Throughout the nation, people of color are far more likely to enter the nation’s justice system than the general population. State and federal governments are aware of this disparity, and researchers and policymakers are studying the drivers behind the statistics and what strategies might be employed to address the disparities, ensuring evenhanded processes at all points in the criminal justice system.
More than 4% of all children live in kinship care arrangements, where relatives are responsible for children who may or may not have a living biological parent. One such arrangement is commonly known as minor guardianship, where caregivers can petition state civil courts to obtain legal rights and responsibilities over a minor child with varied involvement from the public child welfare system.
Visit our homepage to access the legislation tracker, statute database, summary of police-mental health collaboration programs and other law enforcement resources.
Visit the homepage to see our resource collections on community supervision and criminal records and reentry. Topics of COVID-19 and data-driven criminal justice can also be located on this page.
Visit our juvenile justice homepage for links to reports, maps, chart and the juvenile justice bill tracking database.
NCSL tracks many criminal justice hot topics like marijuana; human trafficking; juvenile life without parole; death penalty; drug crime policy and other issues.
NCSL maintains criminal justice legislation and bill tracking databases. Check out the new community supervision and reentry resources.