In partnership with the NEA, the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) published a literature review on arts-based programs and art therapies for at-risk, justice-involved, and traumatized youths. This review explores recent research on arts-based programs and arts therapies. Programs were considered arts-based if at least one of the main components was an arts-related activity, or if there was a deliberate use of arts in the program to bring about a change in behavior. This category includes standalone, arts-based interventions as well as programs incorporating the arts in combination with other approaches (such as mentoring).

As a byproduct of this review, OJJDP is tagging entries in the U.S. Crime Solutions database so that evidence-based arts programs and related interventions show up more readily in the search engine.

This literature review on arts-based programs and art therapies for at-risk, justice-involved, and traumatized youths is part of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s (OJJDP’s) Model Programs Guide (MPG), which contains information about evidence-based juvenile justice and youth prevention, intervention, and reentry programs. It is a resource for practitioners and communities about what works, what is promising, and what does not work in juvenile justice, delinquency prevention, and child protection and safety. Please see a complete list of literature reviews associated with the OJJDP’s model program guides.