to the participants challenged themto form collaborative, community partner-ships to attract and welcome youth backinto the mainstream of American education.

Public Information ForumsFour YOEM information forums were

held during the summer of 1996 at regionalsites (two in Federal Empowerment Zonesand two in Federal Enterprise Communi-ties) to showcase information on effectiveand promising programs that addressthe problem of youth out of the educationmainstream. The sites and dates of theforums were Detroit, Michigan (July 12);Los Angeles, California (July 31); Char-lotte, North Carolina (August 16); andPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania (August 26).Nearly 1,000 representatives from educa-tional institutions, probation departments,correctional facilities, law enforcementagencies, juvenile courts, youth-servingorganizations, and community groups

attended the forums. At the regionalforums, speakers identified the school-related risk factors in the lives of theseyouth, provided the latest informationon promising and proven methods to ad-dress these risk factors, and showcasedinnovative and collaborative partner-ships and comprehensive programs thatare meeting the needs of youth at riskin our schools and communities.

Training and TechnicalAssistance

Beginning in late fall of 1996, followinga competitive selection process, NSSCbegan providing individualized trainingand technical assistance to 10 competi-tively selected jurisdictions to assistschool districts, juvenile and family courts,social service agencies, community orga-nizations, and other service providersto develop new programs or enhanceexisting programs that comprehensivelyaddress the needs of youth out of the edu-cation mainstream. Of the 10 sites, 6 arelocated in Federal Enterprise Zones, Em-powerment Communities, and EnhancedEmpowerment Communities. The 10 sitesare: San Jose, CA; Las Vegas, NV; Hastings,NE; Washington, DC; Reading, PA; EssexCounty, NJ; Macon, GA; Louisville, KY;Hennepin County, MN; and Phoenix, AZ.

The training component will assistthese jurisdictions in the following manner:

◆ Further assess the problem, as needed,and identify community strengths andresources.

◆ Share information on effective andpromising intervention techniques.

◆ Enhance the role of educators, juvenilejustice personnel, community leaders,youth-serving groups, and the businesscommunity in program formulationand implementation.

◆ Identify methods of working acrossagencies to develop and implementeffective programs.

PublicationA comprehensive publication will be

made available on the YOEM initiativeand will include a directory of effectiveand promising programs, a list of re-source organizations, recommended read-ing, and Federal, State, and local resourcesavailable to assist in meeting the needs ofyouth out of the education mainstream.

ConclusionThe untapped potential of our Nation’s

young people must not be neglected.Innovative, promising, and effective ap-proaches are available to prevent crimeand delinquency and nurture each child’spotential to become a successful and con-tributing member of society. Each youngperson deserves the opportunity to demon-strate that he or she is capable of success.

The YOEM initiative is expected todemonstrate that we can stem the tideof children leaving the education main-stream and that many of the youth whohave fallen out of the education main-stream can be saved from falling out ofthe mainstream of society. It is hopedthat these youth will be able to experi-ence the personal success of completinga homework assignment, passing a test,helping another student with a scienceproject, avoiding a fight, giving back totheir community through service, andearning a high school or general equiva-lency diploma that will prepare them fora successful future.

ResourcesPublications available from the U.S.

Department of Education’s Clearing-house (800–624–0100)

Alternative Education Programs for Vio-lent and Chronically Disruptive Students:Best Practices. (1996). Washington, DC:Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program, U.S.Department of Education (free).

Creating Safe Schools: A ResourceCollection for Planning and Action. (1996).Washington, DC: Safe and Drug-FreeSchools Program, U.S. Department ofEducation (free).

Manual on School Uniforms. (1996).Washington, DC: Safe and Drug-FreeSchools Program, U.S. Department ofEducation (free).

Manual To Combat Truancy. (1996).Washington, DC: Safe and Drug-FreeSchools Program, U.S. Department ofEducation, in cooperation with Officeof Juvenile Justice and DelinquencyPrevention, U.S. Department of Justice(free).

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delin-quency Prevention, U.S. Department ofJustice, and Office of Elementary and Sec-ondary Education, U.S. Department ofEducation. (1996). Creating Safe and Drug-Free Schools: An Action Guide. Washing-ton, DC: U.S. Department of Justice (free).

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Publications available from OJJDP’sJuvenile Justice Clearinghouse(800–638–8736)

Coffey, O., and M. Gemignani. (1994).Effective Practices in Juvenile CorrectionalEducation: A Study of the Literature andResearch 1980–1992. Washington, DC:Office of Juvenile Justice and DelinquencyPrevention, U.S. Department of Justice(document identification number: NCJ150066; cost: $15, U.S.; $19.50, Canadaand other countries).

Coordinating Council on JuvenileJustice and Delinquency Prevention.(1996). Combating Violence and Delin-quency: The National Juvenile JusticeAction Plan (Summary). Washington, DC:Office of Juvenile Justice and DelinquencyPrevention, U.S. Department of Justice(document identification number: NCJ157106; free).

