NCJ Number
233607
Date Published
October 2005
Length
56 pages
Annotation
This report examines the State of Arizona's ability to evaluate its juvenile justice system and to report on needed improvements to the system to allow for program evaluation.
Abstract
The study found that Arizona has several strong points regarding its data collection that include: strong data on risk and protective factors and the prevalence of substance abuse and gang behavior of juveniles; an innovative web site, the Internet Mapping Analysis Project, that takes information currently available from different data sources and puts it into a geographical information system; and a nationally recognized comprehensive statewide database on information regarding the State's juvenile justice system. The study also found limitations on the data obtained by the State that include: juvenile gun and gang arrest data are not available; data to track recidivism past a youth's 18th birthday are not available; data regarding victim-related crime are not available; prosecution data is limited or not available; and there is considerable room for improvement regarding data collection, reporting, and dissemination within the Arizona Criminal History Records Program. This report was produced through a project to advance efforts to develop a comprehensive statewide juvenile justice evaluation plan. Information was obtained on the juvenile justice system and its evaluation capabilities that included the availability of data, the process, the practitioners, and the characteristics of the system itself. In addition to findings regarding the strength and limitations of the data, the report details information about interagency support and collaboration, and the data infrastructure. Recommendations include developing awareness for evaluation, increasing data sharing and accessibility, and expanding the data infrastructure. Figures, bibliography, and appendix