CAMDEN — For New Jersey’s troubled youths, the juvenile justice system has been successful in reducing delinquency and holding offenders accountable. But communities like Vineland are trying to step out in front of the problem by keeping young people out of the system altogether.
The Senator Walter Rand Institute for Public Affairs at Rutgers–Camden has been chosen by New Jersey’s Office of the Attorney General to lead community stakeholders in Vineland and identify potential policies, practices, and programs which could prevent or reduce juvenile delinquency.
“It really made sense to have some targeted initiatives in areas where juvenile crime is highest,” says Gwendolyn Harris, executive director of the Rand Institute. “We’re looking at it from a prevention standpoint. How do you keep the problem from happening upstream, if you will?”
Rutgers–Camden’s Rand Institute provides logistical and technical assistance to the Vineland Positive Youth Development Coalition and utilizes citywide data to improve upon gaps and redundancies within current prevention strategies.
The coalition identified four critical issues most in need of changes in policy or prevention programming: domestic violence, out-of-home placements, single-parent households, and juvenile crime.
“Individuals from the local law enforcement to community-based and nonprofit organizations have invested their time to have meaningful discussions on what they could do to reduce juvenile problems caused by these issues,” says Tracy Swan-Grova, a senior project coordinator for the Rand Institute at Rutgers–Camden.
The Vineland Coalition was divided into four workgroups to address the four issues and have been successful in establishing:
- A mentoring initiative to serve at-risk youth ages 7 to 12 and additional community service options for an existing adjustment program to allow first-time juvenile offenders a chance to rehabilitate through mentoring, community service, and support
- A forum to educate aging out youth of the state Division of Youth and Family Services to obtain assistance in housing, job training, and maintaining a bank account, as well as other independent living programs.
- “Building Community Connections” events to increase accessibility to social services for single parents and their children.
- A domestic violence resources brochure that outlines legal and social services victims and batterers can utilize.
The Rand Institute began its work with Vineland in 2009 as part of a two-year agreement to initiate the policy and programming changes. It is now in the first year of a new three-year agreement.
The Rev. Gary W. Holden, the senior chaplain of the Vineland Police Department, says improvements have already been evident in a municipality that reported more than 950 juvenile arrests in 2009.
“One of the wonderful things that has happened is all of the different community groups have come together to work with our youth,” Holden says. “The results have been tremendous.”
Harris says some communities may feel limited in what they can do if they don’t have the funding to start a program.
“That can get in the way,” she says. “Helping the community see how they can pool their resources and use what they have to provide an intervention is very important.”
Similar juvenile crime prevention initiatives have already started in Asbury Park, Camden, Newark, and Trenton.
“It’s a process of getting key stakeholders together to problem solve,” Harris says. “That really becomes the legacy. That’s how communities become healthy. There will be a point in time where we step back and let them do it on their own. It’s not to say that these problems will go away, but we can help the community have the capacity to do something about it.”
The Senator Walter Rand Institute for Public Affairs was established to engage Rutgers–Camden faculty and students with public administrators, elected officials, non-profit organizations, and community leaders to address the real world challenges that shape the lives of South Jersey citizens.
It serves as a research and public service center for Rutgers–Camden.
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Media Contact: Ed Moorhouse
(856) 225-6759
E-mail: ejmoor@camden.rutgers.edu