On January 18, 2012, Assistant Attorney General Laurie O. Robinson announced the designation of Melodee Hanes as the Acting Administrator of OJJDP. Hanes, who has served as the Acting Deputy Administrator for Policy at OJJDP for the past 2 1/2 years, replaces Jeff Slowikowski, who served as Acting Administrator for nearly 3 years. Slowikowski is now OJJDP's Acting Deputy Administrator for Policy.

During his tenure as Acting Administrator, Slowikowski oversaw distribution of more than $1.5 billion in funding to support juvenile programs, including $50 million for the Internet Crimes Against Children task force program under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. He revitalized OJJDP's research program, helped OJJDP launch important work in areas such as school discipline and tribal and military-youth mentoring, and oversaw OJJDP's national conference, a meeting of more than 2,300 youth professionals.

"I want to thank Jeff for his exceptional service," said Assistant Attorney General Robinson. "Jeff's leadership has been vital to the important work of OJJDP and to the many successes we have had in the office over the past 3 years."

Before joining OJJDP, Hanes worked for 16 years as a deputy county attorney prosecuting child abuse, sexual assault, and homicide cases and for years trained and lectured on child abuse-related topics. In addition, Hanes served as an adjunct professor of law at her alma mater, Drake University. To learn more about Ms. Hanes's plans and priorities for the Office, read an indepth interview with the Acting Administrator in the March/April issue of OJJDP News @ a Glance.

In other news, Assistant Attorney General Robinson announced on January 3 that she would be leaving her position at the end of February. Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Mary Lou Leary will serve as Acting Assistant Attorney General following Robinson's departure.

"One of the reasons I can think about leaving now is that we have made substantial progress towards goals I set in 2009," Assistant Attorney General Robinson said. "With the Attorney General's support, we have made real progress in building strong partnerships with law enforcement and other parts of the state, local, and tribal criminal and juvenile justice field. We have put science front and center and focused on evidence-based approaches. And we've made it a priority to ensure OJP's [Office of Justice Program's] grant process is fair, accessible to our stakeholders, and accountable to Congress and the public in terms of managing scarce federal dollars."

Resource:

For more information about Melodee Hanes' designation as OJJDP's Acting Administrator, read the Office of Justice Programs' press release.

In 2002, the Office launched OJJDP News @ a Glance, a bimonthly online newsletter, to provide its constituents with the most up-to-date and comprehensive juvenile justice information available. In addition to highlighting major OJJDP activities, presenting updates from OJJDP-funded programs, and providing annotated links to free publications and resources, the newsletter covers a range of topics of importance to the field, including, reentry, gang violence prevention, bullying, school discipline, children's exposure to violence, girls delinquency, and evidence-based practices, to name a few.

The newsletter began as a print and online publication, but soon moved to an online-only format to save costs and increase discribution. In the decade since the first issue was released, the newsletter has evolved to include updated designs, a quadrupling of the number of special features, and new Did You Know? and News in Brief sections. The expansion in readership has been equally dramatic—from 2,000 subscribers at the end of the newsletter's first year to more than 30,000 subscribers today.

The newsletter's value to the juvenile justice field has been recognized through numerous awards. In 2009, OJJDP took first place in the National Association of Government Communicators' (NAGC) Gold Screen Awards competition under the e-newsletter category. The NAGC Blue Pencil & Gold Screen Awards recognize superior government communications products and their producers in 47 categories. More than 500 entries are generally received each year and submissions are judged by a prestigious panel of experts.

OJJDP News @ a Glance is only one example of the many ways in which OJJDP is keeping the nation informed about critical juvenile justice issues and evidence-based strategies to solve them. OJJDP's resources include online data systems such as the Statistical Briefing Book and Model Programs Guide; JUVJUST, a listserv that provides brief, semi-weekly, e-mail notices about the latest juvenile justice information; Web sites featuring information about research, programs, and funding; Webinars; and a range of print and online publications.

Resources:

Encourage colleagues to subscribe to the newsletter. To read previous issues of the newsletters, browse through the newsletter archives on the OJJDP Web site.

January 2012 marked the 11th anniversary of National Mentoring Month, a large-scale public service campaign held each year to recruit volunteer mentors to help young people achieve their full potential.

