Explains the YouthARTS program which develops and assesses arts-based prevention programs for at-risk youth. This collaborative effort of federal agencies, national arts organizations, and three local arts agencies, uses funding and technical program evaluation assistance from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in the Department of Justice. The project model assesses community risk factors and available resources, and then develops appropriate after-school, weekend, and summer programs in the dramatic, visual, and photographic arts. Positive immediate and intermediate outcomes include improved youth communication, cooperative skills, and self-esteem, and an increased awareness of the need to make healthy choices. Pilot programs in Atlanta, Portland, and San Antonio provide details on their collaborative partners, target populations, capacity, duration, frequency, staffing needs, training, approach incentives, and intended outcomes. Each program gives data on the improvement in skills areas such as art, anger expression, communication with adults and peers, cooperation, and task completion. Arts-based delinquency programs show much promise, but continued long-term evaluation is needed. (IP)
