The National Center for Juvenile Justice (NCJJ) has published many groundbreaking Dual System Youth (DSY) publications in recent decades. There has been a growing body of research by NCJJ and others covering DSY issues and initiatives beginning with the When Systems Collide: Court Practices and Programs in Dual Jurisdiction Cases publication from 2004 to the most recent Dual Status Youth: Data Integration to Support System Integration publication in 2016, among many others in between.
In brief, DSY refers to youth who have some form of cross-system involvement (concurrent or historical) with the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Almost all the research examining DSY (regardless of how DSY is defined) has consistently confirmed the adverse trajectories of these cases that are likely to persist without meaningful interventions. These adverse trajectories include but are not limited to extended juvenile justice and child welfare system involvement, frequent out-of-home placement disruptions, continued delinquent activity, poor permanency outcomes, frequent school changes and substandard educational performance, and a range of negative systemic impacts on the courts and other systems intended to serve these challenging cases.
Organization of Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice
States use different administrative approaches to organize the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. These can vary widely across states, influencing their ability to coordinate services. For example, seven states and three territories have centralized systems; meaning, there is either a single state department or one umbrella agency with different departments that oversee juvenile justice and child welfare respectively. Interviews suggest, in some instances, this structure can reduce barriers to coordination, streamline data sharing, and increase oversight.