Committee hears bill to let researchers access juvenile justice data for evaluation

The House Judiciary Committee heard testimony on House Bill 4396, a measure sponsored by Representative Lightner that would allow researchers to access juvenile and other criminal justice data through contracts or memoranda of understanding so the records can be linked and analyzed for policy evaluation.

Supporters told the committee the bill is intended to fill a gap created by state law that makes some justice-system data legally inaccessible to researchers and some government partners, preventing measurement of whether recent youth-justice reforms and diversion programs achieve intended outcomes.

Dr. Mark Kubiak, Dean of the School of Social Work at Wayne State University and Director of the Center for Behavioral Health and Justice, told the committee the Center acts as an evaluative arm for the…