Youth arts programs are powerful crime prevention tools. They offer safe, engaging and constructive environments for young people who lack adult supervision during nonschool hours, a time when they are most vulnerable to community violence and gang recruitment.

An increasing number of communities are realizing that art programs for at-risk youth offer an effective and more affordable alternative to detention and police-centered crime prevention. (p. 2)

CONTENTS
It Worked in My City.
Creation, Not Destruction.
Art Holds a Key.
Real Answers to Tough Problems.
The Arts Apprenticeship Training Program.
Why the Arts?
Positive Results: National Proof Youth Arts Programs Work!
Can the Arts Really Deter Our Youth from Gangs, Drugs and Violence?
Bridging the Gap: How Nonschool-Based Programs Boost Education.
Arts Participation = Improved Academic Performance.
Arts Programs = Higher Rates of Graduation.
Funding for Youth-at-Risk Arts Programs.
National Endowment for the Arts Education and Access Program.
U.S. Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).
U.S. Department of Labor Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA).
U.S. Department of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Public Housing Drug
Elimination Program.
Department of Health and Human Services Center for Substance Abuse Prevention.
Department of Education Safe and Drug Free Schools and Community State Grants.
How to Establish a Program in your Community.
Resources.
Endnotes.
About Americans for the Arts.

This pamphlet explores how an increasing number of communities are realizing that art programs for at-risk youth offer an effective and more affordable alternative to detention and police-centered crime prevention.