| In the fields of juvenile justice policy and | | | | designed interventions. |
| programming, there are certain terms that are used | | | | What I propose is that another category be created |
| to describe target populations. In terms of youth | | | | that better sorts the youth who are classified as |
| who are prone to illegal and illicit acts, the two terms | | | | high-risk. The term proven risk encompasses the |
| that are most commonly used are at-risk youth and | | | | most violent youth who have been placed in the |
| high-risk youth. The former term is generally | | | | high-risk category. There are specific criteria that |
| associated with youth who come from lower-income, | | | | define proven-risk youth. They share the same |
| urban, single-mother backgrounds. High-risk youth is a | | | | characteristics as youth who are in the at-risk and |
| label used to categorize and describe youth who | | | | high-risk categories. What distinguishes proven-risk |
| share the following characteristics: | | | | youth from these other two types is that: they are |
| * are from poor families and communities; | | | | gang-involved; frequently use drugs; have an |
| * are (usually) high school dropouts, homeless or | | | | incarcerated sibling and/or parent; and have been |
| young parents; | | | | incarcerated before. Moreover, they have been |
| * are unemployed or underemployed; and | | | | convicted in court for having committed the following |
| * are involved with or transitioning from the child | | | | crimes: |
| welfare or juvenile justice systems. | | | | * gun possession; |
| Youth from minority groups are disproportionately | | | | * armed robbery; |
| represented in these categories.1 | | | | * aggravated rape; |
| The problem with this definition is that it tends not to | | | | * murder; |
| disaggregate the range of crimes that lead the youth | | | | * attempted murder; |
| into the juvenile justice system. There are insufficient | | | | * armed home invasion; |
| distinctions made with respect to the types of youth | | | | * serious assault against staff and/or another inmate |
| that fall within them. The category high-risk youth | | | | while incarcerated; and/or |
| includes the young person who has engaged in | | | | * escape or attempted escape involving a serious |
| serious criminal and violent behavior as well as those | | | | assault on staff. |
| who have engaged in lower-level offenses that may | | | | By better defining the types of youth who require |
| not necessarily include violence. | | | | intervention, policymakers, foundations, and |
| What is at stake with such categorizations? Incorrect | | | | youth-oriented non-profit organizations can better |
| sorting of these populations has implications for policy | | | | deploy their resources in ways that will be more likely |
| and programming. Those interventions that work well | | | | to make a positive difference in the lives of youth |
| for certain types of youth who have been labeled as | | | | who fall into the proven-risk youth category. |
| at-risk or high-risk are not as effective for the more | | | | "Serving High-Risk Youth: Lessons from Research and |
| violent youth who are incorrectly placed in these two | | | | Programming," Public/Private Ventures, September |
| categories. Poor sorting has a direct affect on these | | | | 2002, p. 2. |
| youth who are in desperate need of properly | | | | |