Measures should be taken to help families learn about personal obligations and encourage their involvement in family and community based activities (Mendel 1995). Effective delinquency prevention interrupts the processes that produce youthful deviant and delinquent behavior and encourages those processes that support healthy development of children of children. Understanding the roles of risk and protective factors help us understand how we can prevent delinquency. The greater a child's exposure to risk factors, the greater his or her chances are of becoming delinquent. However, even a child exposed to multiple risk factors can avoid delinquency if he or she is shielded by enough protective factors. Our challenge is to help communities recognize both types of factors and to aid them in establishing programs that reduce risk and help youth become productive, law-abiding adults. Community based risk factors as well as the media are known to influence children throughout child. Community based services, which respond to the interests of young persons, including community development centers and recreational facilities, should be developed and strengthened. Adequate shelter should be provided for young persons who are no longer able to live at home or have no homes. Services should be provided to deal with the difficult transition of young persons to adulthood, including special programs for young drug abusers that emphasize care, counseling, assistance and therapy. Voluntary organizations serving young people are to receive financial and other supports. Local youth organizations should be created and strengthened and given participatory status in management of community affairs. They should encourage youth to organize collective and voluntary projects, particularly to benefit young persons in need of assistance. Government agencies are to provide necessary services for homeless or street children.
