Juveniles and the Legal Process

Project Objective:

To complete this project, you must

• Demonstrate the knowledge that you’ve obtained in your course Juveniles and the Legal Process
• Employ this knowledge to address practical issues regarding juvenile justice that commonly arises in all jurisdictions
• Research, analyze, and write about the law in your specific jurisdiction with respect to its juvenile justice system

By successfully completing this project, you’ll experience the application of your newly gained skills in a true-to-life professional situation.

Instructions:

To satisfy the requirements of this project, you will complete two of the four assignments below. Each assignment should be a clear, well-written essay of 250–400 words. The assignments are based on the following fact pattern.

Fact Pattern:

You’re employed by a private consulting firm, Juvenile Administration, which specializes in the field of juvenile justice in all of its applications. Your firm is often retained by school districts and municipalities to advise them on the law and to suggest solutions for specific issues and problems in this most important and complex area.

Juvenile Administration has just been retained by your local school district, which is interested in revamping many of the procedures that it currently has in place with respect to its administration of various juvenile justice issues. For the purpose of this project, you don’t have to research the procedures being used by your local school district. Assume that the district wants to operate from a clean slate and is interested in a wide array of information that you must supply, even if they’re already employing some of the methods and procedures that your information covers.

The managing partner in your firm assigns you as the chief project manager for this client. After many weeks of meetings with the members of the school district’s administrative board, you’ve been able to catalog their concerns into four major categories.

Assignment 1: Juvenile Crime Problem

Issues:

The school district wants information on the nature of the juvenile crime problem in your community. They want to know the prevalence of the various types of crimes. They also want to know how their juvenile crime rates compare with other communities throughout the nation.

In addition, the district wants to learn about the latest studies and findings on the factors that contribute to juvenile crime and violence, including the economic, social, and familial influences.

Finally, some of the school administrators have heard that other school districts are working with the National Crime Prevention Council. They want to find out more about this agency, its methods of operation, the programs it administers, and whether it can be a valuable tool for them to use in addressing some of their problems.

Assignment:

As the chief project manager, you must respond to these issues in a comprehensive and relevant written research analysis. You’re free to use all available research tools, including the FBI Uniform Crime Reports, which should be used for your local community’s crime information.

Assignment 2: Safe Schools

Issues:

The school district would like to take all necessary steps to promote safe schools. In this regard, they’re willing to work with law enforcement, community groups, private concerns, and federal and state agencies.

The district also wants to target at-risk students who have the potential to perform acts of violence in their schools. Therefore, they want you to advise them of possible warning signs and of the most current methodology for conducting a detailed threat assessment.

Finally, the school district is aware of a growing gang problem in the community. They’re interested in understanding the causative factors that drive juveniles to join gangs, the nature and conduct of the gang culture, and any antigang programs and measures they might put into place.

Assignment:

As the chief project manager, you must respond to these issues in a comprehensive and relevant written research analysis. You’re free to use all available research tools. In your report, you must include information on the following items:

• Safe Kids/Safe Streets, Safe Start, and Safe Future programs
• School Safety Pyramid
• Four-pronged threat assessment
• Gang Resistance Education and Training
• Teens, Crime, and the Community

Assignment 3: Traumatic Events

Issues:

The school district has many students who have experienced, or are in the process of experiencing traumatic events. These events involve physical, sexual, and mental abuse, as well as abandonment issues. The district wants your help in identifying such children by learning more about the common indicators of such abuse and the links that this abuse plays in leading to delinquency and crime. They specifically want direction with respect to federal laws and your state’s laws applicable to this problem and the options available to help address this most serious threat.

Your school district, like many other districts, has a problem with student substance abuse. They’re interested in targeting these students and in applying the latest methods of intervention, prevention, and treatment. These methods include community education, after-school programs, counseling, and detoxification programs.

Finally, the school district wants to receive information on the problem of youth suicide, including warning signs to watch for and proactive plans to put into place.

Assignment:

As the chief project manager, you must respond to these issues in a comprehensive and relevant written research analysis. You’re free to use all available research tools. In your report, include, among other relevant responses, the following items:

• Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Act
• Seesaw model of child abuse
• Maximalist alarmist perspective
• Minimalist skeptical perspective
• DARE programs
• Binge drinking
• Life Skills Training
• Midwestern Prevention Project

Assignment 4: Law and Procedures

Issues:

The school district wants to ascertain the applicable law and procedures that govern juvenile crime and the courts. You’ll have to research and inform them about both federal laws and your state’s laws in this area. They’re interested in the kinds of courts used, the differences in the procedures used for juveniles and adults, as well as the juvenile sentencing options. They also want to discover the circumstances that would permit a juvenile offender to be treated as an adult.

Finally, they want to know if the teachers in their school district are allowed to search the students and their lockers any time that they want or if there are restrictions on such conduct. They again want both the federal and state laws in this regard.

Assignment:

As the chief project manager, you must respond to these issues in a comprehensive and relevant written research analysis. Your research, as previously stated, must focus on the federal law and on your state law. In addition to other relevant responses, your report should include:

• Juvenile courts
• Juvenile trials and hearings
• Juvenile sentencing laws
• Incarceration alternatives
• Youthful offender treatment
• Community corrections
• Confidentiality issues
• School sanctions
• The Fourth Amendment

Project Specifications:

1. Create a title page with the following information:
2. Title: Juveniles and the Legal Process
3. Your name
4. Current date

• Prepare two separate essays of about 500 words each, following the instructions given for each assignment. Each essay should have a brief introduction, several paragraphs that cover the required information, and a conclusion.
• Double-space your essays, with left and right margins of 1 to 1.25 inches, flush left and ragged right. Use a plain 12-point font.
• Incorporate and properly reference the sources of information obtained from your assignments, as well as from any other sources of information that you deem relevant. To cite your sources, please follow this procedure:
• Use in-text citations to indicate references to information from outside sources. Include the author’s name and the relevant page number(s) in parentheses. Here’s an example: Human beings have been described as “symbol-using animals” (Burke 3).
• Prepare a Works Cited page for each essay, listing all of the sources you’ve consulted. Use either MLA or APA format for this page. For information on how to prepare this page, go to the Penn Foster Library and click on Guidebooks and Tips in the main menu.
• Be sure to include all of the information as explained in “Instructions.”

Grading Criteria:

Your project will be based on the following criteria:

Style	20%
Content	40%
Research	20%
Spelling, grammar, and sentence structure	20%

Here’s a brief description of each of these criteria.

Style:

The student

• Composes each report as a project manager of Juvenile Administration, as if he or she were submitting the work to the school district client
• Uses a writing style that conveys accuracy, relevance, authority, and professionalism

Content:

The student

• Provides sufficient and relevant content for each essay
• Responds to each of the issues posed in an accurate manner

Research:

The student

• Provides good quality information gathered from outside sources
• Provides a diversity of research material included in proper in-text citations and a Works Cited page

Spelling, Grammar, and Sentence Structure:

The student

• Develops each essay with no spelling or grammatical errors
• Uses proper sentence structure and a variety of sentence types