Long-Term Consequences of Delinquency: Child Maltreatment and Crime in Early Adulthood in New York, 1990-2006

The purpose of the study was to expand understanding of the long-term consequences of juvenile delinquency by describing the prevalence and frequency of two adult outcomes -- arrest and the perpetration of abuse and neglect -- within a gender-diverse sample of known offenders. The researchers also sought to better inform the development and provision of services targeted to delinquent youth in residential care by exploring whether characteristics assessed at intake into care predict adult offending risk. The research team tracked a large sample of delinquent boys and girls released from juvenile correctional facilities/programs in New York State in the early 1990s and used state administrative databases to document their involvement with criminal justice and child protective services in young adulthood. Sample youth were initially drawn from a research database originally created to examine short-term criminal recidivism rates and associated risk factors among known juvenile delinquents (Frederick, 1999). As part of that study, a comprehensive list of adjudicated delinquents discharged from the custody of the New York State (NYS) Division of Youth between January 1, 1991, and December 31, 1994, was generated. The research team selected a stratified, random subsample of 999 youths with case reviews and tracked them forward through time from age 16 to age 28. The Administrative/Case File Review Data (Part 1) contain information on the experiences prior to being admitted into state custody of 999 youths. Specifically, Part 1 includes early risk factors taken from items coded during the initial recidivism study conducted by Frederick (1999). Part 1 also includes information on a youth's childhood experiences with child welfare services collected by the research team as part of this study. Information on a youth's prior receipt of child welfare services was obtained by extracting records from the NYS Child Care Review Service system (CCRS). The Child Protective Services Reports Data (Part 2) contain information on the sampled subjects' involvement with Child Protective Services (CPS) as young adults (ages 16-28). CPS data were collected by conducting person-based searches of CONNECTIONS, the NYS Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System. For Part 2, adult perpetration of child maltreatment outcome data were collected on a total of 1,543 child protective services (CPS) reports. The Criminal History Data (Part 3) contain information on the sampled subjects' early adult involvement (ages 16-28) with the NYS adult criminal justice system. The research team documented adult crime and perpetration of child abuse and neglect via searches of two independent state administrative databases: (1) the NYS Offender-Based Transaction Statistics Computerized Criminal History (OBTS/CCH) database, which records all New York state-based arrests of individuals age 16 or older from point of arrest through disposition and sentencing; (2) the Department of Correctional Services (DOCS) database, which tracks all New York State prison admissions and discharges. For Part 3, data were collected on a total of 6,627 adult arrest events. Part 1 contains 30 variables detailing information on the study participants, including demographic variables and variables related to offense history, individual functioning, child maltreatment, receipt of child welfare services, and family environment. Part 2 includes 22 variables derived from child protective services (CPS) reports linked to a study participant, including variables relating to the participant's perpetration of child maltreatment, type of alleged maltreatment, investigation outcome, and outcome variables reflecting participants' involvement in various types of maltreatment allegations. Finally, Part 3 of the study contains 147 variables derived from specific adult arrest events associated with the participants, including arrest-specific variables, case outcome variables, and criminal history variables.