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Home : Voices eNewsletters : January 2010 eNewsletter : The Relationship between the Child Welfare System and the Juvenile Justice System

The Relationship between the Child Welfare System and the Juvenile Justice System

The Relationship between the Child Welfare System and the Juvenile Justice System Society relies upon two systems to provide security and structure for children—the Child Welfare System and the Juvenile Justice System. The two systems, which are indisputably different in many ways, are also very closely related. Though research on the relationship between the two is limited, it is important to understand the obvious correlation that exists in order to affect appropriate changes in both systems.

The Child Welfare System (CWS) is primarily responsible for children’s safety, stability, and well-being. CWS exists in order to ensure children are in a stable environment that is free from abuse and/or neglect. In cases where children are unable to stay in their own homes, CWS is responsible for ensuring that children have a plan of permanency (whether that means reintegrating back into their birth homes or not) and for helping children preserve their past connections (for example, relationships with family and friends). Sometimes, however, CWS provides a child with an environment that does not provide sufficient mental or emotional stability, though it may provide sufficient physical stability. Children that have been removed from unstable environments need substantial stability in all areas—physical, mental, and emotional. When the new environment fails to meet all of these needs, children involved in the CWS may also become involved with the Juvenile Justice System.

It is somewhat difficult to describe the exact relationship between the two systems simply because so little research has correlated the two. While a distinct correlative relationship does exist, causation is difficult to determine because there are so many possible extraneous variables (for example, the child’s temperament or the child’s peer associations could be better predictors than past abuse or involvement with the CWS). The research that has been completed does tend to support the idea that past abuse can be—however cautiously—predictive of future delinquency. Research has shown, for example, that abused/neglected children are more likely to be arrested than children who were not abused. Children with a history of abuse are 10% more likely to be arrested as juveniles, 12% more likely to be arrested as adults, and 5% more likely to be arrested for a serious violent crime. Further, children with a history of abuse commit nearly twice as many offenses, are arrested at a much younger age, and are arrested much more frequently than children who do not have a history of abuse. Children within the foster care system also are at a higher risk for committing offenses. (All cited data was obtained from practicenotes.org.)

Another important issue to note was highlighted in a recent study by Ryan, Hertz, Hernandez, and Marshall (2007). The researchers found that juvenile courts tend to be harsher on children coming in from the foster system—foster system youth were significantly less likely to receive probation than were youth from outside the foster system, even when their offenses were similar.

So what do we do?
Without more research, little can be done to improve the experiences of children who are involved with both the Child Welfare System and the Juvenile Justice System. Without thoroughly understanding a problem, solutions are temporary fixes at best. However, this does not mean that there is nothing that can be done! Advocates work diligently to improve the situations of all children, and the systems themselves are attempting to improve the outlook for children. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) is one such agency within the Juvenile Justice System that is attempting to bridge the gap between it and the Child Welfare System.

OJJDP has released their Proposed Plan for Fiscal Year 2010, which describes program activities that it intends on carrying out during the upcoming year. Their plan has several key components that will provide support to children who are involved in both the Child Welfare System and the Juvenile Justice System:

• OJJDP plans to continue funding programs that address and treat children who were exposed to violence or are at a high risk for being exposed to violence. This includes Safe Start projects that enhance the accessibility, delivery, and quality of services that are provided to these at-risk children.


• OJJDP plans to fund programs that improve the coordinated investigation and prosecution of child abuse cases. Further, they are going to fund Court Appointed Special Advocates programs, which provide children in the foster care system with high quality, timely, effective, and sensitive representation before the court (both in cases of custody and adjudication).


• OJJDP plans to provide funding to programs that provide training/technical assistance to judicial and court personnel who work with the foster care system.

These are simply highlights of several of the pertinent areas in which OJJDP plans on enhancing the lives and experiences of children involved in the Child Welfare System and in the Juvenile Justice System. In order to read the entire Plan, please visit http://www.ojjdp.ncjrs.gov/funding/FY10OJJDPProposedPlan.pdf