Florida Department of Juvenile Justice

Anecdotal reports have shown increased rates of domestic violence and child abuse as the result of the economic impact and stay-at-home orders in response to COVID-19.1 For children and adolescents, school closures and the disrupted provision of child protection services have been associated with a higher risk of maltreatment with physical outcomes especially for those living in low-income and crowded households.2-4 In this retrospective population-based study, we compared data on abuse of children and adolescents aged 0–17 years during the first half of 2019 and 2020 in Sergipe state, Northeast Brazil, which is recognised as the poorest region in the country. Information on child abuse was extracted from the official child maltreatment database of the Coordination of Statistics and Criminal Analysis of the Sergipe state. Our outcome of interest was non-accidental physical injury inflicted on a child by his or her parents or other person legally responsible for the child's care. Data also included gender, age and race/ethnicity and all cases were de-identified. Results were expressed in absolute and relative frequencies. Two-proportion Z-test was used to compare occurrences of child abuse between 2019 and 2020 according to children's characteristics. P values <0.05 were considered statistically significant. Sergipe has an estimated population of 2 298 696 people, Human Development Index of 0.665 and a monthly household income per capita of less than one Brazilian minimum wage (approximately USD 190/month). On 14 March 2020, the first case of COVID-19 in Sergipe state was identified and the first decree of the state government on the containment measures in response to the spread of COVID-19 was enacted on 24 March 2020 and included closure of all schools and universities. Until 10 September 2020, SARS-CoV-2 has infected 74 121 patients and resulted in 1920 deaths. From 1 January to 30 June 2020, 53 cases of child physical injury were notified, 15 (28.3%) in boys and 38 (71.7%) in girls. Most were aged 12–17 years (37 out of 53, 69.8%) and were either Blacks or Browns (mixed race) (39 out of 53, 73.6%). No differences were found in child abuse notifications according to gender, age and race/ethnicity between 2020 and 2019 (Table 1). However, compared to the first half of 2019, we found the reported rate of child physical injury decreased in 2020 by 24.3%. Decreasing rates were found in 4 (January, February, March and May) of the 6 months analysed (Fig. 1). Despite the lack of studies showing the influence of COVID-19 pandemic on registries of child abuse, social media reports suggest an increased risk of domestic violence during the social distancing period in Brazil.5 The reported surge in domestic violence including child abuse is alarming and may be associated with family financial constraints, increased burden on parents due to school closures, parent's stress and difficulty dealing with children's irritability during isolation, disruption of social support networks and reduction of child protective services. Recently, according to the Brazilian Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights, the number of reports of violence against children fell 12% during the pandemic throughout the national territory. Similar results have been shown in some American states which reported double-digit percentage decreases in registries to child maltreatment hotlines.6 With child-helplines reducing staff and limiting child protection services due to imposition of curfew and reduction of funding especially in low- and middle-income countries, the incidence of child abuse may be unnoticed or under-reported.7 Measures to improve surveillance, identify risk factors, develop interventions and scale up effective policy and programmes8 must be implemented to support vulnerable people against domestic violence especially Black teenage girls in poor communities.9 This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Sergipe (protocol number 33095120.4.0000.5546). We would like to thank the Criminal Analysis Statistics Coordination (CEACRIM), Sergipe state, Brazil for collaborating with the data collection, and CAPES and CNPq agencies. We dedicate this article to all the doctors, frontline health workers and other staff who are facing COVID-19. This study is part of the EpiSERGIPE project.

ABSTRACT Examining the environmental correlates of deviant behavior is a large area of interest that continues to promote much research in criminology. Recent attention has been given to understanding the effects of an elevated concentration of offenders on an individual’s likelihood of recidivism. To our knowledge, no study has explored whether an elevated delinquent youth concentration negatively affects the recidivism of a juvenile population. Using data from a large number of adjudicated delinquents on community supervision from the state of Florida, mixed effects logistic regression analyses indicate that increases in delinquent youth concentration contribute to an increased risk of reoffending for younger, but not older, juvenile offenders. Future research directions and policy implications are also discussed.

