NCJ Number
149498
Date Published
1993
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Mission: Possible is a program organized by the Oregon Department of Human Resources, in which adolescents housed in the State's juvenile corrections institutions work on community projects in return for pledge money, which is donated to the Children's Trust Fund. The fund allocates money to child abuse prevention programs across the State.
Abstract
The program is designed to raise the self-esteem of juvenile delinquents, many of whom are themselves victims of child abuse, by providing them the opportunity to give something back to the community. The Mission: Possible program's other goals are to link the private sector with child welfare agencies by encouraging businesses to participate in the program and to make the public and participants aware of the relationship between child abuse and delinquency. Some of the projects in which the adolescents participate include cutting firewood for poor families, restoring public parks, cleaning abandoned cemeteries, building and restoring a playground, reading to blind students, and making stuffed animals for poor and abused children. The program has achieved many intangible and tangible benefits for the participants and the community.