By Steven Olson and Kat M. Anderson

On September 26, 2019, the Roundtable on the Promotion of Health Equity of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine held a workshop in Flagstaff, Arizona, on the impact that juvenile justice system involvement has on the health and well-being of adolescents, families, and communities of color. The roundtable has a unique role as a convener of the nation’s experts in health disparities and health equity. It works to promote health equity and the elimination of health disparities by increasing the visibility and understanding of inequities in health and health care among racial and ethnic populations; examining research, policy, and community-centered programs; and catalyzing the emergence of new leaders, partners, and stakeholders. The Arizona workshop was the last in a series of three centered on the intersection of health equity with the criminal justice system. The first, held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, focused on incarceration as a structural determinant of health (NASEM, 2019). The second, held in Washington, DC, examined interactions between race, ethnicity, and drug control laws and policies and the criminal justice system (NASEM, 2022). The Arizona workshop featured panels of nationally and locally recognized experts in justice and health, along with a luncheon session featuring young adults speaking about their experiences in the justice system. As Julie Baldwin, director of the Center for Health Equity Research at Northern Arizona University and chair of the workshop planning committee, said during the workshop’s opening session, “We see this as a critical launching point for dialogue and action around this topic, both locally and nationally.”2 The workshop was sponsored by the Aetna Foundation, the Arizona Biomedical Research Centre, the California Wellness Foundation, The Colorado Trust, the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Hogg Foundation, Merck & Co., Inc., the Moore Foundation, the NARBHA Institute, Northern Arizona University Center for Health Equity Research, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ Office of Health Equity.

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. The Impact of Juvenile Justice System Involvement on the Health and Well-Being of Youth, Families, and Communities of Color: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

By Megan Davis and Craig Wright

This report summarises previously published insights from the Social Wellbeing Agency’s work assisting the New Zealand Government's response to youth crime. The report looks at wellbeing factors that are highly correlated to offending behaviour in young people and outlines ways that policymakers can reduce crime by targeting better support to young people and their families.

The report finds that the greater the exposure of young people to hardship and disadvantage, the more likely they are to offend. The authors conclude that public services are not providing enduring solutions for young people with high needs and that many solutions to youth crime lie in better support to families, whānau and communities.

Key findings

• Young people who are most likely to offend include those who have (in order of impact):

  • exposure to family violence and contact with Oranga Tamariki (NZ Ministry for Children)

  • experience of poverty

  • and parent(s) who have an alcohol or other drug issue, a mental health issue, and/or contact with Corrections.

• Over three-quarters of youth crime in Aotearoa New Zealand is committed by the 10% of young people who have greatest exposure to experiences of hardship and disadvantage.

• Most factors correlated to offending behaviour by young people reflect the characteristics of their environment (their families and communities). This suggests solutions to youth offending should consider family and community wellbeing.

• Over 60% of young people in the highest needs group first came to the attention of a government agency for a relatively serious issue by age 5.

• Young offenders are concentrated in areas of higher deprivation.

• Repeated referrals to the social system suggest that current approaches are not addressing their underlying needs to stop their offending or prevent resulting harm to communities.

Supports that are shown to help prevent youth crime

• Early intervention and prevention programmes that aim to identify and support young people and their families, whānau and communities before they engage in criminal behaviour

• Positive youth development programmes that focus on building the social and emotional skills, resilience, and positive relationships of young people

• Restorative justice – an approach that aims to repair the harm caused by crime by involving victims, offenders, and the community in the process of addressing the harm caused by offending behaviour

• High levels of collaboration between and among government agencies, community organisations and Iwi to ensure the right services are provided in the right way at the right time

• Providing positive education and employment opportunities to young people – including giving them a sense of purpose and a confident future outlook.

Social Wellbeing Agency (New Zealand), 2023. 12p.