This article is based on the experiences of attendance centres in Poland. These centres, provide services to at-risk and delinquent youth in local community centres largely staffed by probation officers and volunteers who are well-versed in evidence-based concepts and practices. The primary concept that underpins these centres is to focus on socializing risk youth and juvenile delinquents in communities in which they live. The presumption is that factors related to dysfunctional social environments foster social maladjustment, which in turn, support risk factors that lead to juvenile delinquency. The services and experiences of at-risk youth and adjudicated delinquents in community-based centres appear, at least initially, to decrease individual juvenile delinquency. As well, the programs and services provided establish and support protective factors that mitigate dysfunctional social environmental factors, thereby serving an important delinquency function.
