DOI: 10.3886/icpsr36972.v1
title: Florida State University and Florida Department of Juvenile Justice Research Partnership Project, 2002-2017
title: Version 1

description: These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.

A researcher-practitioner partnership was established between the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida State University and the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (FDJJ). The purpose of this partnership was to collaborate on three timely and policy relevant research projects--(1) juvenile civil citation (JCC), (2) juvenile visitation (JV), and (3) juvenile school-based arrests (JSBA).


This collection includes 9 Stata data files: "JV-Full-Data-Set" with 78 vars, 1,202 cases, "JCC-County-Data" with 18 vars, 938 cases, "JCC-Individual-Data" with 22 vars, 110,088 cases, "JCC-Individual-Data-with-Risk-Factors" with 35 vars, 51,263 cases, "JCC-Trend-Data" with 6 vars, 11,725 cases, "JSBA-Descriptives-Data" with 14 vars, 94,708 cases, "JSBA-Dropout-Data" with 4 vars, 94,708 cases, "JSBA-Recidivism-Data" with 51 vars, 30,723 cases,
"JSBA-School-level-Data" with 45 vars, 893 cases, and 9 Stata syntax files
"JV-Full-Data-Set-Syntax.do", "JCC-County-Data.do", "JCC-Individual-Data.do",
"JCC-Individual-Data-with-Risk-Factors.do", "JCC-Trend-Data.do", "JSBA-Descriptives-Code.do", "JSBA-Dropout-Code.do", "JSBA-Recidivism-Code.do", and
"JSBA-School-level-Code".
description: JCC: To assess the implementation and effectiveness of Florida's Civil Citation
program the following research questions were addressed:



What are the historical trends in the use of civil citations in Florida
relative to formal arrests?
; 

What differences exist in the relative use of civil citations across Florida
jurisdictions, types of delinquent acts, characteristics of youth, and what
explains any significant variation?
; 

What are the short and long-term outcomes of youth who are issued civil
citations compared to those arrested in terms of future arrest?
; 


FDJJ provided data for the juvenile civil citation project. Secondary
administrative data included demographic and offense information on all
juveniles within the state who met the eligibility requirements for
participation in the civil citation program between January 2002 and July 2016.
Both juveniles who received civil citations and juveniles who were eligible but
were arrested instead, were included in the data set. Recidivism measures
included juvenile referrals and arrests from FDJJ as well as arrests from FDLE
for any subsequent arrests that occurred after the juvenile turned 18. County-
level data was collected from the University of Florida's Bureau of Economic and
Business Research.


JV: The following research questions were addressed in the study on the use and
impact of visitation within Florida's juvenile residential facilities:



What proportion of youth is visited in delinquent residential programs, how
often are youth visited, and what factors (such as youth demographics, justice
system records, etc.) are associated with the likelihood of visitation and
number of visits among those visited?
; 

Does visitation differ by level of family involvement?
; 

What barriers exist that hinder family visitation for youth in residential
placements?
; 

Does the geographical distance from where delinquent youth are housed
relative to the location of their family's home impact the likelihood and
frequency of visitation?
; 

Does family visitation with delinquent youth in residential facilities impact
the institutional adjustment of youth in residential facilities?
; 

What policies and strategies can juvenile justice agencies use to improve
family involvement, through visitation and other means, with youth in
residential placements?
; 

What best practices exist that result in more involvement of families of
delinquent youth?
; 

What is the relationship between visitation and the likelihood of post-
release recidivism?
; 

Does the link between visitation and recidivism differ across gender, race,
age, and type of commitment offense?
; 


The data for the juvenile visitation project was collected through a visitation
survey instrument developed by researchers at Florida State University in
collaboration with the FDJJ. FDJJ administered the survey, via an online format
(Survey Monkey), to juveniles released from Florida residential commitment
facilities between August 2015 and March 2017. The surveys were included as a
voluntary addition to traditional release paperwork. The survey had two
versions: one for juveniles who received a visit during their placement, and a
second for juveniles who did not receive a visit. The appropriate survey was
administered after youth indicated whether or not they had received a visit.


