OJJDP has designed a statistical system covering juvenile detention and corrections so that local, State, and Federal policymakers and practitioners can monitor this field. The CJRP, which will be conducted every 2 years, is already providing significant information on the population of juvenile offenders in custody. Effective monitoring of juvenile detention and corrections, however, requires information in addition to that available from the CJRP. OJJDP will devote considerable time and resources to ensuring that this information is available in the future.

The first project of note is the new Juvenile Residential Facility Census (JRFC), which will routinely collect information on how facilities operate. The JRFC is still in the development phase. OJJDP anticipates that it will include detailed and specific questions on facility security, crowding, deaths in custody, and facility ownership and operation. It will also ask about specific services for mental and physical health care, substance abuse, and education. OJJDP will administer the JRFC every 2 years beginning in October 2000. The CJRP and the JRFC, which will be administered in alternating years, will complement each other. The CJRP will provide detailed information on the juveniles in the facilities, while the JRFC will provide detailed information on the facilities themselves.

OJJDP also recognizes the value and importance of interviewing youth in juvenile justice system facilities. Such interviews can provide a wealth of information on past offending behavior, pathways to delinquency, family and social environments, and experiences in custody. Using JAIBG funds in 1998, OJJDP awarded a cooperative agreement to Westat, Inc., of Rockville, MD, to develop a new Survey of Youth in Residential Placement (SYRP).

OJJDP anticipates conducting SYRP on a routine basis. The survey will complement other OJJDP research concerning delinquent careers and offending behavior and will also serve to monitor the range of residential placements used for juvenile offenders. The SYRP will support the goal of OJJDP's JAIBG program, which Congress funded so that State juvenile justice systems can hold each juvenile accountable for his or her delinquent acts. The SYRP will provide data for monitoring such systems by tracking the number and types of offenses committed by juveniles in placement and the types of sanctions they received for previous offenses.

Beyond routine data collection, OJJDP has a strong interest in and responsibility for researching specific policy-related aspects of juvenile detention and corrections. For example, in FY 1998, OJJDP funded the Cost-Benefit Analysis of Juvenile Justice Programs. This initiative will examine in detail the costs associated with juvenile corrections and probation and will compare the costs with the benefits (both tangible and intangible) of each sanction. The program will make it possible for OJJDP to compare the benefits of corrections with those of probation. While the program will not provide national information, it will provide significant insight into how such analyses can be accomplished in other jurisdictions. The analysis is being conducted by the University of Texas at Dallas and the Dallas County Juvenile Department.

To help determine the number of juveniles under some form of community supervision, OJJDP is funding the Survey of Juvenile Probation. This survey will estimate the number of juveniles on probation nationally at a specific time, the nature of their offenses (to the extent possible), and the conditions of their probation. In a very real sense, the numbers and types of juveniles in residential placement depend on the availability of alternative sanctions. While some juveniles clearly need residential placement for the safety of the community or the juvenile, others might be handled more appropriately within the community. This survey will attempt to routinely gather sufficient information about juveniles on probation to make possible comparisons between these youth and juveniles in custody. The Survey of Juvenile Probation is being conducted by the Bureau of the Census through an interagency agreement with OJJDP.

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OJJDP Annual Report 1998	October 1999