On January 24–25, 2012, OJJDP joined with other partners, including MENTOR, the Corporation for National and Community Service, the Harvard School of Public Health, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, and United Way Worldwide to host the second annual National Mentoring Summit in Washington, DC. The summit brought together major youth mentoring organizations, along with government, civic, research, and corporate leaders to evaluate best practices, review new research, and chart the mentoring field's future.

The theme for this year's event, "Invest in the Future: Mentor a Child," promoted the long-term benefits that an investment in quality mentoring can offer young people, their mentors, and their communities.

In remarks on the summit's opening day, OJJDP Acting Administrator Melodee Hanes emphasized the effectiveness of mentoring as a tool to keep at-risk kids on track and help ensure a productive future for system-involved youth. "Mentoring works. Mentoring relationships have been shown to improve youth's self-esteem, instill more positive attitudes and behavior, reduce the likelihood of drug and alcohol abuse, reduce violent behavior, and enhance academic performance," Hanes said. "For these reasons, OJJDP has long supported mentoring, awarding more than $480 million since 1994 to support mentoring programs."

The 2012 summit featured an update on the Corporate Mentoring Challenge issued by First Lady Michelle Obama. At last year's summit, Mrs. Obama called on U.S. corporations to identify ways to engage their workforce in mentoring activities that help young people in the communities where these corporations operate gain leadership skills, achieve their educational goals, and increase their confidence. At last year's launch of the challenge, 17 corporations announced their commitment to expand or launch an employee-based mentoring program. To date, more than 100 companies have committed to this challenge.

Representatives of major corporations participated in a Corporate Leadership Session in which strategies for deepening private sector investment and volunteerism were discussed. Executive Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships Joshua DuBois and Chief of Staff of the White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs Michael Strautmanis moderated the session.

Mentoring experts led 35 workshops on a range of topics, including:

• Academic mentoring in action
• College partnerships for mentoring
• College students as mentors
• Developing corporate partners into champions for youth mentoring
• Developing mentoring programs in partnership with tribal communities
• Expanding and sustaining mentoring programs through strategic partnerships
• Helping mentees see college in their future
• Measuring and tracking success
• Men in mentoring
• Mentoring gay youth
• Mentoring programs for adjudicated youth and children of incarcerated parents
• Mentoring youth with disabilities and learning differences
• School-based mentoring in urban settings
• Using evidence for continuous improvements in achieving youth outcomes
• What research says about mentoring

OJJDP staff hosted a 90-minute session at which they provided an overview of the Office's philosophy on mentoring and comprehensive information about OJJDP's mentoring programs. In fiscal year 2011, OJJDP awarded more than $80 million through appropriations for mentoring programs, research, and training and technical assistance. OJJDP also awarded nearly $3 million through the Office's Tribal Youth National Mentoring program.

In October 2011, the U.S. Departments of Justice and Defense forged a partnership to award $20 million to nine organizations to support mentoring programs and services for youth with a parent in the military.

Resources:

For additional information about the 2012 National Mentoring Summit, visit MENTOR's Web site. To learn more about mentoring resources, go to the OJJDP Web site. Also visit the National Criminal Justice Service's Mentoring Resources Special Feature, which contains links to publications and related organizations, agencies, funding resources, and Web sites that focus on mentoring activities.

On January 31–February 1, 2012, in Albuquerque, NM, the Attorney General's National Task Force on Children Exposed to Violence held the second of four public hearings to identify promising practices, programming, and community strategies to address children's exposure to violence.

The hearing focused on children's exposure to violence in rural and tribal communities and featured testimony from practitioners, policymakers, academics, and community members.

"Our children are exposed to far more violence than we realize," said Associate Attorney General Thomas J. Perrelli, who delivered introductory remarks at the hearing. "The task force will enhance how we work together to serve our children in cities and towns, on reservations, and in rural areas throughout the nation."

Four panel discussions provided an overview of the challenges of seeking help and safety in rural areas; economic and geographic barriers that prevent youth exposed to violence in rural areas from receiving adequate services; the difficulties rural courts, law enforcement, and social services agencies face when trying to provide services; and strategies for using the strengths of American Indian/Alaska Native traditions and culture to address the problem of children's exposure to violence.

