Juvenile Crime
Mississippi County
Caring Communities Partnership
Core Result: Children Succeeding In School
Benchmark: Juvenile Crime Rate
February 2002
Objective
To decrease the juvenile crime rate in Mississippi County from 184 per 1,000 occurrences in 1998 to 148 per 1,000 (20%) by 2004.
Strategies
The partnership in Mississippi County has implemented several different strategies to help lower the juvenile delinquency and habitual delinquency problems in the county.
Fatal Vision goggles have been used in school systems and youth programs to address the problems associated with substance abuse.
The East Prairie School Resource Officer -conducts classes on a daily basis for the entire school system.
Children and P.O.W.E.R. (Children and Police Officers Working to Enhance Relationships) conducts classes that are ongoing Violence Prevention/Character Education Program classes. The local police department will provide a patrol officer to address the students.
Teen Link a support group for youth ages 7th –12th grade has mentoring meetings that address substance abuse, teen pregnancy and violent behavior. The Teen Link is youth driven.
Take A Stand Curriculum is conducted in classes K – 6th dealing with bullying and violent behaviors. Reach is a teaching tool that is used for the 4th – 6th grade. The DARE officer facilitates the training. Challenge is used for the 7th – 12th grade levels.
Summer Kids Kamp. A two-week camp that teaches character education and provides a safe haven for the children. The training starts following the last week of summer school, working in partnership with other organizations. The purpose of the program is to keep the children off the streets and out of trouble.
The Drug Court Program provides counselors and group sessions to help troubled teens in the court systems. Two nights per week the teens are required by the court to attend the counseling sessions.
21st Century Learning Center – After School Activities for all ages from 3:30 until 6:00pm -nightly while school is in session.
Challenges
Mississippi County manually collects detailed data for juvenile delinquency, but there is no state comparison to all violations.
Youth in Mississippi County have no activities to keep them out of trouble. Ample amount of time gives youth the opportunity to venture into at risk behaviors. Without the programs and projects that support helping children in the county, the number of occurrences will continue to increase at an alarming rate.
Results
From 1998 to 2000 the juvenile law violation rate has decreased in Mississippi County by almost 15% in two years. The After School Program and the youth mentoring programs and projects have been successful to help keep youth out of trouble.
Program Performance Measures
The Juvenile Drug Court Program offers counseling and intervention techniques for 15 juveniles housed in the Caring Communities Center.
The East Prairie School Resource Officer has detained 7 students with possessions of drugs from being on the school campus. The officer has increased school attendance by 13%, handling 141 truancy cases and has decreased the amount of school violence by 30% since his start in January of 2001.
Since the Caring Communities Center opened its doors, several different collaborators offering services to children all ages have conducted projects and programs. Bootheel Healthy Start, Juvenile Services, Bootheel Counseling, DAEOC, and others have partnered to help get children off the street and out of trouble.
Funding/Return on Investment
The Charleston and East Prairie School Districts, the Byrne State Grant, Department of Public Safety, Juvenile Court Systems, local, and in-kind dollars, have provided funding for these strategies.
East Prairie School District | $11,000 |
City of East Prairie | $ 9,000 |
State/Federal | $80,000 |
In-Kind | $10,000 |
Charleston Public Safety | $20,000 |
Caring Communities | $845 |
Total | $130,845 |
