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Key Assignment Outline to the discussion area so that other students are able to review your plan. Attach your document to the main discussion post, and include any notes you feel are appropriate. The purpose of this assignment is to help improve the quality of the Key Assignment Draft you will complete next week.

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Whether it is a good idea to cut juvenile programs because of financial concerns

The modern day kids especially teens and adolescents face numerous challenges in their daily lives. These kids face the challenge of abusing drugs or ending up in a criminal gang. The numerous threats kids face has led to the formation of outreach programs across the country. Today, teens and adolescents are greatly reaping the benefits of these programs which aim at promoting healthy and positive development of youths (Corbin, 1999). However, there are some programs which consume a lot of time and money without achieving the intended results. At the same time, there are some programs that are cheap but very effective. For this reason, it is inappropriate to close these outreach programs because of financial concerns.

The reason for closing some of the juvenile programs has been lack of funding. At the moment, federal, state and regional governments should come up with ways of finding money to fund these programs. One way of achieving this is through looking for donors to fund these programs or increasing taxes in order to raise money to support the programs. This aspect is likely to have a positive impact on the United States society as youths and teens will get opportunity to be reformed. With these programs in place, the number of youths likely to abuse drugs, engage in criminal or immoral activities is likely to decline. In addition, recidivism among juvenile offenders is also likely to decrease (Kim, Losen & Hewitt, 2010).

Juvenile programs in Ohio

There are various juvenile programs in Ohio which aim at not only improving the lives of juvenile offenders but all teens and adolescents in the state. One of these programs is the Behavioral Health/Juvenile Justice (BHJJ) initiative which operates in 11 counties in the state. The program is run by social research workers. This program mainly benefits juvenile offenders that are diverted from centers of detention to agencies that are community-based. Once in this program, juvenile offenders both male and female usually undergo treatment of drug and mental health problems. In some occasions, they undergo both treatments. This program started 15 years ago under the request of the juvenile court of Ohio judges. The request came as a result of the court seeking assistant from the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services and the Department of Youth Services of Ohio. By coming up with the request, the judges felt that incarcerating of juvenile offenders did not offer any help to them. Therefore, there was the need to come up with a program which would assist the offender in reforming thereby being able to desist from criminal activities such as drug and substance abuse.

The other juvenile program in Ohio is the Ohio Department Youth Services (DYS). This program acts as the state’s juvenile correction system. The DYS is mandated to confine juvenile offenders convicted with serious crimes such as felony. However, this program houses offenders aged between 10 and 21 that have been committed and adjudicated by one of the state’s 88 juvenile courts. During their stay in this program, the juvenile offenders engage in programs designed to address their behavioral and criminological needs. At the same time, every DYS facility operates a year-round school which offers vocation opportunities as well as general curriculum.

The DYS program has a huge impact on the lives of Ohio youths. Besides the youths in the DYS facilities and those serving parole this program supports and funds over 600 community programs throughout Ohio. These initiatives offer over 79,000 youths services and opportunities to encourage a positive change. These changes range from the diversions and prevention programs that lead to residential community treatment in various areas such as sex offending, substance abuse and mental health. Based on these aspects, it is clear that the DYS has immense benefits not only to the Ohio juvenile offenders but the entire society (Rubin et al, 1999). Through its initiatives, people living in Ohio are able to get services which facilitate positive community growth and development.