NCJ Number
191392
Date Published
December 2001
Length
2 pages
Annotation
This paper describes the National Juvenile Court Data Archive web site, which informs researchers of data sets housed in the Archive, a repository of the most detailed information available on the activities of the Nation's juvenile courts, as well as the procedures for accessing them.
Abstract
Jurisdictions that contain nearly 70 percent of the U.S. juvenile population contribute more than 1 million new juvenile court case records to the Archive every year. The Archive accepts data as collected at the local level based on the individual reporting requirements of each information system. As a result of this unique data-collection effort, the Archive maintains an extensive set of disparate data files that detail the workloads of juvenile courts across the Nation, including demographic information about the juveniles involved and case processing characteristics for delinquency and status offense cases. The Archive web site displays these data sets with variable lists and with user guides (technical manuals that contain information about a data set). A user guide contains the documentation needed to read and manipulate the data when using a statistical software package. For users who are uncertain about whether the Archive contains a data set to meet their research needs, the web site provides a search engine that explores the contents of the data holdings in different ways. The site contains information about the Archive, a brief history of the project, the procedure for ordering data sets, and an explanation of the National Center for Juvenile Justice's compliance with U.S. Department of Justice regulations regarding confidentiality of identifiable research and statistical information. A list of products and publications supported by Archive data and links to related juvenile justice resources are also posted on the site. Researchers are encouraged to browse the web site and download user guides for the data sets of interest. In addition, Archive staff are available via e-mail, telephone, and regular mail to discuss research interests and help researchers select the data sets they need. 3 figures