In her opening testimony, Esta Soler, president and founder of Futures Without Violence, cited findings of the OJJDP-supported National Survey of Children Exposed to Violence: more than half of American children witnessed or experienced violence in the previous year; 1 in 3 will be exposed to violence in the home by the time they are 17 years old; and 1 in 10 experience more than five kinds of victimization. Ms. Soler emphasized the need for, among other measures, routine screening and assessment, early intervention, gender-specific and culturally appropriate services, and an ongoing commitment to raising public awareness.

"We must bring the public along with us, both because they—we—are the society, the culture that is also influencing our children; and because people cannot help if they don't know what is going on or don't know what to do," Ms. Soler said.

Gil Vigil, board member of the National Indian Child Welfare Association, discussed the urgent challenges faced by children and families in Indian country, including having the highest poverty rate of any racial group, higher drug and alcohol abuse disorder rates than the general population, and a rate of rape and sexual assault that is 3.5 times higher than that of other races.

"Considering these experiences, it is clear why American Indian/Alaska Native children are at 2.5 times greater risk of experiencing trauma than mainstream populations," he said. "The sustained nature and frequency of this trauma over several generations has produced much of the modern-day trauma that is experienced by children in tribal communities."

Other speakers at the hearing included Carole Justice, coordinator of the Indian Country Methamphetamine Program; Coloradas Mangas, member of the Mescalero Apache Tribe (New Mexico) and youth board member of the Center for Native American Youth; Paul Smokowski, director of the North Carolina Academic Center for Excellence in Youth Violence Prevention; Mato Standing High, Attorney General of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe (South Dakota); and Dolores Subia Big Foot, director of the Indian Country Child Trauma Center and Project Making Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.

As part of the Attorney General's Defending Childhood initiative, the National Task Force on Children Exposed to Violence is charged with raising national awareness, increasing the scientific knowledge base about the problem and related issues, and gaining insights into potential policies that may be developed and recommended to the Attorney General for preventing, responding to, and mitigating the effects of children's exposure to violence.

The task force is composed of 13 leading experts from diverse fields and perspectives, including practitioners, child and family advocates, academic experts, and licensed clinicians. Based on the testimony at the public hearings, comprehensive research, and input from experts, advocates, families, and communities nationwide, the task force will issue a final report in late 2012 to the Attorney General presenting its findings and policy recommendations. The report will serve as a blueprint for addressing this issue across the United States.

Future hearings will take place in 2012 in Miami, FL (March 20–21), and Detroit, MI (April 24–25). Details on these hearings can be found on the Defending Childhood Web page. The first public hearing was held in Baltimore, MD, on November 29–30, 2011.

Resources:

More details about the National Task Force on Children Exposed to Violence and the hearing in New Mexico are available on the Defending Childhood Web page.

On January 31, 2012, the White House issued a presidential proclamation pronouncing February as National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month.

Abuse in teen dating relationships is not limited to physical and sexual violence; it also can also include verbal abuse, stalking, unwanted telephone calls and e-mail messages, monitoring cell phone usage, and other forms of controlling and intimidating behavior.

To address this problem, the OJJDP-funded Project Youth Safety launched a public awareness campaign at the Raoul Wallenberg Traditional High School in San Francisco on January 31, 2012. The event, which was attended by healthcare officials from local clinics, representatives of government agencies, and elected officials, unveiled posters for buses, subways, and malls; a 30-second radio PSA; a fact sheet; and brochures to be distributed in the San Francisco area. The campaign is designed to empower youth to stand up to abuse. It also provides a strong message to healthcare providers and other caring adults to help youth learn more about the issue, foster healthy relationships, and intervene more effectively when they suspect relationship abuse. The campaign is expected to reach more than 16 million people.

Nearly 1 in 3 teens who have been in relationships have experienced violence and abuse. Youth who have experienced relationship abuse have a higher likelihood of being in abusive relationships as adults. "These numbers are sobering, and far too many teens suffer silently in abusive relationships," said Melodee Hanes, OJJDP Acting Administrator. "Working together, we need to do what is right for America's children. We are pleased to partner in this effort to spread the word about teen dating violence and, most importantly, help teens know they can stop it."

The kickoff event featured a panel discussion with Dr. Elizabeth Miller, Chief, Division of Adolescent Medicine, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center; Lisa Fujie Parks, Prevention Program Manager, California Partnership to End Domestic Violence; and Melanie M. Natividad, Community Health Outreach Coordinator, Raoul Wallenberg Traditional High School. The panel defined adolescent relationship abuse and discussed the strategies being implemented to address the problem on the national, state, and local levels.

