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Press Release
For Immediate Release:
Contacts:
September 13, 2005
Sharon Lauchaire
609-292-2288

Governor's Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Committee
Awards $95,000 to the Salem County Inter-Agency Council

TRENTON - The New Jersey Governor's Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (JJDP) Committee has awarded a grant to the Salem County Inter-Agency Council to reduce the risk factors associated with delinquent behavior through the program, Salem County Families and Schools Together (FAST). The award is in the amount of $95,000.

This is a Prevention Grant, which is designed to reduce violence, addiction and aggression, among juveniles. It allows schools, families, and 81 young people to work together to achieve community development goals such as reducing juvenile delinquency and school dropout rates, and increasing student success in school. The FAST program focuses on creating pathways for youth to succeed in the community, home and school through various positive activities such as communication games and family meals.

"Over the last several years, Prevention Grant funding has given Salem County the opportunity to address many of the juvenile delinquency issues that have a negative effect on its families and communities. We are encouraged again by this opportunity to present the Families and Schools Together program in some of our most vulnerable communities. This collaboration of parents, schools, and community providers seeks to empower at-risk families to be their own prevention specialists, and with the support of other families direct their children to academic success and away from delinquency and gang activity," said Raymond Bolden, Jr., Program Director, Salem County Inter-Agency Council.

The Juvenile Justice Commission (JJC), as the designated planning authority for the allocation of federal grant funds, works with the JJDP Committee to identify appropriate programs, award funds and monitor their success. The JJDP Committee is responsible for the distribution of more than $3 million in federal grant awards annually to local and state agencies. The JJDP Committee reviews proposals for programs that aim to reduce delinquency and/or seek to create local delinquency prevention strategies. Programs that receive funding work with individuals, families and communities to reduce the risk factors associated with delinquency. Programs that demonstrate success are eligible for continued funding for a maximum of three consecutive years.

"The JJC is committed to helping local communities address the specific needs of their young people. We are proud to be part of a partnership that takes a proactive approach to help adolescents and their families," said Howard L. Beyer, Executive Director, JJC. "We know that the earlier we reach out to children, the better chance we have of ensuring that they lead productive lives."

Created in 1995 to bring together services for delinquent young people, the JJC is the single state agency responsible for providing juvenile correctional rehabilitation and parole services. The JJC also funds local prevention programs that divert young people from involvement in the juvenile justice system.

The project is monitored by staff from the Program Development and Prevention Services arm of the JJC's Office of Local Programs and Services.

For more information on the JJC, please visit www.njjjc.com

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