Juvenile justice and child welfare agencies serve youth who are involved with both systems better when they work together toward positive outcomes. This section contains resources and information about collaboration between public child welfare and juvenile justice systems, including State and local examples.
A Better Way to Do Business: Changing Organizational Culture to Promote Integrated Service Delivery in Child Protection and Juvenile Justice Systems (PDF - 1,116 KB)
Mertens & Blom (2014)
Robert F. Kennedy National Resource Center for Juvenile Justice
Guides child welfare and juvenile justice administrators, supervisors, and direct staff in the tasks and perspective shifts that are needed to improve collaboration across both systems.
Building A Brighter Future for Youth With Dual Status: A Policy Roadmap Forward (PDF - 2,294 KB)
The Children's Partnership & Robert F. Kennedy Children’s Action Corp (2018)
Offers three recommendations to improve service delivery and outcomes for child welfare and juvenile justice-involved youth: improve cross-system collaboration, integrate trauma-informed care approaches beyond child welfare and juvenile justice systems, and adopt improved technology. The roadmap is intended for professionals in child welfare, juvenile justice, education, behavioral health, and other disciplines that work with dual status youth.
Crossover Youth Practice Model
Georgetown University, Center for Juvenile Justice Reform
Presents a model to aid jurisdictions in supporting children and youth with child welfare and juvenile justice involvement through increased family engagement, cross-system communication and collaboration, interagency information and data sharing, and more in an effort to reduce the number of youth re-entering either system.
Cross-System Collaboration
Juvenile Justice Information Exchange
Details strategies and frameworks for addressing system change when working with dual status youth, including creating interagency agreements, cross-system training, service integration, and cross-agency casework. The website includes examples from promising jurisdictions of each component.
From Conversation to Collaboration: How Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice Agencies Can Work Together to Improve Outcomes for Dual Status Youth (PDF - 257 KB)
Robert F. Kennedy National Resource Center for Juvenile Justice (2014)
Discusses the challenges of providing services to youth involved in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems, highlights strategies that youth-serving systems can apply to begin developing a more integrated approach, and looks at examples where system integration and coordination led to profound transformations with better outcomes for youth and communities. The report begins by explaining why agencies need to focus on dual status youth and then describes how collaboration can help.
Improving Multisystem Collaboration for Crossover Youth (PDF - 100 KB)
Felix (2016)
Advocates Forum
Explores outcomes for youth who interact with both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems and provides evidence in support of an improved policy approach that focuses on system collaboration. The paper argues that policymakers and practitioners should use research to alter the negative outcomes for these vulnerable youth.
Is There an Effective Practice Model for Serving Crossover Youth?
Casey Family Programs (2018)
Presents facts about crossover youth and details the multi-phase Crossover Youth Practice Model and evaluation findings.
State and local examples
Colorado Crossover Youth Practice Models
Colorado Judicial Branch
Presents information and materials from nine Crossover Youth Practice model sites across Colorado that focus on improving outcomes for dual status youth through early identification, interagency collaboration, data and information sharing, and strengthening family engagement throughout the process.
North Dakota Report Suggests Better Collaboration for Dual Status Youth
Zarate (2018)
The Imprint
Outlines a report on the characteristics of North Dakota dual status youth and offers recommendations from cross-system and inter-agency collaboration to improve youth outcomes.
Report of the Subcommittee on Dual-Status Youth: Addressing the Needs of Some of the Commonwealth's Most Vulnerable Citizens (PDF - 1,485 KB)
Dykema, Dubois, Ferguson, Gregoire, Hecht, & Keenan (2017)
Describes the experiences of dual-status youth in Massachusetts and outlines the continuum of services that supports them. The report recommends ways to improve supports for these youth and how to make improvements in the State.
When Systems Collaborate: How Three Jurisdictions Improved Their Handling of Dual-Status Cases (PDF - 772 KB)
Thomas (2015)
National Center for Juvenile Justice
Highlights approaches taken by three jurisdictions that have worked to improve their handling of youth cases that are involved in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Examples are provided for front-end screening and identification, child welfare case coordination, and re-entry and community support.