Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

Today I visited the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). It provides national leadership, coordination, and resources to prevent and respond to juvenile delinquency and victimization. OJJDP supports states, communities, and tribal jurisdictions in the efforts to implement effective prevention and intervention programs and to improve the juvenile justice system so that it protects public safety, holds offenders accountable, and provide treatment services tailored to the needs of juvenile and their families.

Dr. Donni LeBoeuf, Special Assistant to the Administrator spoke very well about the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the many grant programs that they offer. She told a story of a young man who went through the program and ended up wanting to go to college. Here is how the story goes. During recess, a young man decided to smoke knowing fully well that smoking wasn’t allowed on school property. When the bell rang for recess to be over, he threw the cigarette down and apparently it landed on the wall. The wall then somehow got caught on fire and ended up being destroyed. The boy then admitted that he was the one smoking the cigarette but didn’t mean to do any harm to school property. They still felt that he should be penalized for his actions. He was then ordered to do community service in the burn section of a Children’s Hospital. Knowing what he did wrong, he was scared because he didn’t want the kids to think of him as a bad person. 

To make a long story short, the kids ended up loving him. What everyone didn’t know was that this young man could draw. He help the children to create a wall full of drawings in which they showcased in a show to their parents. Everyone commended him on a job well done with the kids. He then decided that he wanted to go to art school after graduating high school. This program is very helpful in trying to get kids back on track.