State Youth Justice Reform

State Data Capacity Building

A state using a state-led, locally-driven approach to implementing youth justice reform through the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI),  found itself with little capacity for collecting and analyzing youth justice data at a state level. It needed better-defined standards and requirements for collecting and reporting secure detention utilization data, secure detention screening data, and alternatives to detention program utilization data on a regular basis. All of the preparation of this data was intended to be used to monitor youth justice system performance across dozens of counties as well as an overall aggregate. In addition, it was intended to serve as a tool for informing state and local practice and policy reform.

How we helped:
  • Strategized alongside state leaders and developed data tools to support a state-led, locally-driven implementation of youth justice reform.
  • Built capacity through skill development, training, tool development, and technical support.
  • Developed an array of dashboards and analytics to be used at the executive and state management levels to guide decisions and help stakeholders monitor performance.
Outcome:
  • Local sites and the JDAI state team have easier and more reliable access to meaningful data and tools that help users make sense of how their youth justice systems are performing.
  • The JDAI State team as well as local sites are able to look at data for nearly any time period with very little investment to pull the data together.
  • Significantly increased capacity for data-driven decision-making.
  • Meaningful data is regularly shared and discussed across several local and state workgroups.
  • Contributed to a significant reduction in the use of secure detention across dozens of counties.
USERS:

Executives | State Administrators

HOW CAN WE HELP?

Let’s build a data-informed, people-centered system together

We can help you feel confident in your use of data through strategic guidance, technical assistance, user-friendly analytics tools, and training.

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