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 agencies, including State and local examples.
Child Welfare League of America Juvenile Justice Division
Works to increase awareness of the connection between child maltreatment and juvenile delinquency and the need for an integrated approach to programs and services across the child welfare and juvenile justice systems.
Improving Outcomes Together: Court and Child Welfare Collaboration (PDF - 280 KB)
Children and Family Research Center & National Child Welfare Resource Center on Legal and Judicial Issues (2005)
Explores the ways juvenile and family courts and child welfare agencies share data and information and collaborate outside the courtroom in order to improve outcomes for children in their care. The report also discusses effects of the Federal Child and Family Services Reviews and Program Improvement Plans on collaboration, keys to collaboration, and the use of resources to assist in collaboration efforts.
Supporting Youth in Transition to Adulthood: Lessons Learned from Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice (PDF - 405 KB)
Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative & Center for Juvenile Justice Reform (2009)
Offers strategies, programs, and resources to help political and agency leaders, policymakers, and practitioners act collaboratively across systems and effectively address the problems that crossover youth present and identifies areas in which the juvenile justice field has developed promising approaches.
State and local examples
Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice: Two Sides of the Same Coin, Part II (PDF - 169 KB)
Nash & Bilchik
Juvenile and Family Justice Today, 18(1), 2009
Highlights court practices relevant to youth involved in both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. The article discusses a dual-status approach to the interaction between these two systems and demonstrates how Los Angeles County has worked to incorporate this system into practice.
Double Jeopardy: Youth Involved in Dual Systems of Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice (PDF - 127 KB)
University of Minnesota Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare
CASCW Practice Notes, (17), 2005
Focuses on the population of youth who are dually involved in both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems in Minnesota and on the collaborative work of the two systems dealing with vulnerable children. The article reviews statistics on dual-system youth in Minnesota and nationwide trends, the connection between maltreatment and delinquency, and the obligation to screen for mental health problems.
The Durham Family Initiative: A Preventive System of Care
Dodge, Berlin, Epstein, Spitz-Roth, & O'Donnell
Child Welfare, 83(2), 2004
View Abstract
Describes the Durham Family Initiative, an effort to bring together the child welfare and juvenile justice systems to reduce the rate of child abuse in Durham, NC, using the principles of a preventive system of care.
King County System Integration Initiative: Reform to Impact Dual Jurisdiction Youth and Families (PDF - 800 KB)
Child Welfare League of America
The Link: Connecting Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare, 4(2),2005
Outline the goals of KC-SII, the scope of the project, mobilization and planning, data collection and analysis, resource assessment and inventory, action strategy development, and implementation to improve the coordination and integration of the child welfare and juvenile justice programs and policy development in King County, WA.
Organizational Merger and Cultural Change for Better Outcomes: The First Five Years of the New York State Office of Children and Family Services
Johnson
Child Welfare, 83(2), 2004
View Abstract
Describes the efforts of the New York State Office of Children and Family Services to use family development research to bridge gaps between child welfare and juvenile justice policy and practice.
Permanency Through Collaboration Between Delinquency and Dependency Courts (PDF - 880 KB)
National Child Welfare Resource Center on Legal and Judicial Issues, ABA Center on Children and the Law
Child CourtWorks, 10(2), 2008
Describes efforts in Idaho to bridge the gap between child welfare and juvenile justice proceedings to assist youth with cases pending simultaneously in both systems. The article shares the perspectives of an Idaho judge and a court improvement director on dual-issue cases and provides tips for creating a dual-issue system.