Our Role

Commonweal has worked closely with state and local policymakers to address these system data and evaluation challenges. Some past and present efforts are:

  • The Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) has important data collection mandates under its 2012 enabling legislation. Commonweal program director David Steinhart is a BSCC Board member. He Chairs the Board’s Juvenile Justice Standing Committee (JJSC). The Committee’s number one priority is to produce a plan to juvenile justice data systems and performance measures in California. Learn more
  • The Youth Justice Policy Board of the California Endowment consists of juvenile justice professionals and experts from multiple disciplines, including courts, probation, law enforcement, youth service and advocacy. The Policy Board has already made recommendations for juvenile justice data system improvements. Learn more
  • The California State Juvenile Justice Commission was discontinued in 2009. It’s final product was a detailed “Juvenile Justice Operational Master Plan” that contains well-researched recommendations on modernization of California’s outmoded juvenile justice data setup. These recommendations were not implemented but remain under review by the BSCC Juvenile Justice Standing Committee 
  • The Chief Probation Officers of California has promoted the adoption of evidence-based practices in county probation departments and has moved toward the adoption of a standard outcome definition for recidivism. Learn more
  • Boys Republic, a California private residential care provider, has been tracking outcomes for court-referred youth under a Department of Social Services special “waiver” project, tracking follow up measures that include recidivism, placement stability and education status. Learn more