WINNING THE BATTLES AND THE WARS. An evaluation of comprehensive,community-based delinquency prevention programming

This three-year program evaluation investigated the primary prevention aspects of Youth Assistance (YA), a community-based program of the Oakland County Probate Court providing casework and prevention services. The activities studied included parent education sessions, supervised teen recreation, summer camp scholarships, skill building activities, and a one-to-one mentorship program. The goals of the study were to determine how effectively the program succeeded in mobilizing community volunteers, and to examine whether the incidence of neglect and delinquency had been reduced as a result of children and parents participating in one or more of these primary prevention activities. Ethnographical as well as quasi-experimental approaches were used. The following results are highlighted: YA primary prevention services do serve “at risk” populations in the community; overall, participation in the YA activities had positive effects on the participants, such as improved communication skills, increased respect for authority, and more use of positive discipline techniques; 92% of the primary prevention program participants had no subsequent contact with YA or the Court; the program is cost-effective. The study also confirmed that volunteers are an essential part of the success of a community-based prevention program. The study resulted in a number of specific recommendations which will be implemented over the next few years in order to continuously improve the program.