This seventh annual report provides an update on juvenile justice reform policies that were passed in Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 and subsequent years.
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Referrals to Utah’s juvenile court system increased in FY 2023. Overall, there were 14,204 referrals to the Juvenile Court in FY 2023. This represents an increase of 11.4% from FY 2022 but an overall decline of 33% when compared to FY 2017.
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Youths continue to be diverted from the system through the use of Nonjudicial Adjustments. Despite the increase in court referrals, the share of youths entering into an Nonjudicial Adjustment increased to almost 64% and the share of success rates increased to 94% in FY 2023. The share of minority youths entering into an Nonjudicial Adjustment has also increased.
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Court supervision through Intake or Formal Probation is guided by a youth’s risk and needs. For FY 2023, the rate for Intake and Formal Probation decreased.1 The share of Formal and Intake Probation orders increased for youths identified as minority. However, additional data points would need to be evaluated to meaningfully understand the significance of this, as it does not factor in the level of referred offenses.
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There has been a change in the way admissions to Locked Detention, Community Placement orders, and admissions to Secure Care are counted and reflected in this latest report. For FY 2023, the rate of youths admitted to Locked Detention was 4.85 per 1,000 youths. The rate of Community Placement orders was .35 per 1,000 youths and the rate of admissions to Secure Care was .19 per 1,000 youths.
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Since FY 2018, millions of dollars have been reinvested to front end services such as the JJYS’ Youth Services Model and School Based Outreach. For FY 2023 there were 1,698 youths who completed JJYS’ Youth Services statewide. At 90 days after completion, 98.5% of these youth avoided Probation or JJYS/DCFS custody. Further, there were School Based Outreach in rural Utah to 77 different schools.
Policy changes focused on preventing deeper involvement in the juvenile justice system for youths who are referred for lower-level offenses, protecting the community by focusing system resources on youths who pose the highest risk to public safety, and improving outcomes through reinvestment and increased system accountability.
House Bill 304 made several changes to the juvenile justice system including when class C misdemeanors, infraction, or status offenses can be referred to the Juvenile Court, when notifications are sent to schools, eligibility criteria for NJAs, and additional data reporting requirements.
See the report