Sharing Data and Information in Juvenile Justice: Legal, Ethical, and Practical Considerations

TLDR: In this article, the legal, ethical, and practical barriers to information sharing among juvenile justice agencies and suggests practical steps to overcome these barriers, and concludes with a 20-step prescription which could assist a jurisdiction in developing an integrated information system built on information sharing.

Abstract: Decision-makers in juvenile justice systems often complain they can not get information they need from other juvenile justice agencies to make decisions. This can lead to resentment between juvenile justice agency workers, duplication of data collections efforts, and a breakdown in communication and functioning of the juvenile justice system. This paper reviews the legal, ethical, and practical barriers to information sharing among juvenile justice agencies and suggests practical steps to overcome these barriers. This report reviews documents by private and/or public organizations with an interest in information sharing, state and federal Supreme Court decisions, state and federal statutes, government documents, and law review and journal articles. The report indicates there are few legal barriers to information sharing between parties with “legitimate interests,” there are ethical issues to both sharing and withholding information, and that practical constraints are the primary reasons why agencies within many jurisdictions don't share information. Namely, information territorialism most often is rooted in habit and long-standing practice, and/or a lack of established policies and procedures regarding information sharing. The article concludes with a 20 step prescription which could assist a jurisdiction in developing an integrated information system built on information sharing.