The 8% Solution

Michel Schumacher Ph.D. was employed by the County of Orange for over 32 years in a variety of positions. He was the Chief Probation Officer for over 20 years and in that capacity supervised in excess of 20,000 adult and juvenile offenders and operated two Juvenile Halls and three other custody facilities. He was elected president of two statewide correctional organizations; the California Probation, Parole and Correctional Association (CPPCA) and the Chief Probation Officers of California (CPOC) and served as Legislative Chairman for CPOC for 13 years. For about a year Dr. Schumacher was the Director of the Orange County Health Care Agency which consists of public health, mental health, and environmental health. He also served as County Executive Officer for approximately 3 years with responsibilities for the administration of a $4.4 billion County Budget and a workforce of approximately 17 thousand employees.Dr. Schumacher has taught part-time at various colleges and universities over the past 30 years. He taught classes in criminal justice, management and social sciences at the University of California, Irvine, California State University, Fullerton and Long Beach; the University of Southern California; the U.S. International University in San Diego; the International University of Mexico (Mexico City) and Saddleback Community Collage, Mission Viejo. He is the author of numerous criminal justice and management publications. He is co-author of the book "The 8% Solution; Preventing Repeat Serious Chronic Juvenile Crime", published by Sage Publications in January 2000.Dr. Schumacher. completed his undergraduate and Masters Degrees in psychology at California State University, Los Angeles. He went on to earn a second Masters Degree in Public Administration at the University of Southern California and a Ph.D. in Human Behavior at U.S. International University in San Diego.

• IntroductionPART ONE:THE 8% PROBLEMThe 8% ProblemSerious, Chronic Juvenile OffendersCrime at an Early Age"Lets Give `Em a Break"Disrupted FamiliesThe Continuing Family CrisisSchool FailureSchool′s Out for Good...and That′s BadDrug and Alcohol AbuseGetting "High" and Sinking LowGangs, Runaways and ThievesDefinately the Wrong CrowdPART TWO: TOWARDS AN 8% SOLUTIONLaying the GroundworkDevising an Intervention StrategyFrom the Ivory Tower to the StreetField Testing the Program ModelAll′s Well That Ends WellThe Field Test ResultsA Case StudyA Lesson From the Real World8% Solution - Orange County StyleTrue Collaboration and a One-Stop ShopOvercoming Barriers8% Lessons LearnedThe Future of the 8% SolutionBuilding on a Sound Base