By The The Social Current Organization

This document provides a background and overview of the Child Safety First Michigan (CSFMI) initiative, which involved the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) in coordination with the Michigan Public Health Institute (MPHI). The final report provides details of the CSFMI initiative from the 15-month planning phase; followed by the implementation phase which began in January 2021, and involved the safety planning workgroup to assist with the implementation of activities. The workgroup’s overall goal was to identify areas of practice or policy change to support child welfare professionals’ capacity to engage families and support their immediate safety needs. The document provides a discussion of lessons learned throughout the initiative, which include issues with framing child abuse and neglect to better inform public thinking, as well as roadblocks that arose from the implementation of changes to practice, among other lessons; the document notes that overcoming implementation roadblocks requires additional action and commitment by a variety of partners over time.

Social Current Organization, 2023. 31p.

By Antoinette Raffaela 

Research was conducted in partnership with the Revenge Porn Helpline (RPH) to examine the location and removal of non-consensual intimate image (NCII) abuse. By examining reports to the helpline, data were collected to uncover where intimate images were being non-consensually distributed, how they were proportionally distributed across platforms, and avenues for image removal. The data confirm that social media plays a key role in NCII distribution and provides further insight into where images are being distributed outside of social media platforms. Data on image removal indicate that knowledge of how to navigate different types of platforms is important for image removal success, making contributions from organisations such as the RPH vital, and highlighting the need to make reporting processes more accessible. The findings also indicate significant gaps within the Online Safety Act which will need to be addressed if the Act is to effectively protect victim-survivors. In particular, the need to move beyond focusing on services with the largest user numbers and broadening the scope to include smaller high-risk and problematic platforms.

European Journal of CriminologyVolume 22, Issue 1, January 2025, Pages 30-50

By Garner Clancey, Cecilia Drumore and Laura Metcalfe

The University of Sydney and Youth Justice New South Wales signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in July 2021. This MoU builds on various prior collaborative activities between the two organisations and related work in other jurisdictions. This paper reflects on the progress and challenges of collaboration of this kind. Specifically, there has been tentative progress in engaging non-traditional parts of the university in youth justice projects.

The initial stage of the collaboration highlighted challenges, including structures within the university which can frustrate interdisciplinary work. Time lines, staff turnover and resources also impacted this collaboration. We conclude with an outline of what might be achieved through ongoing collaboration and signal the importance of ongoing research to capture data and insights regarding the nature of this relationship as it develops.

Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 691. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. 2024.

By Susannah N. Tapp, PhD; Alexandra Thompson; Erica L. Smith; and Lizabeth Remrey

This statistical brief presents findings on crimes involving juveniles, both as victims and as alleged or perceived offenders. It reports on (1) rates of nonfatal violent victimization of juveniles, (2) the number of deaths of juveniles due to homicide, (3) the percentage of nonfatal violent incidents in which the offender was perceived to be a juvenile, and (4) the percentage of persons arrested who were juveniles. Data are from the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ (BJS) National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), the FBI’s Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR), and the FBI’s National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). For additional information on these data collections and the similarities and differences between the BJS and FBI crime victimization data, including populations and types of crime covered, see Methodology or The Nation’s Two Crime Measures, 2011–2020 (NCJ 303385, BJS, February 2022).

Washington, DC:  U.S. Department of Justice Statistical Brief Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics. 2024, 13pg