Youth who are members of racially marginalized populations and low socio-economic communities are disproportionally represented in both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Often called dually involved or dually adjudicated youth, young people involved in both systems can benefit from child welfare and juvenile justice agencies working together to ensure equitable access to services, creating joint support and guidance to reduce disparities and biases, and working to improve overall outcomes. Find resources related to the collaboration between child welfare and juvenile justice agencies as well as information about strategies and frameworks for addressing system change on this page.
Child Welfare Practice to Address Racial Disproportionality and Disparity
Connections With Youth in the Child Welfare System
Youth.gov
Presents insights into the experiences of dual system youth and potential risk factors and challenges they face so practitioners can better understand these youth. Additional resources for both practitioners and youth transitioning into adulthood are provided.
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.
Ending Anti-Black Racism in Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice Systems
The University of Texas at San Antonio (2020)
Discusses the child welfare and juvenile justice systems that are under scrutiny in how their practices and procedures target Black children and families.
Exclusion by Design: The History of Anti-Black Racism in the Child Welfare System [Webinar]
UW-Madison Sandra Rosenbaum School of Social Work (2021)
Presents the history of racism in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems, particularly the parallel barriers within the policies and practices. Strategies to address and dismantle these racist policies are also discussed.
Framework and Tool Help Juvenile Justice Agencies Treat Families as Partners
The Annie E. Casey Foundation (2022)
Offers a practical framework with actionable steps and guidance for juvenile justice agencies to enhance their family engagement and empowerment strategies.
Intersection of Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare Systems
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (2021)
Focuses on the intersection of child welfare and the juvenile justice systems, characteristics of both systems, predictors of crossover from one to the other, characteristics of dual status youth, progress toward and challenges in serving dual status youth, and outcomes of interventions.
Is There an Effective Practice Model for Serving Crossover Youth?
Casey Family Programs (2022)
Presents facts about crossover youth and details the multi-phase Crossover Youth Practice Model and evaluation findings.
Youth Justice and the Family First Prevention Services Act (PDF - 360 KB)
Campaign for Youth Justice (2020)
Focuses on improving the child welfare and juvenile justice systems through the Families First Preservation Serices Act. Specifically, by integrating therapeutic foster care and family-based care as an alternative to institutional care for youth who have been adjudicated as delinquent.