ILJ, under a grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, provided technical assistance to sites asked to compete for the Children At Risk (CAR) program, earlier known as Strategic Intervention for High Risk Youth (SIHRY). The CAR program is a coordinated multi-agency approach to helping at-risk youth in target areas. The program tests specific intervention strategies for preventing and controlling illegal drugs and related crime, while fostering healthy development among youth in drug- and crime-ridden neighborhoods. CAR connects the components of criminal justice and social services.
CAR cities served as demonstration programs with grants from the Bureau of Justice Assistance and Columbia University's Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse. ILJ provided technical assistance on the criminal justice component through cluster conferences, site visits, and training. Technical assistance focused primarily on the roles of police, prosecutors, courts, and probation/parole, working in a comprehensive systems approach with social services and the schools to meet the needs of high risk youth in target neighborhoods. A manual explaining how other jurisdictions may initiate a similar program was developed. ILJ has also contributed law enforcement data and assessment to an overall impact evaluation of the CAR program.