Funded through a cooperative agreement from OJJDP, Project Youth Safety is a comprehensive multimedia, multicultural public awareness initiative promoting child and youth safety at the community level. In addition to teen dating violence, Project Youth Safety has developed media campaigns on four child and youth safety issues in four different geographical areas:

• Merced County, CA—Child Abuse and Neglect in a Southeast Asian Community (Merced Lao Family Foundation).
• Denver—Child Sexual Abuse in a Bilingual Community (Denver Children's Advocacy Center).
• Los Angeles—Impact of Domestic Violence on Children and Youth (Children's Institute Inc.).
• Chicago—Youth in Crisis/Homeless Teens (Youth Network Council/Chicago Safe Place).

A final media campaign on cell phone safety is expected to launch in Rochester, NY, in the near future. Check the Project Youth Safety Web site for public awareness campaign materials on cell phone safety as they become available.

The Project Youth Safety initiative has been developed and directed by INOBTR ("I Know Better"), a nonprofit organization that promotes public awareness to keep children safe.

Resources:

To learn more about Project Youth Safety, visit its Web site. More information about teen dating violence is available on the Web sites of the National Resource Center for Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month, the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, the Office on Violence Against Women, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Choose Respect Initiative, the National Dating Abuse Helpline, and Violence Against Women Online Resources.

In a new private-public partnership, OJJDP and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation are jointly providing $2 million to support innovative and effective reforms in treatment and services for youth involved in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems.

"We need to do what's right for America's children," said Melodee Hanes, Acting Administrator of OJJDP. "This partnership supports state and community efforts to protect youth from harm, hold them accountable for their actions, provide for rehabilitation, and improve public safety. In this tight economy, creatively partnering with a private organization such as MacArthur maximizes reform, while stretching limited public dollars."

OJJDP and the MacArthur Foundation each will provide a total of $1 million over 2 years to four organizations to support juvenile justice reform in four target areas. These organizations will in turn offer states and local governments training and technical assistance to improve mental health services for youth, reduce racial and ethnic disparities in the juvenile justice system, and better coordinate treatment and services for youth involved in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems. The targeted reforms include:

• Mental Health Screening and Risk/Needs Assessment: The National Youth Screening and Assessment Project at the University of Massachusetts Medical School will provide technical assistance on the use of evidence-based tools for case planning to reduce out-of-home placements and recidivism. Contact Laura Guy at the National Youth Screening and Assessment Project.
• Mental Health Training for Juvenile Justice: The National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice at Policy Research, Inc. will provide comprehensive adolescent development and mental health training for juvenile correctional and detention staff to improve their ability to respond to youth with mental health needs. Contact Kathy Skowyra at the National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice.
• Disproportionate Minority Contact Reduction: The Center for Children's Law and Policy will provide technical assistance on evidence-based strategies to measurably reduce racial and ethnic disparities within the juvenile justice system. Contact Tiana Davis at the Center for Children's Law and Policy.
• Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare System Integration: The Robert F. Kennedy Children's Action Corps will provide technical assistance on implementing effective practices to reduce recidivism and out-of-home placement and to improve correctional alternatives for youth in the juvenile justice system, with a history of maltreatment. Contact John Tuell or Janet Wiig at the Robert F. Kennedy Children's Action Corps.

The partnership will build on the MacArthur Foundation's Models for Change initiative, that seeks to create successful and replicable models of juvenile justice systems reform. OJJDP and MacArthur selected these four organizations because they helped develop, field test, and evaluate effective best practice models included in the Models for Change initiative. The MacArthur Foundation has invested more than $100 million in promising juvenile justice reforms since 2004.

On December 14, 2011, OJJDP staffer Ron Laney received the Office of Justice Programs' (OJP's) Lifetime Achievement Award. At the same ceremony, OJJDP's Robin Delany-Shabazz and Anita Butler both received the Assistant Attorney General Award. Following are the remarks of Laurie O. Robinson, Assistant Attorney General, OJP, who presented the awards.

