The Cumberland County Juvenile Crime Prevention Council is requesting proposals for programs to tackle youth delinquency.

The council is looking for programs that develop vocational skills, offer counseling, provide temporary shelter care and/or other services it believes help at-risk youth avoid the criminal justice system. A full list of the types of programs eligible for funding is available on the Cumberland County Government website.

Generally, the programs should tackle the risks factors associated with youth delinquency specified by the state’s Youth Assessment Screening Instrument, a multi-section questionnaire used to measure recidivism and create a plan to avoid further delinquency. Factors include: substance use, mental health problems, behavioral problems at school and in the home, runaway behavior and more.

Only local public agencies, 501(c)(3) nonprofits and local housing authorities can submit funding proposals.

The council anticipates having a total of about $1,119,291 to allocate to programs. The money comes from an annual fund from the North Carolina Department of Public Safety’s Division of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Youth delinquency, or crimes committed by children, has increased across North Carolina since 2021, the state’s most recent Juvenile Justice Report shows. The state’s youth delinquency rate rose from about 17 per 1,000 children in 2021 to 26 in 2022 and 29 in 2023. 

Cumberland County saw a 30% increase in violent youth crime between 2021 and 2022, CityView previously reported. There was an almost 46% increase between 2022 and 2023, according to data from the state’s Division of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. 

The same data shows 183 county youth were admitted into a youth detention facility in 2023, data shows. That’s up slightly from 174 in 2022. In total, the county had 1,447 delinquent complaints, complaints of children committing crimes, in 2023.

The request for proposals comes a year and a day after the council’s last request for the same types of programs. The county received the same funding amount from the state juvenile division last year it anticipates receiving this year. Last year’s funded programs were:

  • Build Your Self
  • Fayetteville-Cumberland Juvenile Restitution Program 
  • FACT (Families And Courts Together) 
  • Find-A-Friend Career Readiness Program 
  • Find-A-Friend Program of Fayetteville Urban Ministry Inc. 
  • JCPC Administration 
  • Juvenile Assessment Center 
  • S.W.A.T. Youth and Family Services 
  • Strengthening Family Bonds 
  • Teen Court

CityView Reporter Morgan Casey is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Morgan’s reporting focuses on health care issues in and around Cumberland County and can be supported through the CityView News Fund.