Title: Innovative Information on Juvenile Residential Facilities
                         
Series: Fact Sheet

Author: Joseph Moone

Published: September 2000

Subject: Juvenile corrections, Community-based corrections

4 pages

7,000 bytes

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Innovative Information on Juvenile Residential Facilities

by Joseph Moone

In October 2000, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention (OJJDP) will conduct the first Juvenile Residential Facility
Census (JRFC), a new effort designed to collect information about the
facilities in which juvenile offenders are held. 

JRFC is one component of a multitiered OJJDP effort to describe both the
youth placed in residential facilities and the environments of these
facilities. The other components include the following:

u--The National Juvenile Court Data Archive project provides information
on the court processing of youth and the sanctions imposed on them.
OJJDP publishes these data annually in Juvenile Court Statistics. This
Report includes information about youth committed to residential
placement and compares it with information about youth given probation
and youth whose cases are dismissed. 


u--The Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement (CJRP) collects
detailed information on youth held in residential placement on a specific
reference date. This information includes the age, race, gender, and most
serious offense of each youth. CJRP is the only source of national data on
all youth held in residential placement as a result of contact with the
juvenile justice system. Because CJRP compiles information on both the
States in which youth are housed and the States in which they committed
their offenses, OJJDP is able to report State-level comparisons of
commitment and detention rates and indicate which States use out-of-State
residential facilities. 

u--The Survey of Youth in Residential Placement is a new survey OJJDP
is developing to interview individual youth in residential placement. It will
survey the youth covered under CJRP and will provide a broad range of
self-report information on their experience in custody, past offense
histories, education, and other important life events. 

The new JRFC will complement these three data collection efforts by
focusing on the facilities that hold juvenile offenders and the services
these facilities provide. Together, this national data collection series will
provide a comprehensive picture of youth sanctioned to residential
placement and the facilities and services the youth are provided.

Information in JRFC

JRFC will collect basic information on facility characteristics, including
size, structure, security arrangements, and ownership. It will provide
information on the use of bedspace in the facility, which will help indicate
whether the facility is experiencing crowding. OJJDP has also included
questions in the census about the type of facility, such as detention center,
training school, ranch, or group home. This information will be
complemented by a series of questions about other residential services
provided by the facility, such as independent living, foster care, or other
arrangements. 

JRFC also will collect information on the health care, education, substance
abuse treatment, and mental health treatment provided to youth in these
facilities. While not evaluating the effectiveness or quality of these
services, the census will gather important information about the youth the
services are directed toward and how the services are provided. The census
will also indicate the use of screenings or tests conducted to determine
counseling, education, health, or substance abuse needs and will examine
prominent issues about conditions of confinement, including the restraint
of youth and improper absences from the facility. Congress requires
OJJDP to report annually on the number of deaths of juveniles in custody,
and JRFC will collect information on such deaths for the 1-year period just
prior to the census reference date. 

Biennial Survey

JRFC, like CJRP, will be conducted biennially. The two surveys will take
place in alternate years. JRFC will be conducted in even-numbered years
(2000, 2002, 2004, and so on), while CJRP will be conducted in
odd-numbered years (2001, 2003, 2005, and so on). Both will use the same
reference date the fourth Wednesday in October to allow for comparisons
from year to year. 

A Collaborative Effort

In 1996, OJJDP entered into a long-term agreement with the U.S. Bureau
of the Census's Center for Survey Methods Research to develop this new
census. The two agencies worked together to design a questionnaire and
methods of survey implementation that would ensure valid and reliable
results. OJJDP also concentrated on reducing the burden of the census on
the respondent facilities. The census was developed with input from more
than 50 facilities, which provided guidance on the questionnaire and
survey methods. The Census Bureau tested the census in 1998 using a
large sample of facilities. As a result of these development efforts and
tests, OJJDP and the Census Bureau have arrived at a quality census that
will provide a comprehensive picture of the facilities that hold juvenile
offenders in a residential setting.

Dissemination Plans

To disseminate the results of the census, OJJDP will develop a Web site
that will provide the results of JRFC in tabular form. Beginning with the
2002 JRFC, OJJDP will be able to provide trend information as well. The
Office plans to publish Fact Sheets and Bulletins that will highlight JRFC
data and alert readers to the Web site.

For Further Information

For further information about JRFC, contact Joseph Moone, Program
Manager, OJJDP, 810 Seventh Street NW., Washington, DC 20531;
moone@ojp.usdoj.gov (e-mail). 

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Joseph Moone is the Program Manager for the Juvenile Residential
Facility Census in OJJDP's Research and Program Development Division. 

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is a component
of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of
Justice Assistance, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute
of Justice, and the Office for Victims of Crime.

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FS-200011