OJJDP Updates Statistical Briefing Book
OJJDP has updated its Statistical Briefing Book (SBB).
- Easy Access to Juvenile Court Statistics now includes data from 1985 through 2012 on national, state, and county arrest estimates. Users can choose among displays of arrest counts and arrest rates for juveniles, adults, or combined data.
- Easy Access to FBI Arrest Statistics now includes data from 1994 through 2012 on national, state, and county arrest estimates. Arrest statistics are presented for 29 detailed offense categories. Users can choose among displays of arrest counts and arrest rates for juveniles, adults, or all ages combined.
- Easy Access to State and County Juvenile Court Case Counts now includes state and county juvenile court case counts for delinquency, status offense, and dependency cases between 1997 and 2011.
- Also available are FAQs on the 2013 characteristics of children living in poverty, 2012 high school completion and dropout rates, juvenile arrests and juvenile arrest rate trends through 2012. The FAQs also include information on juvenile suicide victims, juvenile homicide victims, and juvenile homicide offenders through 2012.
Developed by the National Center for Juvenile Justice, SBB offers easy online access to statistics on a variety of juvenile justice topics. Keep up with the OJJDP Statistical Briefing Book on Twitter and Facebook.
Urban Institute Releases Report on LGBTQ Youth Engaged in the Commercial Sex Market
How LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning) youth, YMSM (young men who have sex with men), and young women who have sex with women (YWSW) become involved in the commercial sex trade for food, shelter, money, or meeting other basic survival needs, is examined in this OJJDP-funded study conducted by the Urban Institute.
Surviving the Streets of New York: Experiences of LGBTQ Youth, YMSM, and YWSW Engaged in Survival Sex is based on interviews with 283 New York City youth, mostly African American, Latino, or multiracial. Many of the interviewed youth faced the challenge of homelessness with 48 percent identifying themselves as staying in a shelter and 10 percent living on the street (often after being kicked out of their homes and too old for foster care).
The report offers several practice and policy recommendations for enhancing services for this population, including—
- Developing peer-led outreach and comprehensive drop-in services.
- Creating safe and supportive housing and placement protocols specific to transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals.
- Broadening access to and improving gender-affirming health care.
- Developing living-wage employment opportunities.
IACP Releases Brief on Adolescent Development and Policing
The International Association of Chiefs of Police, in collaboration with OJJDP, has released The Effects of Adolescent Development on Policing. This online brief is designed to help law enforcement who interact with youth to better understand normal adolescent development and behavior. The brief provides an overview of adolescent behavioral development, recommendations for developmentally appropriate responses, strategies to improve interaction with youth, and examples of programs fostering positive youth development.
Guide to Trauma Consultation in Juvenile and Family Courts Available
The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges has released Preparing for a Trauma Consultation in Your Juvenile and Family Court. This OJJDP-sponsored guide highlights trauma consultation and how it can help juvenile and family courts become more trauma-informed across environment, practice, and policy. The guide outlines a conceptual and basic operational framework for trauma-informed courts, including positioning them as stakeholders in the community. The guide will be updated with lessons learned and advances in the field as they develop.
National Partnership for Juvenile Services Launches Online Journal
The National Partnership for Juvenile Services (NPJS) has launched the Journal of Applied Juvenile Justice Services. The OJJDP-funded journal will include topics such as, effective strategies for working with at-risk youth, the operation of juvenile facilities, juvenile justice trends, legal issues affecting juvenile justice practice, ethical issues in juvenile treatment, and leadership and training in juvenile justice. Browse the journal archives and view submission guidelines on the NPJS website.
Online Video Series Addresses Child Maltreatment
The Children’s Bureau of the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Child Abuse Prevention Partners released a series of brief videos in April, in observance of National Child Abuse Prevention Month. The “Connections” series highlights strategies and programs to prevent child maltreatment.