JSBA: The following five research questions were addressed in this project:



What are the differences in youth demographic characteristics, types of
offenses, and risk levels between school-based arrests relative to community-
based arrests?
; 

What is the effect of school-based arrests relative to community-based
arrests on subsequent offending?
; 

What is the effect of receiving school-based arrests relative to community-
based arrests on the likelihood of graduating from high school?
; 

Based on the overall arrest rates in mainstream (public neighborhood zoned)
schools, while accounting for the community arrest rate of the school's student
population, are individual schools "over-arresting" students?
; 

What are the characteristics of students, schools, and school districts that
predict different rates of school-based arrests?
; 


This juvenile school-based arrest project uses a cohort of youth who were
arrested for the first time between 2004 and 2009 using data from FDJJ. FDJJ
collaborated with FDOE to match the first-time juvenile arrestee cohort with
their Florida public school records. The data provide information about the
youth (e.g., demographics), their school experiences including educational
attainment, and the consequences of arrests for future offending. The project
also collected school- and district-level data from FDOE for all active public
Florida schools during the 2004 to 2013 school years.
description: JCC: The cohort for this study included all first-time, misdemeanor juvenile offenders that were either arrested or received a civil citation in the state of Florida from 2002 to 2016. The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (FDJJ) provided all of the data on these juveniles' current offense, risk assessments, and demographic characteristics. These data were also merged with recidivism data provided by both FDJJ and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). Finally, information on county level characteristics for all 67 counties in Florida during the study period was collected from the Florida Bureau of Economic and Business Research, Florida Department of Education, the Office of Economic and Demographic Research, and FDLE.


JV: The majority of data for this study was compiled from an online survey provided to juvenile offenders in Florida at the time of their release from a residential facility. The final sample consisted of 1,202 juveniles with a completed survey. Responses from these surveys were subsequently matched to data provided by the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (FDJJ) including information of the juvenile's demographics, current and prior offense, risk assessments, and recidivism after release from the residential facility. The data were also matched to recidivism information provided by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) for those juveniles that were aged 17 or older at the time of their release.


JSBA: The juvenile school-based arrest project examines a cohort of youth who were arrested for the first time between 2004 and 2009 using data from FDJJ and FDOE. This study uses an accelerated cohort design to ensure all juveniles arrested for the first time between 2004 and 2009 have enough time to age out of the FDJJ and the FDOE systems during the study period. The accelerated cohort includes multiple yearly cohorts of juveniles with first-time arrests who are progressively older at each year. This study includes youths who were enrolled in a Florida public school at the time of their first arrest's earliest offense date. To generate school-level arrest rates, this study aggregates juvenile arrests from the 2004-2005 school year in mainstream, neighborhood-zoned middle and high schools up to the school-level.
description: JCC: These data include a number of measures. These variables include whether the juvenile received and completed civil citation, their demographics (age, race, ethnicity, gender), information on their current offense, and whether or not the juvenile was rearrested after completion of their initial referral.JV: The survey responses include measures of the occurrence, frequency, and quality of visitation and other forms of contact between juveniles' and their families.JSBA: The data provide information about individual-level juvenile arrest
histories within the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (FDJJ) (e.g., offense, location of arrest), FDJJ risk assessments, youth characteristics (e.g., demographics), and school-related factors (e.g., eligibility for free or reduced price school lunch, withdrawal reasons, educational attainment).
description: Response Rates: 
					
JCC: Not Applicable


JV: 31 percent of juveniles exiting residential programs; 88 percent of residential programs


JSBA: Not Applicable
description: Datasets: 
					
						DS1: Dataset
description: web-based survey
description: JCC: All juvenile civil citations and first time misdemeanor
referrals in Florida from January 2002 to July 2016.


JV: All juveniles exiting residential commitment programs in
Florida from August 2015 to March 2017.


JSBA: All juvenile first time arrests in Florida from 2004-2009.

				   		Smallest Geographic Unit: School District, County
description: JCC: All juveniles in Florida who met the eligibility
requirements for participation in the civil citation program between January 2002 and July 2016. Both juveniles who received civil citation and juveniles who were eligible but were arrested instead, were included.


JV: All juveniles who agreed to complete a survey at the
time of their exit from residential commitment programs in Florida between August 2015 to March 2017.


JSBA: All juvenile first time arrests in Florida from 2004 to 2009.