Statistical Reporting
Statistics about juvenile delinquency cases are a key part of the annual Indiana Judicial Service Report and Indiana Probation Report. Published by the Indiana Supreme Court’s Division of State Court Administration (Division), the reports reflect detailed court-by-court data on judicial caseloads, general court finances and probation information. The case data is submitted to the Division through INcite, the Supreme Court’s extranet. With respect to children, this data includes juvenile status offenses, juvenile delinquency offenses, paternity, informal adjustments, and termination of parental rights. Juvenile probation data includes referrals for both status and non-status offenses as well as the number and types of probation recommendations regarding the disposition of referrals. Juvenile probation departments break down each supervision by type of offense (status or non-status) as well as the case type (formal or informal) and disposition. Some demographic data is collected in the Juvenile Law Services Report for status delinquents on supervision, non-status delinquents on supervision and for miscellaneous supervisions, which are primarily informal adjustments. The previous article in this issue, “Indiana Juvenile Case Data,” provides examples of the detailed data collected through this system.
Risk Assessment Tools
During 2011, Indiana adopted the Indiana Youth Assessment System (IYAS) as an evidence-based risk/needs assessment tool for its juvenile justice system. Effective use of this tool is a proven way of rehabilitating offenders, reducing recidivism, and increasing public safety. The foundation for implementing evidence-based risk/needs assessments is the use of evidence-based practices. The term evidence-based practices refers to the use of empirical data derived through scientific research from juvenile and criminal justice systems which identify factors that enable an assessment to be made of an offender’s likelihood to reoffend. These practices also provide techniques and programs that have been proven effective in reducing such risks.
The IYAS was developed by the University of Cincinnati and designed to be used at key stages in the juvenile justice process to help guide decisions, allocate resources, measure changes, and ultimately improve public safety. It is now available as one of twenty court sharing applications in INcite. The automated IYAS process includes (1) a semi-structured interview with the offender, (2) a file review and (3) a gathering of other necessary information, including:
- history with the justice system
- employment and education
- family and social support
- substance abuse and mental health
- peers
- attitudes and behavioral patterns
Juvenile justice agencies using these risk assessment tools now have a single electronic means for scoring the tools and storing the results and sharing the information with other users. To date, around 99,500 assessments (as of October 1, 2013) have been completed on juveniles using INcite.
Projects in the Pipeline
Data from Disproportionate Minority Contact
The federal Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) of 2002 requires states to report progress in reducing the over-representation of minority youth in the juvenile justice system, known as Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC). Presently, the Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention (OJJDPA) requires data on nine decision points as the minimum requirements. The Indiana Criminal Justice Institute (ICJI) is tasked with ensuring that Indiana achieves and maintains compliance with the federal requirements. In early 2012, the ICJI, with the assistance of the Indiana University Center for Criminal Justice Research, completed a statewide DMC data collection project by manually collecting data for all of Indiana’s 92 counties. Data was sought for eight of the nine decision points (arrest was excluded) for all juvenile referrals in each jurisdiction from 2005 through 2009.
It is apparent the manual data collection efforts were inefficient, time-consuming, and labor-intensive. In response, the ICJI is working with the Indiana Judicial Center and the Division to enable the continuous collection of DMC data. The project is operational in three pilot counties using Odyssey: Henry, Hendricks and Tipton.
Preliminary Inquiry, Predispositional Report and Modification Report
The Indiana Judicial Conference first developed a Preliminary Inquiry (PI) and Predispositional Report (PDR) in 1994. The PI is used to provide the court with basic information regarding the offender. Because this report is associated with the initial entry of the youth into the juvenile justice system, it contains very limited information. It is not intended to be a comprehensive review of everything needed for disposition. However, the PI may also serve a dual function as a PDR when the court proceeds to disposition at the initial hearing.
The PDR provides comprehensive information to the court for making an appropriate disposition. It contains the most complete and accurate information about all aspects of the case, and may include a recommendation about disposition.
The Modification Report is used to modify an existing disposition. It includes only new and/or updated information. It is not designed to repeat details from the original PDR.
In 2011, the Probation Officer Advisory Board, under the direction of the Indiana Judicial Center, revised and standardized the PI, PDR, and Modification Report in order to allow for the more effective use of the risk assessment results in the disposition process from the newly implemented Indiana Youth Assessment System (IYAS).
Once the disposition has been entered, the PDR becomes the cornerstone of a juvenile intervention plan. Information in the report can be used to develop case plans as well as supervision plans. Additional information can be attached as the juvenile progresses through the juvenile justice system so that each successive correctional component will have the benefit of a complete juvenile profile.
In late 2012, the Division began automating these three standardized reports in INcite so that the information on all juveniles can be shared among all probation officers statewide. A task force of six juvenile probation officers and staff from the Indiana Judicial Center are the key participants helping guide the software requirements and format for the new INcite application, which should be ready by the end of 2013.
DCS Attorney Case Tracking System
In 2011, the Department of Child Services asked the Division about accessing court case information electronically in the counties that used Odyssey as a Case Management System (CMS). DCS attorneys did not have a CMS to track their caseload or create the required court pleadings for all juvenile case types. Additionally, the DCS attorneys do not have electronic access to the court case information or the court’s calendar in Odyssey.
Division staff, in partnership with DCS, determined that an INcite application could be built to provide DCS attorneys with access to their case data and court calendar information in Odyssey. It also will provide the ability to generate all pleadings and proposed orders in a single system.
IV-D Civil Writ/Warrant Registry
Indiana does not have a centralized database for civil warrants or writs of attachment issued in child support cases. This information is not entered into Indiana Data and Communications System (IDACS), the database maintained by the Indiana State Police. At the request of Cynthia Longest, Title IV-D Director for DCS, the Division is developing an INcite application that will track warrants/writs of attachment issued by IV-D courts. Like the Protection Order Registry, this application will house a centralized database that can be accessed by courts, clerks, prosecutors and law enforcement officers statewide. The application will allow the warrant/writ of attachment information to be entered, edited, viewed, and printed 24 hours a day. The Division anticipates completion and deployment by late 2013.
Juvenile Case Management System Interface
Indiana’s courts use several different case management systems (CMS) to track and manage juvenile court cases. The courts in some of the more populous counties use a CMS, which was custom-designed for Indiana juvenile courts, called Quest.
Working with Quest, a Division team has developed an INcite application that can search both the Quest Central Repository and Odyssey. The vendor who supports Quest is working on similar functionality so that Quest users can search Odyssey using Quest software. Because both Quest and Odyssey have a central repository for all courts using these two systems, a user can now search both repositories in one search in INcite. The Division anticipates completion and deployment in late 2013.