Delinquency among the youth is one of the problems faced by the government today. In view of this, the government and the private sector have developed programs which aim to prevent youth delinquency, and to further promote the health and safety of the youth.
One popular program which aims to support the development of healthy youths is the Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) Community-Based Mentoring (CBM) Program. The program’s strategy is for an adult, the Big Brother or Big Sister, aged 22 to 49 years old, to mentor a youth, the Little Brother or Little Sister aged 6 to 18. The program addresses the need of the youth for a positive adult contact, which will hopefully reduce the risk for negative behaviors. The mentoring takes place in a community setting, whereby the mentors and mentees meet about three to five hours per week for at least one year. The goal of the program is to develop a positive relationship between the mentor and mentee; improve school attendance and grades; improve relationship among family members; learn new skills and develop a new hobby.
Another effective program for the prevention of youth delinquency is the Adolescent Transitions Program. This program targets families and children who are at risk for problem behaviors or substance abuse. The strategies used by this program are universal, selected, and indicated family-centered. The universal strategy is directed to the parents of the students. The selected strategy is the Family Check-Up (FCU), where three session initial interviews and assessment are done. Lastly, the third level is the indicated intervention where the parents are given direct professional support based on their needs, as observed from the FCU.
The two programs mentioned above are just a few of the different programs developed for the prevention of youth delinquency. Other programs target other youth problems such as violence, drugs and alcoholism. Indeed, if the government and the private sector partner for this worthy endeavor of preventing youth delinquency, more youth will be responsible citizens, rather than a nuisance to society.
References
Office of Justice Programs. (n.d.). Program Profile - Adolescent Transitions Program. Retrieved from crimesolutions.gov: http://www.crimesolutions.gov/ProgramDetails.aspx?ID=289
Office of Justice Programs. (n.d.). Program profile - Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) Community-Based Mentoring (CBM) Program. Retrieved from crimesolutions.gov: http://www.crimesolutions.gov/ProgramDetails.aspx?ID=112
