Why Is This Important?
In safe environments, children thrive, learn dream and explore. However, if children live in unsafe environments and it is left unaddressed, it will create community issues that only serve to undermine the system’s ability to offer its children every opportunity for success.
Measures
Time
Period
Period
Current Actual Value
Current Target Value
Current
Trend
Trend
Baseline
% Change
% Change
Story Behind the Curve
375 per 100,000 children in Montgomery County were referred to DJS for a felony offense in FY2015. This rate has been decreasing over time.
Contributory factors include:
- A high juvenile offense rate indicates problems in a community, both now and in the future.Serious crimes exposes youth to a dangerous lifestyle, increasing the likelihood of later engagement in violent crimes.Youth who continue criminal behavior may not develop into emotionally stable and productive individuals—which could negatively impact the long-term safety, well-being and stability of the whole community.
- Five priority risk factors for adolescent problem behaviors include: family management problems and family conflict, early academic failure, early initiation of problem behaviors, early and persistent disruptive and delinquent behavior, and extreme economic deprivation
Strategies to improve these indicators
Youth Services Bureau (YSB)
Fair and Equal Justice (DMC) Committee