Guidelines for Juvenile Information Sharing
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U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Guidelines for Juvenile Information Sharing OJJDP Report Office of Justice Programs 810 Seventh Street NW. Washington, DC 20531 Alberto R. Gonzales Attorney General Regina B. Schofield Assistant Attorney General J. Robert Flores Administrator Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Office of Justice Programs Partnerships for Safer Communities www.ojp.usdoj.gov Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ojjdp These guidelines were prepared by the Center for Network Development, and supported by grant number 2000–JN– FX–K004 from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view or opinions expressed in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official positions or policies of OJJDP or the U.S. Department of Justice. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, and the Office for Victims of Crime. Guidelines for Juvenile Information Sharing Jennifer Mankey, M.P.A; Patricia Baca, Ed.D.; Stephanie Rondenell, B.S.; Marilyn Webb, M.A.; Denise McHugh, J.D. Report October 2006 Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention NCJ 215786 Acknowledgments The juvenile information sharing (JIS) guidelines were prepared by the Center for Network Development (CND) for the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). The guidelines suggest a course of action for key agency and organization stakeholders involved in a state or local effort to implement and sustain juvenile information sharing. The JIS guidelines draw on the experience and expertise of many who work in youth-serving agencies and information technology initiatives throughout the United States. Gratitude is extended in particular to the professionals who have served on the Juvenile Information Sharing Advisory Group and to those who served as peer reviewers of the draft guidelines. Appreciation also goes to J. Robert Flores, Administrator, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), who has set an example for cross-agency collaboration and communication, and to Gwendolyn Dilworth, Program Manager, Demonstration Programs Division, OJJDP, who has worked steadfastly in support of juvenile information sharing as a means to improve services to youth. Guidelines for Juvenile Information Sharing i JUVENILE INFORMATION SHARING ADVISORY GROUP Paul Embley G&H International Services, Inc. Bernie Martinez Director, Migrant Education Program, Anne Gardner Colorado Department of Education Assistant United States Attorney, U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District, Arkansas James McMillan Principal Court Technology Consultant, National Julie Spence Gefke Center for State Courts Former Privacy and Security Officer, State of Colorado, Department of Richard Morris Health Care Policy and Financing Project Coordinator, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Youth Services Ken Gill Former Technology Advisor, Carolyn Nava Bureau of Justice, Office of Justice Programs President, Youth Leadership International Jim Ham Leroy Rooker Information Technology Juvenile Director, Family Policy Compliance Justice Manager, Arizona Supreme Court Office, U.S. Department of Education Blake Harrison LaChundra Thomas Program Principal, Criminal Justice, Child Welfare Program Specialist, National Conference of State Legislatures U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Emmitt Hayes Gary Waint SASD Director, Division Director, Juvenile and Adult Travis County, Texas, Court Programs, Missouri Office of Juvenile Probation Department State Courts Administrator Bill Hughes Jennifer Zeunik Information Technology Project Manager, Law Enforcement Programming Specialist, Arizona Technology Standards Council Technology Center, Office of the Courts International Association of Chiefs of Police Guidelines for Juvenile Information Sharing ii JUVENILE INFORMATION SHARING GUIDELINES PEER REVIEWERS Bobbie Chinsky Eileen Madigan Program Manager, Juvenile Justice Juvenile Justice Information System Coordinator, Services Division, Arizona Crime Prevention and Administrative Office of the Court Justice Assistance Division, Hawaii Department of the Attorney General Paul R. Eik Program Manager, Michael Overton State of New Mexico Children, Project Manager, Youth and Families Department Nebraska Crime Commission Doug Engle Tricia Schlechte Director, Office of Technology and Deputy Department Director, Information Services, Georgia Health and Public Health, Department of Juvenile Justice Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Honorable Ernestine S. Gray Judge, Orleans Parish (Louisiana) Julie Slayton Juvenile Court Chief Research Scientist, Program Evaluation and Research Branch, Denise Hotopp Los Angeles Unified School District Director, Polk County (Iowa) Decategorization Wansley Walters Director, Miami-Dade Juvenile Nicole Lievsay Assessment Center Director, Juvenile Justice Initiatives, Harris County (Texas) William Lutz Director, Juvenile Assessment Center, 18th Judicial District (Colorado) Guidelines for Juvenile Information Sharing iii Table of Contents Introduction................................................................................................................................................................ 1 Background ......................................................................................................................................................... 2 The Need for JIS Guidelines ............................................................................................................................... 2 The Development of JIS Guidelines ................................................................................................................... 3 How the Guidelines are Presented....................................................................................................................... 4 Chapter 1: Establish the JIS Collaborative ................................................................................................................ 5 Chapter 2: Develop JIS Policies, Procedures, and Practices...................................................................................... 9 Chapter 3: Implement JIS ........................................................................................................................................ 18 Chapter 4: Promote Public Awareness ................................................................................................................... 20 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................................................ 22 Glossary ................................................................................................................................................................... 26 Guidelines for Juvenile Information Sharing iv Introduction State and local jurisdictions across the United States are working to improve information sharing among key agencies responsible for community safety and the health and wellbeing of at-risk youth and juvenile offenders. These juvenile justice and other youth-serving agencies often have difficulty receiving timely and reliable information needed for conducting assessments and determining appropriate supervision, sanctions, incentives, and services for youth. In concert with the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) identified juvenile information sharing (JIS) as an essential tool to assist juvenile justice, education, health, and other youth- serving agencies in their efforts to improve services for at-risk and delinquent youth and their families. JIS benefits jurisdictions by: Enabling decisionmakers to electronically access and exchange critical information at key decision points. Facilitating more efficient access to data and information from multiple locations. Improving data quality. Eliminating redundant data collection and entry. Achieving effective juvenile information sharing, however, requires a significant shift in the information sharing practices of many agencies. JIS institutes new processes and procedures for information sharing and requires the development and application of new knowledge and skills. In 2000, OJJDP awarded a cooperative agreement to the Center for Network Development (CND) to increase the capacity of jurisdictions to plan and implement juvenile information sharing through the Information Sharing to Prevent Juvenile Delinquency: A Training and Technical Assistance Project. A national needs assessment of JIS practices revealed that a variety of approaches were being used with varying degrees of success. Agencies typically were challenged in their efforts to: Build effective collaborations of multiple agencies responsible for developing juvenile information sharing. Develop and agree on confidentiality practices to protect private information based on statutes and policies relating to juvenile information exchange. Employ appropriate technology to facilitate access to and secure information. Instructional training