This brief presents three key findings and their implications from a research study that examined juvenile justice records for youth who had a new delinquency or status offence complaint over the course of three years in two states, analyzing recidivism during and after recidivism, and identifying risk factors that were associated with reoffending for youth overall and at different ages.
This brief is the first in a series of papers that share key findings to guide jurisdictions on research-based juvenile justice supervision, case planning, and service strategies to improve public safety and youth outcomes. The paper is based on analysis of more than 32,000 youth who had a new delinquency or status offense complaint from 2015 to 2017 in two states and received a risk assessment from the probation department. Most of the youth who participated ended up in some form of supervision, which could have included any of the following: a diversion program, informal supervision, probation, a secure placement, or a combination of the above. The brief discusses the research that studied recidivism during and after supervision, including for person offenses such as assault or homicide, and identified which risk factors were most associated with reoffending for youth.