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A CUP OF HEALTH WITH CDC
Reducing Youth Crime
The Effectiveness of Universal School-Based Programs for the Prevention of
Violent and Aggressive Behavior: A Report on Recommendations of the Task
Force on Community Preventive Services
October 5, 2007

[Announcer] This podcast is presented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC – safer,
healthier people.

[Matthew Reynolds] Welcome to A Cup of Health with CDC, a weekly broadcast of the
MMWR, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. I’m your host, Matthew Reynolds.
The United States justice system is overloaded with juveniles who have committed
violent crimes. While there are many programs designed to rehabilitate teenagers, other
programs are trying to prevent youth crimes from happening in the first place.

Robert Hahn, from CDC's Guide to Community Preventive Services, was part of a team
that studied many violence prevention programs used in schools throughout the U.S.
He’s here to tell us about that investigation and what the CDC recommends regarding
these programs. Welcome to the show, Dr. Hahn.

[Dr. Hahn] Thank you. Good to be here.

[Matthew Reynolds] Your report sheds some light on some troubling statistics. For every
hundred teenagers, four crimes are committed. And so we’re clear, you’re defining
these ages as between 12 and 20 years. What types of crimes are you seeing and who
are the victims?

[Dr. Hahn] About two-thirds of these crimes are what are called simple assaults. They
require two or fewer days of hospitalization for the victim. One-third are more serious
crimes. They are referred to as aggravated assaults and they include also rape and
robbery. The victims can be of any age but many of the victims are juveniles
themselves.

[Matthew Reynolds] So, how do those numbers compare to teenage crimes in other
countries?

[Dr. Hahn] Well, if you look at the more severe crimes, take the case of homicide, the
World Health Organization has compared a number of high income nations. The U.S.
has the highest rate of homicides among these nations for young people between the
ages of 10 and 29. The U.S. rate is 6 times that of the rate of the next highest nation
which is New Zealand.

[Matthew Reynolds] Some schools have rolled out violence prevention programs as a
way of curbing the youth crime you just described. Before you weigh in with whether
they’re effective, describe these programs. What’s involved?

[Dr. Hahn] The programs that we looked at are universal programs. So they are given to
all kids in the classroom and/or school. They look at different kinds of things. They focus
on different kinds of aspects of violence. Some of them just teach about the problem of
violence and alternative solutions. Some of them work with skills development. For
example, teaching kids how to resolve conflicts and difficulties among kids. Other
programs change the school environment and many of these programs combine
different levels of interventions.

[Matthew Reynolds] Based on your investigation, are these campaigns effective?

[Dr. Hahn] Fortunately, we found that these programs are effective for all grade levels.
We looked at children from pre-K educational programs through high school. And on
average, these programs reduce violent and aggressive behavior by about 15 percent.
In addition, there were other benefits. For example, they improve the school
environment, they improve learning, they reduce truancy, and they reduce drug abuse
and delinquency.

[Matthew Reynolds] These programs may be effective, but are they cost effective as
well?

[Dr. Hahn] The costs of the programs vary substantially from about $15 per child per
year to about $200 per child per year. But, while they sound expensive, the one case in
which they were evaluated in a program called Social Development Project in Seattle
found that, for each dollar spent, more than $3 were saved, so that they are highly cost
beneficial.

[Matthew Reynolds] Can you talk about the money that’s saved and how they made that
determination?

[Dr. Hahn] They looked at obviously the cost of the programs, in terms of what was
spent per child, and then they also looked at long term outcomes. For example, the
crime that was avoided and the cost of incarceration and the cost, I believe, to the
children as well, in terms of lost opportunities. So there were substantial savings
through these programs by the investment initially made in the program.

[Matthew Reynolds] For people that are interested in more information about this topic
Dr. Hahn, where would you send them?

[Dr. Hahn] We will shortly be posting on our website a summary of the programs. Our
website is www.thecommunityguide.org. We will also be posting there copies of articles
which describe our research and our findings.

[Matthew Reynolds] Dr. Hahn, thank you for joining us today.

[Dr. Hahn] A pleasure.

[Matthew Reynolds] That’s it for this week’s show. Don’t forget to join us next week.
Until then, be well. This is Matthew Reynolds for A Cup of Health with CDC.

[Announcer] To access the most accurate and relevant health information that affects you, your family
and your community, please visit www.cdc.gov.