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While few in Waco, Texas, doubted the importance of reducing juvenile crime, the city council questioned the legitimacy of the curfew as a crime-fighting tool. The media reported accusations of racial discrimination, and council members had information that seemingly supported these conditions. On the other hand, the police chief backed the curfew and believed that it was enforced fairly. The Waco city council had implemented the curfew on youth under sixteen years of age in 1997 but, since that time, the issue had somewhat polarized along racial lines. For the first three telephone polls, adult residents were asked about the need for a police-enforced curfew on children through aged fifteen. To this date, no plans are in the works for a comprehensive program. However, a new police chief has been hired, and the curfew policy stands. By means of a combination of research methods designed to eliminate the inherent bias of any single method, triangulation proved effective in my evaluation of curfew policy.

This article focuses on an educational program in Texas. U.S. President George W. Bush has made education a primary federal policy issue. He has vowed to leave no child behind and has suggested implementing accountability measures such as standardized testing. In Texas, local and state sources provide the vast majority of educational funding. In these states, local and state authorities rather than the federal government control policy, administration, and regulation for public education. Under federal standards, the Head Start program provides services to pre-school aged children across the nation. While the program is best known for its educational services, it also provides assistance with disabilities, physical and mental health services, nutrition services, and family counseling services. In the fall of 1999, Region XI Head Start in Central Texas hired the Center for Community Research and Development at Baylor University in Waco, Texas to conduct a community needs assessment. Since the financial resources earmarked for the project were limited, the task presented a considerable challenge.

The article provides an example of the unexpected difficulties that a policy maker interested in modifying youth behavior is likely to encounter when relying on common sense where controversial issues are at stake. It also demonstrates that juvenile curfew ordinance is a functional policy in minimizing delinquency. Using juvenile curfew in the City of Waco, Texas, the researcher collected both subjective and objective data to fully understand the political and social construction of the curfew policy.