Agencies participating in the Performance-based Standards (PbS) standards and continuous improvement program survey their families and use the responses to adapt their practices to improve relationships and outcomes for young people and their families. In this PbS Data Snapshot, we share recent Family Survey responses from the field.

Recruiting new staff to work for juvenile justice agencies has become a bit easier over the past year, according to about 70 professionals who gathered recently for the Performance-based Standards (PbS) Learning Institute’s 2023 Agency Coordinators Training. But attracting the right staff and keeping them remains a challenge. This brief shares tips from the PbS Agency Coordinators and shares Staff Climate Survey results from the April 2023 data collection.

Fundamental fairness is at the heart of a just society and essential to healthy adolescent development. Young people need to feel they are treated fairly, respected and their voices matter. They also need to see the justice system as fair. But one look at the overwhelming disproportionate number of young people of color who are sent to secure juvenile facilities challenge any sense of fairness.

Looking at the experiences of young people in confinement facilities, the dissertation finds race and ethnicity is a significant predictor of a young person experiencing more control-oriented interventions, longer lengths of stay in confinement and fewer connections to reentry services. More specifically, the researcher found Black, Hispanic and minority young people were confined or restrained more often than others, stayed longer in facilities and had fewer connections to reentry services, adding to the cumulative negative impact of system involvement on young people of color. A summary of the dissertation is in the works and will be shared when available.