Ron Laney, Senior Advisor to the Administrator (Lifetime Achievement Award)

"Ron has had a lifelong commitment to the safety and welfare of children. He developed the first training program for law enforcement on serving children and youth, which trained thousands and thousands of professionals over the years. In 1998, he created the prototype for the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force program. Initially, the program consisted of 10 task forces. Today, there are 61. Ron was also instrumental in developing the AMBER Alert program and making that the important public safety program it is today. And I think it's safe to say that he's been behind all our successful child protection efforts. I could go on and on about what Ron Laney has done, but there's no way to put into words what he's meant to OJP."

For more information about Ron Laney's career, read OJJDP's tribute to Ron below.

Robin Delany-Shabazz, Designated Federal Official, Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the Federal Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice (Assistant Attorney General Award)

"Robin gave the Coordinating Council new life when she took it over in 2009. After what I know were herculean efforts to reorganize the council, its first meeting drew five cabinet-level officials. On top of that, she completely revamped the Federal Advisory Committee, which was rolled out at the JJ Conference OJJDP's National Conference on Children's Justice and Safety in October. And she took the lead on the Attorney General's new Supportive School Discipline Initiative. As all of this attests, she has a flair for overcoming obstacles and turning problems into workable solutions."

Anita Butler, Budget Analyst (Assistant Attorney General Award)

"Anita has been a budget analyst with OJJDP for over 10 years. Now, I know what the OJJDP budget looks like. . . . It's one of the most complex budgets in OJP, if not the entire Department. Fortunately, OJJDP has Anita. I know Jeff and the OJJDP leadership rely on her implicitly and turn to her to troubleshoot when any budgeting issues arise. In fact, I think the motto there is 'Ask Anita; she'll know.'"

Ron Laney Calls It a Career

OJJDP recently bid farewell to Ron Laney, Senior Advisor to the Administrator. Ron was a tireless and effective advocate for the families of missing and exploited children and the organizations throughout the country that serve them. For his three decades of service to the juvenile justice field, Ron in December was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

"Ron Laney's is an irreplaceable treasure at OJJDP," said Jeff Slowikowski, then-OJJDP Acting Administrator. "Throughout his 30 plus years with OJJDP, Ron looked to make a difference in the lives of children. Ron's experience and historical knowledge will be missed in OJJDP."

Before assuming his advisory role in the Administrator's office, Ron served as associate administrator of OJJDP's Child Protection Division (CPD) from 2000 to 2010. From 1993 to 2000, he was the director of the Missing and Exploited Children's Program, and he was the driving force behind OJJDP's creation of CPD. Among his many accomplishments as associate administrator, Ron oversaw the expansion of AMBER Alert from a small local program to a national network and created the Association of Missing and Exploited Children's Organizations. For more than 15 years, he oversaw the organization and planning of the U.S. Department of Justice's annual Missing Children's Day commemoration. Ron's efforts over the past two-and-a-half decades helped OJJDP forge a strong partnership with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC).

"Ron Laney is a giant in the field of child protection," said Ernie Allen, President and Chief Executive Officer of NCMEC. "For nearly four decades, he has battled to keep America's children safe. . . . He has helped to transform law enforcement, awakening police to the necessity of immediate, serious response. It is difficult to imagine the U.S. Department of Justice without him."

From 1981 through April 1993, as OJJDP's Law Enforcement Program Manager, Ron developed a series of juvenile law enforcement training programs that are still offered throughout the country today.

Other OJJDP Retirements

In recent months, several other staff retired after many years of steadfast service to OJJDP: Laura Ansera, Tribal Youth Program Coordinator; Donni LeBoeuf, formerly Special Assistant to the OJJDP Administrator; Cora Roy-Stevens, Grant Program Specialist; and Freida Thomas, Grant Program Specialist. Throughout their tenure at OJJDP, these individuals offered invaluable expertise and demonstrated integrity, professionalism, and dedication to the juvenile justice field. They will be greatly missed.

9th Annual Conference on Preventing, Assessing, and Treating Child, Adolescent, and Adult Trauma: March 13–15, 2012

Organized by the Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma, this conference will provide information about the latest research in the area of child, adolescent, and adult trauma as well as prevention, assessment, and intervention techniques. Presenters at plenary and breakout sessions will discuss types of trauma, the dynamics of maltreatment and trauma at home or in the community, and trauma's psychological, behavioral, and neurodevelopmental effects. Application of current research information and practical techniques will be emphasized throughout the conference. The event will be held in Honolulu, HI. Registration is available online.

