e New Jersey » Systems integration

Agency integration, 2016

• Child welfare

  New Jersey Department of Children and Families (DCF), Division of Child Protection and Permanency (CP&P)

  Centralizes child welfare administration services at the state level.

• Integration level

  Separate state-level centralized agencies

• Juvenile corrections

  New Jersey Department of Law & Public Safety, Office of the Attorney General, Juvenile Justice Commission (JJC) 

  Does not centralize administration of delinquency services at the state level.

Coordination, 2014

• Uses for coordination
• Does not use for coordination

• Data sharing

  Facilitated through the use of statewide information systems allowing for consistent data sharing between systems.

• Committees or advisory groups

  Multidisciplinary groups that often have regularly scheduled meetings to brainstorm ways to improve systems integration.

• Formal interagency MOUs

  Collaborative agreements to guide systems integration efforts

• Informal interagency agreements

  Commonly based on historical practice, mutual trust, and recognition of the need to collaborate in order to serve dual-status youth.

• Statute and/or rules

  Rules that mandate systems integration efforts

Summary

In New Jersey, the Department of Law & Public Safety, Juvenile Justice Commission (JJC) administers services to delinquent youth and Child protective services are administered by the Department of Children and Families (DCF), Division of Child Protection and Permanency. There are no procedures for data sharing or coordination of dual status cases at the state level between these agencies. There are, however, examples of data sharing at the local level.

Middlesex County is in the process of implementing the Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare Integration Initiative to coordinate services for dual status youth. To facilitate the coordination of services, there is a formal inter-agency agreement between the agencies, a standing local committee that focuses on dual status youth issues, and data sharing between agencies. As part of the initiative, both DCF and JJC are able to identify if youth have current or prior referrals upon intake. The initiative also created a process to refer identified dual status youth to the Dual System Review Committee, a multi-stakeholder team which reviews cases and makes recommendations to the public defender. Court services are coordinated for dual status youth through a DCF liaison who works with the courts and service providers to coordinate cases.

Reported data