The inaugural issue covers topics ranging from the unique risk factors associated with crossover youth to the benefits of comprehensive restorative justice programs. Articles that report the findings from evaluations of Parents Anonymous and King County's Child Protection Mediation pilot program highlight strategies that demonstrate promise in reducing child maltreatment and increasing the efficiency of case processing, respectively. Additionally, the journal includes items on the development of standards for defining and measuring recidivism and a method that may be used to improve the reliability of juvenile justice screening and assessment instruments.
Since its establishment, OJJDP has developed an extensive research program that includes ground-breaking longitudinal work, unprecedented data collections and surveys, and many comprehensive program evaluations focusing on juvenile crime, delinquency, and victimization. Housing a juvenile research program within an office that also funds juvenile justice programs and services has allowed OJJDP to seed its research into many other activities. Consequently, knowledge gained through research, evaluation, and statistical efforts has informed and strengthened the development of victimization and delinquency prevention and intervention programs, standards, and training and technical assistance. Additionally, OJJDP's responsibility to disseminate information to the field ensures that new research findings make their way into the hands of practitioners and policymakers.
Although OJJDP's research agenda is ambitious, it cannot possibly answer the diversity of questions generated by an evolving juvenile justice field. Innovative research is being conducted across the country and around the world, and OJJDP welcomes submissions from all arenas that represent sound scientific principles on topics of concern to the field.