Although the Risk–Needs–Responsivity framework has become the dominant paradigm in criminal and juvenile justice, little empirical attention has been given to the reassessment component of the model. Here, we examine dynamic risk and promotive factor trajectories of 6,442 residential commitment placements to assess differences in progression with respect to risk reduction and promotive enhancement through a buffer score rubric (buffer = promotive − risk). Results indicate that youth progress along different buffer trajectories throughout residential placement. Multinomial models also demonstrate that dynamic, changeable factors are more essential in distinguishing trajectory group membership than demographic or criminal history indicators. Finally, there were significant differences in recidivism rates across trajectories postcompletion, suggesting that improvement in (the rate of change in) buffer scores may account for some of the variation in offending behavior postrelease. Programmatic and policy implications are discussed.

Current theory and practice dictates the use of risk/needs assessment to guide programming to reduce reoffending. Limited research has examined assessment change scores and recidivism, none examining whether such changes moderate the effects of deleterious community contexts. We examine a multiyear statewide sample of juvenile offenders returning to the community from residential placement ( N = 12,302). We address whether changes in dynamic risk/needs scores predict official recidivism upon return, community socioeconomic contexts predict recidivism, and which risk/needs changes moderate the effects of context. Findings reveal 6 of the 17 change scores affect reoffending, context matters, and some change scores moderate contextual effects.

Propensity score matching (PSM) is used to examine the effectiveness of Multisystemic Therapy compared with Functional Family Therapy (FFT) in a multiyear statewide sample of juvenile offenders. Outcomes include offenses and violations of probation during service and 12-month recidivism. Salient selection effects including delinquent peer associations, substance use, and lack of adherence to parental rules, as well as strong correlates of the outcome measures (risk assessment scores, age at first offense, most serious prior offense) and pertinent demographics, were controlled for in the PSM. Results indicate few significant differences in the effectiveness of the two modalities, with the exception that female youth receiving FFT have lower recidivism and low risk youth receiving FFT have fewer offenses/violations of probation during service provision.

This study examined the ability of early risk factors to predict delinquency referrals. Significant risk factors included externalizing behaviors, prenatal smoking, parent marital status, and mother's education. Students with three or more risk factors had eight times the number of delinquency referrals than those with no identified risk factors.

To determine the hepatitis B vaccination status of juvenile offenders in a custodial setting, their perceived risk of hepatitis B infection, and factors influencing vaccine uptake. 130 males aged 14-17 years resident at the Melbourne Juvenile Justice Centre for at least one week between mid-January and mid-December 1996 were invited to participate; 90 (69%) completed a doctor-administered questionnaire, and blood for serological testing was obtained from 83 of these participants. Whether hepatitis B vaccine had been offered; whether hepatitis B vaccine had been given; the presence of antibodies to hepatitis B and C; risk factors and self-perceived risk of hepatitis B. About a quarter of participants (22/83) had protective levels of antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen (anti-HBs). Forty (44%) participants reported having been offered hepatitis B vaccine; they were more likely to be vaccinated and have protective levels of anti-HBs. Perceived risk for bloodborne virus infection was low, although two-thirds of participants were at high risk of hepatitis B infection. On serological testing, 6.4% (5/78) were positive for antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc), and a further 2.6% (2) had equivocal antibody levels. Of the 71 who were negative for anti-HBc, 51 (71.8%) were negative for anti-HBs. The targeted hepatitis B vaccination program has not adequately protected this group at high lifetime risk of hepatitis B. Failure to deliver vaccine may reflect lack of contact with healthcare services, oversight in offering vaccine and reluctance of youth to participate in preventive healthcare measures, often through not seeing themselves to be at risk. Universal approaches to vaccination may be more successful in vaccinating this group.