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Fact Sheet: CWLA Juvenile Justice Division
CWLA established the Juvenile Justice Division in July 2000 with a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. CWLA's Juvenile Justice Division is helping to frame the national agenda for the future and assuing a position of national leadership in the integrated work of the child welfare and juvenile justice systems on behalf of children, youth, families, and communities.
Research and Statistics
- In 2002, the juvenile arrest rate for violent crime decreased to the lowest level since 1980. Between 1994 and 2002, this violent crime arrest rate declined 43%.
- Females represented 29% of all juvenile arrests in 2002.
- Abused or neglected children are more likely than a nonabused or nonneglected group to be arrested as juveniles (27% vs. 17%), as adults (42% vs. 33%), and for a violent crime (18% vs. 14%).
- Abused and neglected children are younger at first arrest (mean age = 16.5 vs. 17.3), committed nearly twice as many offenses (mean offenses = 2.4 vs. 1.4), and were arrested more frequently (17% of abused and neglected children had more than five arrests vs. 9% of comparison cases).
Goals
The evidence above informs the Juvenile Justice Division's goals:
- Improve integration and coordination between the child welfare, juvenile justice, and other child-serving systems.
- Reduce juvenile delinquency nationwide.
- Reduce the overreliance on incarceration for accused or adjudicated delinquent youth.
Activities
The Juvenile Justice Division serves CWLA's overall mission on behalf of children and families in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems by
- providing national leadership to promote juvenile justice and child welfare systems coordination and integration;
- collecting, analyzing, and disseminating information on child welfare and juvenile justice practices and policies;
- advocating for sound legislation, policies, and procedures that contribute to juvenile justice system reform and effective delinquency prevention and intervention programs; and
- promoting effective community-based intervention and treatment alternatives that reduce reliance on incarceration of accused or adjudicated delinquent youth.
Resources and Services
The Juvenile Justice Division offers the following resources and services:
CWLA's Juvenile Justice Division challenges everyone to engage in creating a new level of dialogue about integrating the child welfare and juvenile justice systems, to shape effective legislation and promote sound policy formation, and to participate in framing the agenda for the future.
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