Figure 1
The title of Figure 1 is The Typical Process for Adjudicating Dually Involved Youth.
Figure 1 is a flow chart that describes the typical process beginning when a dependent youth is arrested and ending when the judge determines which status is appropriate, either dependent, ward, or both (dual status). When police arrest a youth, the district attorney files a petition with the court. If it appears the youth is within the jurisdiction of both dependency and delinquency systems, the child welfare services and probation agencies determine which status will serve the best interests of the youth and the protection of society. The social worker and probation officer present their recommendations to the judge who then determines which status is appropriate. The judge can adjudicate the youth in one of three ways: the judge does not adjudicate youth a ward of the court and youth remains a dependent, the judge adjudicates the youth a ward and the youth's dependency case is terminated, or the judge adjudicates youth as a dual status youth—making the youth simultaneously a dependent and ward of the court. The dual status option is only available in counties with dual status protocols.
Figure 2
The title of Figure 2 is Average Length of Juvenile Justice Involvement in Days.
Figure 2 is a bar chart showing average number of days youth are involved with the juvenile justice system in each of the six counties reviewed. A note at the bottom of the chart indicates the length is calculated as the number of days from the date the youth became a ward until the earlier of the date the probation case ended or June 30, 2015. The counties are grouped by whether they are nondual status or dual status. Two lines show the average for each type of county. The nondual status average is roughly 590 days and the dual status average is approximately 470 days. Of the nondual status counties, Sacramento has the highest average length, approximately 670 days. Kern's average is approximately 580 days and Alameda's is the lowest of the nondual status counties at approximately 520 days. Of the dual status counties, Riverside has the highest average length, approximately 630 days. Los Angeles and Santa Clara both have lower average lengths of juvenile justice involvement than the other four counties. Los Angeles averages approximately 410 days and Santa Clara averages approximately 370 days.
Figure 3
The title of Figure 3 is Average Number of Arrests After Joint Assessment Hearing.
Figure 3 is a bar chart that shows the youth in nondual status counties had a higher average number of arrests than the youth in dual status counties. The counties are grouped by whether they are nondual or dual status counties. The average number of arrests in nondual status counties is 1.9 and the average number of arrests in dual status counties is 1.2. The three nondual status counties and the approximate average number of arrests for each are Sacramento: 2.4, Alameda: 2.2, and Kern: 1.0. The three dual status counties and the approximate average number of arrests for each are Riverside: 1.5, Santa Clara: 1.3, and Los Angeles, 0.9.
Figure 4
The title of Figure 4 is Average Number of Individual Services per Youth Before and After Joint Assessment Hearing.
Figure 4 is a bar chart showing two bars for each county: the average number of services youth received before the joint assessment hearing and the average number of services youth received after the joint assessment hearing. Youth at all six counties have significantly more services after their joint assessment hearings. Kern County, a nondual status county, has the fewest services both before and after the joint assessment hearing. Sacramento County, also a nondual status county, has the most services after the joint assessment hearing. The average number of services offered by the three nondual status counties is 2.8 before the hearing and 6.5 after. The average number of services offered by the three dual status counties is 3.4 before the hearing and 7.3 after.
Figure 5
The title of Figure 5 is Percentage of Youth With Family Reunification Services and Outcomes.
Figure 5 shows each county’s rate of family reunification services before and after youths’ joint assessment hearings. It also shows the rate of reunification for the cases reviewed in each county. All three nondual status counties had an increase in the rate of family reunification services after the joint assessment hearings. In Alameda County, the percentage of youth with family reunification services increased from 17 percent to 37 percent with 7 percent of youth successfully reunified. In Kern County, the percentage of youth with family reunification services increased from 13 percent to 23 percent with 17 percent of youth successfully reunified. In Sacramento County, the percentage of youth with family reunification services increased from 23 percent to 53 percent with 20 percent of youth successfully reunified. Conversely, all three dual status counties had decreases in their rates of family reunification services. In Los Angeles County, the percentage of youth with family reunification services decreased from 23 percent to 20 percent with zero youth successfully reunified. In Riverside County, the percentage of youth with family reunification services decreased from 30 percent to 23 percent with 7 percent of youth successfully reunified. Finally, in Santa Clara County, the percentage of youth with family reunification services decreased from 19 percent to 13 percent with 6 percent of youth successfully reunified.