Although a growing body of research has documented the characteristics and experiences of young people with child welfare and juvenile justice system contact (i.e., dual system involvement), less is known about the pathways leading to dual system involvement. Sequence analysis was used to empirically identify pathways by plotting child welfare and juvenile justice spells for a cohort of 4404 dual system youth in Los Angeles County between 2014 to 2016. Procedures produced a five-cluster model delineated by the extent of child welfare involvement and the ages at which involvement occurred. Comparisons across pathways demonstrated that youth with less child welfare involvement in childhood had the least intrusive juvenile justice experiences and lower recidivism than youth experiencing longer and deeper child welfare involvement in late childhood and adolescence. Pathway findings have significant implications for building a delinquency prevention continuum prior to system involvement and after involvement for young people and their family members who enter the child welfare system.
The Children's Data Network (CDN) is a data and research collaborative focused on the linkage and analysis of administrative records. In partnership with public agencies, philanthropic funders, affiliated researchers, and community stakeholders, we seek to generate knowledge and advance evidence-rich policies that improve the health, safety, and well-being of the children of California. Given our experience negotiating access to and working with existing administrative data (and importantly, data stewards), the CDN has demonstrated its ability to perform cost-effective and rigorous record linkage, answer time-sensitive policy- and program-related questions, and build the public sector's capacity to do the same. Owing to steadfast and generous infrastructure and project support, close collaboration with public partners, and strategic analyses and engagements, the CDN has promoted a person-level and longitudinal understanding of children and families in California and in so doing, informed policy and program development nationwide. We sincerely hope that our experience—and lessons learned—can advance and inform work in other fields and jurisdictions.
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