Courts

A Multilevel Analysis of Juvenile Court Processes: The Importance of Community Characteristics
Despite various federal and state legislation aimed at producing equitable treatment of juveniles within the juvenile court system, studies continue to find that race and ethnicity play a significant role in juvenile court outcomes. Juvenile court differences in philosophy, orientation, and structure make it possible for racial and ethnic disparities to exist within and between courts, including more traditional, parens patriae and more formal, due process courts. Unfortunately, few studies of juvenile court processes have relied on cross-jurisdictional data to examine how court context influences juvenile court decisions and only one study to date has addressed how community characteristics where juveniles reside directly and indirectly impact juvenile court outcomes.

The focus of this project is to conduct a multilevel system analysis of juvenile court decisions in Arizona by relying on three levels of data (i.e., individual, census tract, county). The study will examine how race/ethnicity at the individual level and community characteristics such as racial composition, economic conditions, and crime influence diversion, petition, detention, adjudication, and disposition decisions within and between juvenile courts throughout the state. This study also seeks to integrate statewide adult criminal history information to juvenile court data to examine how juvenile court outcomes affect recidivism of juveniles post age 18. A random sample of 5,000 juvenile referrals to the Arizona juvenile courts during 2000 will be drawn to conduct the proposed study. Data for this project will come from the Arizona Juvenile On-Line Tracking System (JOLTS) database, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, and 2000 U.S. Census data.

The proposed project has local, state, and national importance. Findings from this project will direct juvenile justice agencies to existing practices that may directly or indirectly disadvantage particular juveniles (e.g., racial/ethnic minorities, girls, the poor). Justice officials will be able to use the findings from this comprehensive review of juvenile court processes to encourage policy and programmatic changes in the juvenile justice system. An examination of court processes within and between jurisdictions is particularly relevant to state officials who are mandated to examine disproportionate minority contact (DMC) in their respective juvenile justice systems. This study will also identify which juvenile court outcomes contribute to juvenile offenders' recidivism post age 18. Ultimately, findings will assist in developing procedures that provide equitable treatment to all juveniles and reduce the likelihood of continued criminality into adulthood. Final products of this study will include an NIJ final report, publications in professional-orientated and peer-reviewed journals, and a web-based report.

Analysis of the Impact of Individual and Community-Level Factors on Juvenile Detention Decisions in Maricopa County
In March 2006, the Maricopa County Juvenile Probation contracted with the Center for Violence Prevention and Community Safety to conduct a comprehensive review of detention length of stay. The project was designed to assist the Maricopa County Juvenile Probation Department in identifying the relationship between reasons for detention (e.g., juvenile referrals, court holds, and warrants) and detention length of stay. This project is part of Maricopa County's larger efforts aimed at finding detention alternatives for juveniles in the juvenile justice system.

Data from the Arizona's Juvenile On-Line Tracking System (JOLTS) database were used to examine detention length of stay in the Durango and Southeast detention centers from 2000 - 2005. Findings on the following dimensions were provided: 1) description of detained population; 2) description of juveniles detained across different time periods (e.g., 24 hours, 48 hours); 3) analyses of mandatory and discretionary detentions; 4) description of violation of probation cases; 5) number of times juveniles were detained; 6) differences in detention cases across the Durango and Southeast facilities; 7) the significant predictors of detention length of stay ; 8) the relationship between drug use and detention; and 9) the number of detainees that recidivated post release from detention.

Related Publications:
An Initial Review of Maricopa County Juvenile Probation Detention Length of Stay (PDF)

Maricopa Integrated Criminal Justice Information System (ICJIS) Technical Assistance
The Maricopa Integrated Criminal Justice Information System is involved numerous projects relating data exchanges between criminal justice agencies. The Center for Violence Prevention and Community safety is currently providing technical assistance on a project that is developing a criminal history worksheet for use at an offender's Initial Appearance Hearing. Maricopa ICJIS previously developed an interface that collects offender data from various systems. The criminal history worksheet is an expansion of this project (the Justice Web Interface or JWI) seeks to provide systems with reductions in the time required to process a case. The project is currently assessing the Return on Investment (ROI) for implementation for the Initial Appearance. A later project will assess the Return on Investment for implementation in the sentencing stage of the court process.