An Experiment in Police and Social Agency Co-operation

Abstract

The Englewood Project was an experiment which focused attention on children who as a consequence of appre hension by the police have been identified as vulnerable to a career of delinquency and whose antisocial behavior has not yet progressed to the point of requiring referral to court. Since the police are a vital case-finding source, the Project sought first of all to develop ways of improving police and social agency communication, an essential step in efforts to help these children. It offered casework service to families referred by the police, and it also searched for other community resources to help meet the needs of the children and their families. Among the objectives of the Project were: to learn more about the work and problems of the juvenile officers; to learn more about this group of children—their basic problems and needs, and their home and neighborhood life; to determine what contribution casework can make toward a total community ap proach to the prevention of delinquency; and to determine the adequacy and availability of existing social service facilities in relation to the problems of these children.