Minor infractions by juveniles have decreased, indicating a more engaged and productive general juvenile population. Moreover, in FY15 Calvert County’s Department of Juvenile Services felt the impact of Maryland Public School’s new regulations that require local school systems to adopt policies that reduce long-term out-of-school suspensions and expulsions, imposing in-school asset based interventions. However, there is a worrisome trend of a smaller number of juveniles involved in serious felony offenses, which points to a need to determine what factors, such as family dynamics, school participation, and behavioral health services are impacting the behavior.

Crime has a negative impact on communities and childhood development. Safe communities are critical to reducing injuries, death and trauma in children and youth.

Safety starts in the home. Child abuse and neglect can result in mild to severe physical injuries, and in some instances, death. Victims of child abuse and neglect are also susceptible to possible attachment disorders, mental health issues, developmental delays, educational challenges, and behavioral problems. Identifying families and children at risk for abuse or neglect, addressing these risk areas, and ensuring safety for children are essential to protecting children from harm.

Juvenile delinquency has potentially high stakes for both individuals and society as a whole. Delinquency is linked to higher crime rates in adulthood and other negative outcomes. One estimate suggests that between 50 and 75 percent of adolescents who have spent time in juvenile detention centers are incarcerated later in life.

Measuring recidivism is the primary indicator of success for criminal and juvenile justice systems. While other measures of youth development are important, the primary mission of juvenile justice is to reduce delinquency, which is best captured by measuring recidivism.