WA Juvenile Justice System Improvement Initiatives

Our data analysis makes clear that youth of color are overrepresented at the point of arrest and that the overrepresentation of youth of color in the system becomes more severe as youth move through the juvenile justice system process. In order to reduce racial and ethnic disparities it is vital that we reduce the number of youth of color entering the juvenile justice system at the point of arrest and referral. The FY20 Supplemental Budget will support an annual Law Enforcement Data Analysis (LEDA) project sustaining and expanding the project from development to implementation, with an accessible and interactive data dashboard for queries of arrest data by race/ethnicity, gender, age, geography, and offense characteristics to include prosecutorial decisions and discretionary practices on referrals and cases filed. The goal is to increase alternatives to arrest as well as diversion alternatives at the front end of the system. This project is a continuation of work originally funded under 2020-JX-FX-0053.