Costello, L. (Ed.). (1995). Part of theSolution: Creative Alternatives for Youth.Washington, DC: National Assembly ofState Arts Agencies, National Endowmentfor the Arts, and U.S. Department of Jus-tice (document identification number:NCJ 152982; free).

Crawford, D., and R. Bodine. (Novem-ber 1966). Conflict Resolution Education:A Guide to Implementing Programs inSchools, Youth-Serving Organizations, andCommunity and Juvenile Justice Settings.Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justiceand Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Depart-ment of Justice, and Safe and Drug-FreeSchools Program, U.S. Department ofEducation (document identificationnumber: NCJ 160935; free).

Education in the Law: Promoting Citizen-ship in the Schools. (1990). Washington,DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delin-quency Prevention, U.S. Department ofJustice (document identification number:NCJ 125548; free).

Garry, E. (1996). Truancy: First Step toa Lifetime of Problems. Washington, DC:Office of Juvenile Justice and DelinquencyPrevention, U.S. Department of Justice(document identification number: NCJ161958; free).

Gemignani, R. (1994). Juvenile Correc-tional Education: A Time for Change. Officeof Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Pre-vention, U.S. Department of Justice (docu-ment identification number: NCJ 151264;free).

Hodges, J., et al. (1994). Improving Lit-eracy Skills of Juvenile Detainees. Wash-ington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice andDelinquency Prevention, U.S. Departmentof Justice (document identification num-ber: NCJ 150707; free).

Laney, R. (July 1996). InformationSharing and the Family Educational Rightsand Privacy Act. Washington, DC: Officeof Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Pre-vention, U.S. Department of Justice (FactSheet #39).

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delin-quency Prevention. (May 1996). ReducingYouth Gun Violence: An Overview of Pro-grams and Initiatives. Washington, DC:U.S. Department of Justice (documentidentification number: NCJ 154303; free).

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delin-quency Prevention. (November 1995).Delinquency Prevention Works. Wash-ington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.(document identification number: NCJ155006; free).

Weitz, J.H. (April 1996). Coming UpTaller: Arts and Humanities Programs forChildren and Youth At Risk. Washington,DC: President’s Committee on the Artsand the Humanities.

Wilson, J.J., and J.C. Howell. (1993).Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Vio-lent, and Chronic Juvenile Offenders. Wash-ington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice andDelinquency Prevention, U.S. Departmentof Justice (document identification num-ber: NCJ 143453; free).

Witt, P.A., and J.L. Crompton (Eds.).(1996). Public Recreation in High Risk Envi-ronments: Programs That Work. Arlington,VA: National Recreation and Park Associa-tion (document identification number:NCJ 159776; call for availability).

Endnotes1. J. Butts, Offenders in Juvenile Court,

1994 (Washington, DC: Office of Juve-nile Justice and Delinquency Preven-tion, U.S. Department of Justice,October 1996), 8.

2. National Center for Education Statis-tics, U.S. Department of Education,Dropout Rates in the United States:1993 (Washington, DC: September1994), vii.

3. Teens, Crime and the Community,Between Hope and Fear: Teens SpeakOut on Crime and the Community(Washington, DC: National Crime Pre-vention Council, National Institutefor Citizen Education in the Law, andOffice of Juvenile Justice and Delin-quency Prevention, U.S. Departmentof Justice, December 1995), 49.

4. Alternative Education Programs forViolent and Chronically DisruptiveStudents: Best Practices (Washington,DC: Safe and Drug-Free Schools Pro-gram, U.S. Department of Education,October 1996), 7.

5. National Center for Education Statis-tics, U.S. Department of Education,Youth Indicators 1993: Trends in theWell-Being of American Youth (Wash-ington, DC: October 1993), 145.

6. U.S. Bureau of the Census: CurrentPopulation Reports 1994, Education-al Attainment in the United States:March 1993 and 1992 (Washington,DC: May 1994), Table D.

7. J. Catterall, “On the Social Costs ofDropping Out of School,” The HighSchool Journal 71 (1987), 4–5.

8. H.N. Snyder and M. Sickmund, JuvenileOffenders and Victims: A NationalReport, Office of Juvenile Justice andDelinquency Prevention, U.S. Depart-ment of Justice (Washington, DC: Au-gust 1995), 16; D. Huizinga, R. Loeber,and T.P. Thornberry, Recent FindingsFrom the Program of Research on theCauses and Correlates of Delinquency(Washington, DC: Office of JuvenileJustice and Delinquency Prevention,U.S. Department of Justice, in press),35.

9. Community Health Concepts, Execu-tive Summary: We’re Keeping TABSon Truants, Boys and Girls Clubsof Greater Milwaukee (Milwaukee,Wisconsin: August 1995), 8.