28th National Symposium on Child Abuse: March 19–22, 2012

The National Children's Advocacy Center will hold its 2012 symposium in Huntsville, AL. The symposium will offer more than 130 workshops presented by nationally recognized experts. Workshop tracks are designed specifically for professionals working in the areas of administration, child protective services, law enforcement, the law, medicine, mental health, prevention, victim advocacy, and wellness. Preconference sessions take place on March 19. Registration is available online.

National Conference on Juvenile and Family Law: March 21–24, 2012

Organized by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, the conference will feature innovations in programming and practice and provide new opportunities for courts and communities to improve outcomes for children, youth, families, and victims. The conference, which will be held in Las Vegas, NV, will focus on the challenges faced by many children and families, including child abuse and neglect, mental health, delinquency, custody, immigration, domestic violence, and substance abuse. Registration is available online.

Blueprints for Violence Prevention: April 11–13, 2012

The goal of this conference, to be held in San Antonio, TX, is to disseminate science-based information on effective youth violence, delinquency, and drug prevention programs. Program experts will provide support, guidance, and tools to help practitioners implement these programs successfully in their communities. Participants will include community prevention advocates, department heads of agencies responsible for violence and drug prevention efforts, state and local government leaders responsible for prevention funding and initiatives, leaders of the criminal justice systems, and program implementers. Registration is available online.

18th National Conference on Child Abuse & Neglect: April 16–20, 2012

This annual conference, sponsored by the Children's Bureau's Office on Child Abuse and Neglect (Administration on Children, Youth and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) is one of the field's leading training and technical assistance events. "Celebrating the Past—Imagining the Future," will take place in Washington, DC. Registration is available online.

National Association of Drug Court Professionals 18th Annual Training Conference: May 30–June 2, 2012

To be held in Nashville, TN, this conference will feature more than 175 educational sessions on drug courts, DWI (Driving While Intoxicated) courts, veterans treatment courts, tribal healing to wellness courts, mental health courts, juvenile and family drug courts, and more. Registration is available online.

31st Annual National CASA Conference: June 9–12, 2012

Each year, more than 1,400 court-appointed special advocates and guardians ad litem, board members, volunteers, judges, attorneys, and other child welfare professionals gather to connect with peers and learn from leaders in the field. The 2012 National CASA Conference will take place in Washington, DC. Subscribe to receive conference e-mail updates and registration information.

OJJDP Observes AMBER Alert Awareness Day

On January 13, 2012, OJJDP and communities across the country observed National AMBER Alert Awareness Day in recognition of the collaborative efforts and successes of the AMBER Alert program to assist in the recovery of abducted children. To date, AMBER Alerts have helped rescue 554 abducted children.

The AMBER Alert program, created after the 1996 abduction and murder of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, is a voluntary partnership between law-enforcement agencies, broadcasters, and transportation agencies. In serious child abduction cases, partners coordinate to send out an urgent bulletin that describes the abducted child and the suspect. This alert is broadcast to millions of media listeners and viewers.

OJJDP Launches Web Site To Improve Outcomes for At-Risk and Delinquent Girls

OJJDP's National Girls Institute has created a Web site to better meet the needs of at-risk and delinquent girls, their families, and the agencies and organizations that serve them. Established in 2010, NGI provides training, technical assistance, and resources to local, tribal, and private organizations that serve girls and young women in or at risk of entering the juvenile justice system.

"We have a responsibility to educate professionals and the public about what programs work to keep girls safe and out of trouble," said Melodee Hanes, Acting Administrator of OJJDP. "This Web site is an important step forward in our efforts to improve the lives of girls across the country."

On the Web site, professionals can submit requests for training and technical assistance, as well as find current information about best practices, gender-responsive tools, research, and events in the field. Girls and their parents and caregivers will find helpful information on national hotlines and resources on issues that matter to them. More information about NGI and its new Web site will be available in the next issue of OJJDP News @ a Glance.

Statistical Briefing Book Updated

OJJDP's Statistical Briefing Book (SBB), an online tool featuring current statistics about juvenile crime and victimization, was recently updated to provide the latest information available to practitioners, policymakers, the media, and the public. SBB is a major source of U.S. juvenile crime and juvenile justice data: during fiscal year (FY) 2011, there were more than 465,000 visits to the SBB site.

