NCJ Number
80766
Journal
New Designs for Youth Development Volume: 2 Issue: 6 Dated: (November/December 1981) Pages: 16-21
Date Published
1981
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This article examines the goals and accomplishments of the National Female Advocacy Project, the only federally funded project in the country focused entirely on promoting the interests of young women affected by the juvenile justice system.
Abstract
The project's approach is two-pronged: educating relevant groups (teachers, counselors, corrections personnel) to the issues affecting the lives of young females and mobilizing concerned individuals and groups to press for needed changes in the juvenile justice, social service, and educational systems. The main thrust of the project nationally is to persuade its 'natural' organizational allies (organizations with a preexisting commitment to the rights and welfare of women and children) to put young female offenders' problems on their agendas. While the project works nationally to stimulate cooperative efforts with such organizatons as the Girls Clubs of America, Camp Fire Girls, and the National Council of Jewish Women, its Arizona and Oregon offices (where the project originally started) are heavily involved in gathering facts on the condition of females in the juvenile justice and social service systems of those States and focusing attention on needed institutional changes. Activities of the project in Arizona and Oregon are outlined in detail. Paramount among these is implementation of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act's initiative to remove juveniles from locked facilities and provide positive alternatives to detention. Photographs and 17 footnotes are included.