Troubled Kids News

In the next hour, Pennsylvania's law enforcement officers will arrest approximately 12 teens, adding up to more than 104,000 arrests of juveniles a year (2004). National youth-gang related homicides are up over 40 percent from 1999 to 2003, the latest year for which data are available. Law enforcement leaders recommend a one-two punch to address teen and gang crime: tough and close supervision combined with research-tested interventions that pull kids away from violence. This "carrot and stick" police and community collaboration closely tracks high-risk kids and swiftly prevents future gang violence and links offenders to neighborhood services so kids get off drugs, stay in school and find a job. In Boston, a citywide effort like this resulted in a two-thirds cut in youth homicides. In Philadelphia, the collaborative Youth Violence Reduction Partnership program implemented in several police districts is succeeding. Looking at ten years of data, youth homicides per month are down 41 percent in the 24th district, and down 46 percent in the 25th district.

The second punch is a successful program such as Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC), which provides structure, discipline, and support for chronic teen offenders and their families. It works on an individual basis with teen offenders to change their behavior, break the negative peer connections that lead to crime and move them back into classrooms and obtain jobs. Parents are also coached to better manage their teenager's behavior. Studies found the program cuts repeat arrests by as much as half and saves the public an estimated $24,000 in future costs and less earnings.

A survey by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development showed that 3.2 million youths were victims of bullying nationwide, and 3.7 million were bullies. Bullying is no longer just on playgrounds and in school hallways; it's also on the Internet and cell phones. A new poll shows that 13 million American children aged 6 to 17 are being cyber bullied and many of them are not telling anyone about it. Many bullies grow up to commit crimes - one study showed that four of every 10 boys who bullied others as kids had three or more convictions by the time they turned 24. The Olweus program developed in Norway produced a 50 percent reduction of bullying there and a 20 percent reduction when it was replicated in South Carolina.

Reports

All Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Pennsylvania reports on troubled kids:

"The reality dawned on me that no kids are safe until they're all safe. I believe that Joseph might be alive today if Antonio had had intervention, if Antonio had been cared for, or in a program and doing something positive. And it's not just Antonio, all of the kids in the juvenile justice system, they have a history of abuse, gangs. If their parents had just had options."

- Alexandra Matteucci-Perkins, son Joseph Matteucci was murdered at age 17, California

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• For children in sixth through tenth grade, nearly one in six - 3.2 million - are victims of bullying each year. An additional 3.7 million bully other children.
• Thirty-eight (38) percent of suburban counties and 12 percent of rural counties in the U.S. report gang activity.
• Preventing one child from adopting a life of crime saves $1.7 million.