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Put Data to Work for You

PbS is a data-driven continuous improvement process for juvenile justice facilities, community residential programs and reentry services to improve conditions and quality of life in our nation’s juvenile facilities. We offer research-based standards and performance measures that focus on:

Making Facilities Safe

Public safety and the safety of the youths, staff and visitors is the primary responsibility of confinement facilities. PbS standards and performance data focus on management practices that promote safety and wellbeing and minimize the risks of harm.

Monitoring Program Effectiveness

The challenge for youth facility leaders is to provide programming and services that both keep youths engaged and out of trouble and puts them on the path to becoming productive, purposeful citizens. PbS standards and performance measures focus on education and employment opportunities, health and behavioral health services and building life skills and competencies.

Achieving Positive Outcomes

Time in custody can and should be a catchment opportunity to help youths prepare to return to living with their families and community. PbS standards and performance measures focus on what research has shown are the most likely outcomes to prevent reoffending and give youths a meaningful second chance when they leave.

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REDUCE REOFFENDING

Making Reentry Successful

Young people leaving the care and supervision of juvenile justice agencies need to be prepared and ready to become purposeful, productive citizens. PbS offers a framework and tools that jurisdictions can use to develop research-based reentry systems and measure positive youth outcomes.

It is truly amazing the culture change that PbS has fostered at our facility. As you know, PbS is a big endeavor but oh my is it ever worth it!

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Attendees from the 2018 PbS Agency Coordinators Training
State with PbS participating youth programs
States with one or more facilities participating in PbS shown in blue

Connecting Juvenile Justice Professionals

Growing Community

Join a national network of professionals sharing information, tools and approaches to provide the highest quality of life and services.

Publications

Get the latest news on the data

Research Brief: Predicting Use of Restraints and Perceptions of Safety Using Staff Demographic Characteristics

Using staff demographic characteristics to predict two important issues in juvenile confinement facilities: (1) the use of restraints during behavioral incidents and (2) staff perceptions of safety. Specifically, we investigated whether individuals who belong to racial and ethnic groups that have experienced systematic and individual oppression (referred to as minoritized staff) differ in their use of restraints during incidents than non-minoritized staff. Then, we investigated whether the proportion of female staff predicts staff perceptions of safety in the facility.

Read more about:  Publications, Research, Restraints

Data Snapshot: What Young People Say Matters January 2023

Contributing to the national vision of reentry success, PbS analyzes the survey responses of young people in secure facilities, community residential programs, and community supervision. This snapshot shares the voices of 4,620 system-involved young people responding to surveys about their current experiences, quality of life, preparations for reentry, and outlook for their futures. 

Read more about:  Publications, Reentry, Reentry

Research Brief: Family visitation, behavioral incidents, and staff safety: What changed in the COVID-19 era?

This brief looks at family visitation, staff safety, and behavioral incidents before (April 2019) and after (April 2021) the start of the pandemic. There are two aims: 1) to assess if facility-level family visits, staff perceptions of safety, and behavioral incidents post-pandemic significantly differ from pre-pandemic expected levels, and 2) to assess the relationship between family visits and behavioral incidents as well as the relationship between behavioral incidents and staff safety.

Read more about:  Publications, Research, Family Engagement

Data Snapshot: What Young People Say Matters

Contributing to the national vision of reentry success, PbS analyzed the survey responses of more than 1,100 young people exiting secure facilities, community residential programs and community supervision between November 2021 and April 2022. This snapshot shares the perceptions of young people regarding their preparedness and readiness for reentry.

Read more about:  Publications, Reentry