There are major challenges facing child welfare and juvenile justice systems in the United States.
According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, Children’s Bureau, there are over 430,000 children in foster care. According to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), there were approximately 850,000 juvenile arrests and 45,000 juvenile offenders living in residential placements in 2016. Complex family issues, including poverty, unemployment, mental health and the abuse of alcohol and other drugs interfere with important measures of child safety, family stability and the interruption of offending trajectories.
The Child and Adolescent Data Lab began in 2015, with a mission to harness the power of data to improve outcomes for vulnerable children, adolescents and their families.
The Child and Adolescent Data Lab exists to:
- Create strong and long-lasting partnerships with State agencies
- Connect and analyze administrative data across agencies to help inform policy and practice
- Produce and disseminate useful products that advance the knowledge base