10. A. Beck et al., Survey of State PrisonInmates 1991 (Washington, DC: Bu-reau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Depart-ment of Justice, March 1993), 3.

11. J. Austin et al., Juveniles Taken IntoCustody: Fiscal Year 1993 (Washing-ton, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice andDelinquency Prevention, U.S. Depart-ment of Justice, September 1995), 22.

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The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delin-quency Prevention is a component of the Of-fice of Justice Programs, which also includesthe Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Bureauof Justice Statistics, the National Institute ofJustice, and the Office for Victims of Crime.

This Bulletin was prepared by Sarah Ingersoll,Special Assistant to the Administrator, andDonni LeBoeuf, Senior Program Manager, OJJDP.

12. Committee for Economic Develop-ment, Children in Need: InvestmentStrategies for the EducationallyDisadvantaged: Executive Summary(New York: Committee for EconomicDevelopment, 1987), 2.

13. 1995 State Legislative Summary:Children, Youth and Family Issues(Denver, Colorado: National Confer-ence of State Legislatures—Childrenand Families Program, December1995), 149.

14. National School Safety Center,Increasing Student Attendance (Wash-ington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justiceand Delinquency Prevention, U.S. De-partment of Justice, April 1994), 3.

15. Snyder and Sickmund, JuvenileOffenders and Victims: A NationalReport, 22.

16. B. Brown, Trends in the Well-Beingof America’s Children and Youth:1996 (Washington, DC: Office of theAssistant Secretary for Planningand Evaluation, U.S. Department ofHealth and Human Services, April1996), 140.

17. LH Research, Inc., A Survey of Experi-ences, Perceptions, and ApprehensionsAbout Guns Among Young People inAmerica (New York, NY: LH Research,Inc., for The Harvard School of PublicHealth, July 1993), vi.

18. Caught in the Crossfire: A Report onGun Violence in Our Nation’s Schools(Washington, DC: Center to PreventHandgun Violence, September 1990), 1.

19. H.N. Snyder, M. Sickmund, and E. Poe-Yamagata, Juvenile Offenders andVictims: 1996 Update on Violence(Washington, DC: Office of JuvenileJustice and Delinquency Prevention,U.S. Department of Justice, February1996), 5.

20. Teens, Crime and the Community,Between Hope and Fear, 10.

21. L. Ansley, “It Just Keeps GettingWorse,” USA WEEKEND (August13–15, 1993), 5.

22. B. Shuster, “L.A. School TruancyExacts a Growing Social Price,” LosAngeles Times, June 28, 1995, sec. A,p. 12.

23. Shuster, sec. A, p. 1.

24. J. Richardson, “Searching for Answersto Student Absenteeism,” Detroit FreePress, February 7, 1996, sec. NWS,p. 1A.

25. Shuster, sec. A, p. 1.

26. E. Garry, Truancy: First Step to a Life-time of Problems (Washington, DC:Office of Juvenile Justice and Delin-quency Prevention, U.S. Departmentof Justice, 1996), 4.

27. National School Safety Center, In-creasing Student Attendance (WestlakeVillage, CA: National School SafetyCenter, April 1994), 4.

28. D. deVise, “Area Schools Get Toughon Truants,” Long Beach PressTelegram (October 3, 1995), B–1.

29. “Number of Expulsions Soars inWisconsin,” Education Week 14(18) (January 25, 1995), 4.

30. M. Stevens and M. Eddy, “MiddleSchool Suspensions,” The DenverPost (January 29, 1995), 8A.

31. J. McCullough, “Policy Makes APoint,” Statesman Journal (December13, 1994), 1, 2A.

32. M. Parente, “No Second Chance: Gun-Toters May Get ‘Zero Tolerance’,”New York Newsday (September 8,1994), A3.

33. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delin-quency Prevention, U.S. Departmentof Justice, and Office of Elementaryand Secondary Education, U.S. De-partment of Education, Creating Safeand Drug-Free Schools: An ActionGuide (Washington, DC: U.S. Depart-ment of Justice, September 1996),24–25.

34. R.D. Stephens, “Keeping in TouchWith the Bunch,” School Safety(Winter 1995), 2.

35. Snyder and Sickmund, JuvenileOffenders and Victims: A NationalReport, 135.

36. A. Foxworth et al., King County Juve-nile Detention Special EducationProject: 1990–1993 Final Report(Seattle, Washington: King CountyDepartment of Youth Services andSeattle Public Schools, 1993), 10A.

37. “Returning to School From Incarcera-tion,” School Safety Update (February1996), 2.

38. Committee for Economic Develop-ment, Children in Need: InvestmentStrategies for the Educationally Disad-vantaged (New York: 1987), ExecutiveSummary, 2; quoted in William T.Grant Foundation, Interim Report, 74.

39. R.L. Colvin, “Dropout Rate Twicethe State Average,” Los Angeles Times(June 14, 1995), B–1.

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