Community youth development, delinquency prevention and juvenile corrections health-care services are among focus areas of a new, far-reaching partnership agreement between the California Youth Authority and the University of California, Davis. The agreement, a first for both the CYA and UC Davis, will be signed during a public meeting at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 8, in Room 1006 of Haring Hall on the campus. "We are pooling the resources of a world-class university and the largest juvenile corrections agency in the United States to address one of the most pressing policy issues of our time -- juvenile crime," said Francisco Alarcon, director of the CYA. "By sharing areas of expertise, education and government can be an effective working alliance to increase safety in our communities." "A founding principle for UC Davis, a public university, is that our teaching, research and service be responsive to society's needs," said UC Davis Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef. "Partnering with CYA to focus on issues relating to juvenile crime provides an important new vehicle for our mission of public service." Although the two agencies have worked together on a variety of projects over the years, the agreement will broaden the areas for cooperation and mutual benefit. The formal partnership paves the way for CYA and UC Davis to share resources in several areas including: research and evaluation on topics including the treatment of violent offenders; an exchange program for CYA professionals and UC Davis faculty and staff; health services; staff development and training; administrative and technical support; planning major policy conferences; and student work experience. "There has been a broad expression of support among UC Davis faculty and staff for this new partnership initiative," said Dennis Pendleton, associate dean and director of the UC Davis Public Service Research Program, who will co-chair the steering committee for the partnership. "It's an exciting opportunity to work directly with agency partners in addressing social challenges related to community youth development, delinquency prevention, and youth corrections policies and practices," Pendleton said. After opening remarks by Alarcon and Vanderhoef, agreement steering committee members will be introduced. An overview and discussion of specific proposals for collaborative research initiatives will follow. UC Davis, the third-largest UC campus in terms of enrollment, currently has more than 24,000 students in undergraduate, graduate and professional schools. As a land-grant institution, the campus maintains a long-standing tradition of public outreach. The CYA-UC Davis agreement will be carried out on the campus by the Public Service Research Program, which initiates and promotes communication and cooperative research, emphasizing resource management and environmental policy among agencies, private organizations and UC Davis faculty, staff and students. The CYA provides institutional training and parole supervision for juvenile and young adult offenders. The department also works with community organizations, local law enforcement and other agencies on gang and drug suppression and delinquency prevention activities. The department is responsible for 14,650 juvenile and young adult offenders, with 8,350 in 11 institutions and four conservation camps, and 6,300 on parole. In addition, over 16,000 crime victims are on record to receive services from the department.