The site uses Easy Access, a family of Web-based data analysis tools that the National Center for Juvenile Justice developed for OJJDP to expand access to recent, detailed information on juvenile crime and the juvenile justice system. The latest updates to Easy Access include Juvenile Populations, the FBI's Supplementary Homicide Reports, State and County Juvenile Court Case Counts, and the Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement. SBB's Frequently Asked Questions section also has been updated.

OJJDP Co-Sponsors Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America Forum

More than 2,500 people attended the OJJDP-supported 2012 Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) Leadership Forum, held on February 6–9, 2012, in Maryland. The conference provided information on the latest strategies to combat substance abuse and offered an opportunity for attendees to hear from nationally known experts and policymakers. The event brought together members of community antidrug coalitions from across the country, government leaders, addiction treatment professionals, researchers, educators, law enforcement professionals, faith-based leaders, and youth.

Since 1992, CADCA has been training local grassroots groups, known as community antidrug coalitions, in effective community problem-solving strategies, teaching them how to assess their local substance abuse-related problems and develop a comprehensive plan to address them. Today, CADCA is the nation's leading drug abuse prevention organization, representing the interests of more than 5,000 community antidrug coalitions in the country.

National Juvenile Justice Evaluation Center Launches Bulletin

In 2010, OJJDP funded the National Juvenile Justice Evaluation Center (NJJEC) to assist state, local, and tribal entities with the evaluation of juvenile justice programs and implementation of evidence-based initiatives. The center provides a range of practitioner-friendly resources to guide juvenile justice agencies and practitioners in selecting, implementing, evaluating, and sustaining programs supported by research evidence.

As part of that effort, NJJEC recently released the first issue of its bimonthly online newsletter, NJJEC Bulletin. The newsletter provides information on NJJEC project activities, evaluation-related activities of OJJDP grantees, helpful resources, and upcoming trainings, conferences, and other events. To subscribe to this free resource, visit the NJJEC Web site. NJJEC is a project of the Justice Research and Statistics Association (JRSA).

Office of Justice Programs Releases 2010 Annual Report

The Office of Justice Programs (OJP) has released 2010 OJP Annual Report: Mapping a Course. The report discusses OJP's commitment to outreach and collaboration with the criminal and juvenile justice fields, and describes OJP's innovative programs and technology, evidence-based programs and practices, and funds management. The report is available online.

All OJJDP publications may be viewed and downloaded on the publications section of the OJJDP Web site. Print publications also may be ordered online at the National Criminal Justice Reference Service Web site.

Coming Soon—

Child and Youth Victimization Known to Police, Medical, and School Authorities (Bulletin)
NCJ 235394

Considerable efforts have been made during the last generation to encourage children and their families to report victimization to authorities. Nonetheless, concern persists that most childhood victimization remains hidden. The recently completed 2008 inventory of childhood victimization—the National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence—featured an assessment of whether victimizations were being identified by authorities, including police, school, and medical authorities. The survey found that 13 percent of children victimized in the previous year had at least one of their victimizations known to police, and 46 percent had one known to school, police, or medical authorities. In addition, authorities knew about a majority of serious victimizations, including incidents of sexual abuse by an adult, gang assaults, and kidnappings, but they were mostly unaware of other kinds of serious victimizations, such as dating violence and completed and attempted rape.

The Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention held a meeting on Friday, February 10, 2012, in Washington, DC. Luke Tate, Senior Policy Advisor to the Secretary, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) led a presentation on the HUD and GreatSchools Partnership, which facilitates access to information, such as school performance and extracurricular activities, that is critical to helping parents make more informed choices and find the school that fits their child's needs.

Edward Mulvey, psychiatry professor for the University of Pittsburgh Medical School, and Carol Schubert, research program administrator at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, discussed the OJJDP-sponsored Pathways to Desistance study of serious juvenile offenders. The agenda also included remarks from representatives of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Office of National Drug Control Policy on the study's policy recommendations, as well as other agency announcements and updates. More information about the meeting will be available in the next issue of OJJDP News @ a Glance.

Meetings of the council are open to the public. Visit the council Web site to learn more and read minutes from past meetings.

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