December 2002

Two newly opened Philadelphia teen centers will offer conventional programs such as basketball, computer training, dances, home work help and more. But what sets these teen centers apart from other traditional community centers is that they will actively recruit and engage youth between the ages of 14 and 24 who have been identified as high-risk - those who have, by admission or adjudication, broken the law.

The Philadelphia Department of Recreation, in partnership with Philadelphia Safe and Sound, the Department of Human Services and other groups, opened the City's first two teen centers in June 2002.

Its teen centers strategy is one of several employed by Safe and Sound to reach its goal to reduce youth violence. The centers were developed in coordination with another Safe and Sound violence reduction strategy, the Youth Violence Reduction Partnership (YVRP), a multi-agency, tightly focused initiative that combines intensive supervision with an array of support services to those youth identified as being at highest risk of killing or being killed. YVRP is operating in three police districts in Philadelphia, and the teen centers were placed within two of those.

Teen center participants are identified through collaborative efforts with agencies such as the Philadelphia Probation Department, the Department of Human Services, the Philadelphia Police Department, and others. Also, the centers have hired youth who currently are in the juvenile justice system as outreach workers to attract participants. Special effort is taken to engage girls and young women in center activities since recent surveys show a significant lack of opportunities and supports for them.

Planning started after a discouraging effort to implement a school safety project that had goals similar to the teen center project, says Dr. Marsha Zibalese-Crawford of Temple University. "Evaluations showed that many schools could not implement the school safety project due to the instability of the school system in Philadelphia," she says. "Plus, many targeted youths aren't reached through the schools - drop out rates are so high, we're losing them."

Meanwhile, the City's Report Card on child health and safety statistics and its Children's Budget that shows where youth-serving public dollars go helped spur a discussion of the best use of the City's recreation centers. Zibalese-Crawford and Recreation Department Vic Richards brainstormed ideas and brought the teen center concept to the Juvenile Accountability Incentive Block Grants (JAIBG) program administered by the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). JAIBG now provides the funding to the City for the teen centers.

Although Richards had previous experience with teen centers while working in New Orleans, there is not much information about them in the best-practice literature. Zibalese-Crawford said data from these teen centers is collected and monitored in a research-based manner. The Recreation Department tracks progress toward the goals of increased teen center participation by at-risk youth and reduced involvement with the criminal justice system by those youth by using instruments and measures such as:

• Intake surveys conducted with each participant to assess the youth's current involvement with the rec programs and the criminal justice center.
• Tracking individual attendance in teen center activities.
• A self-report every three months by participants of involvement with the criminal justice system; probation officers will be asked to also provide information.
• Monthly point-in-time count of overall involvement in center activities by youth.

The youths themselves are heavily involved in the operation of the centers. In addition to those hired as outreach workers, many youth are involved in forums and focus groups to identify program services.

Philadelphia's teen centers concept will expand and future centers will be placed in police districts into which the Youth Violence Reduction Partnership effort expands.

When opening the first two centers, Mayor John Street said, "The 'Teen Center' concept is an innovative, preventative strategy designed to stem the tide of violence and crime. We must give our young people somewhere other than the streets to congregate. They need safe, fun and constructive environments in which to socialize, hang out together and just be kids. We believe the teen centers can provide that enriching environment."

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