Citing FBI and other data sources, the 2006 National Report demonstrates that the rate of juvenile violent crime arrests has consistently decreased since 1994, falling to a level not seen since at least the 1970s. However, during this period of overall decline in juvenile violence, the female proportion of juvenile violent crime arrests has increased (especially for the crime of assault), marking an important change in the types of youth entering the juvenile justice system and in their programming needs. The Report also describes when and where juvenile violent crime occurs, focusing attention on the critical after school hours.

For more than a decade, CRF's Active Citizenship Today (ACT) program has offered an exciting approach to civic education through service learning. The newly revised ACT curriculum helps students develop citizenship skills and knowledge while they plan and implement service-learning projects. This newly updated ACT curriculum consists of three components:

The ACT Handbook for Teachers (2nd Edition) features new lesson plans, reproducible worksheets, and a complete explanation of ACT's structure, goals, and teaching methods. It now includes a section on implementing ACT throughout a school or district.

The ACT Field Guide (2nd Edition) is a lively, full-color, user-friendly student handbook full of tips, methods, and profiles. This practical guide is designed to support ACT lessons and provide students with resources for all stages of a service-learning project. A final section features skills that students may need to develop during a project, e.g., how to conduct interviews, persuade others, speak in public, conduct opinion polls, raise funds, run meetings, and much more.