Juvenile Crime Prevention Council

Overview

The North Carolina Division of Juvenile Justice partners with the Gaston County Juvenile Crime Prevention Council (JCPC) to galvanize local community leaders to reduce and prevent juvenile crime. The Gaston JCPC board members are appointed by the Gaston County Board of Commissioners.

All meetings are open to the public, and all business is considered public information. DJJ allocates over $500,000 to the Gaston JCPC annually. Funding is used to subsidize local programs and services.

General Statute 143B-543 sets out that it is the intent of the General Assembly to develop community-based alternatives to Youth Development Centers and to provide community-based delinquency and substance abuse prevention strategies and programs.

The Statute also says that the General Assembly intends to provide non-institutional disposition alternatives that will protect the community and juveniles. These programs and services are planned at the local level by the Gaston JCPC in partnership with the State of North Carolina.

The Council works to identify, promote and coordinate initiatives which address the primary, secondary and yertiary prevention needs of youth at risk of juvenile delinquency, criminal adjudication and other forms of social, emotional and behavioral maladaptiveness. The Council promotes movement of community planning and program agency initiatives toward a collaborative effort in fulfillment of community consensus priorities.