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Bill would let researchers link juvenile diversion records across systems, sponsors say
Summary
Supporters told the House Judiciary Committee that House Bill 4396 would permit researchers and authorized government staff to link juvenile diversion records across agencies, using limited personal identifiers for record linkage before de‑identifying data for analysis.
Chair Leitner opened the House Judiciary Committee meeting and introduced House Bill 4396, saying the bill would remove legal barriers preventing researchers from accessing and linking juvenile diversion and criminal-justice-related records. "We have a barrier where, they aren't able to obtain certain data in our system," Chair Leitner said when describing the bill's purpose.
Dr. Kubiak, dean of the School of Social Work at Wayne State University and director of the Center for Behavioral Health and Justice, testified by Zoom in support of the bill. He told the committee the center serves as an evaluative arm for the state diversion council and is working with partners across the criminal legal system to study intersections between behavioral health and justice involvement. "It's not that it's being obstructed. It's that legally, it cannot be accessed by anyone," Dr. Kubiak said of current limits on diversion data.
Dr. Kubiak explained why limited personal identifiers are necessary for meaningful evaluation: when systems are not integrated, researchers need identifiers such as name, birth date, race, gender or portions of a Social Security number to link a diverted youth's record across child welfare, community program, or state agency files. Once records are linked, he said, identifiers would be removed and analysts would work with aggregated or de-identified data to measure outcomes such as recidivism, program effectiveness and county-level differences.
Chair Leitner and Dr. Kubiak framed the bill as designed to allow internal and external researchers — including those in the legislative and executive branches — to evaluate whether recent juvenile justice reforms and diversion practices are meeting policy goals. Chair Leitner told the committee she expects to bring the bill back for a committee vote the following week.
Committee staff read in written positions: Nathan Triplett of the State Bar, the Michigan League for Public Policy, and Jen Peacock of the Michigan Center for Youth Justice were recorded as supporting the bill and did not wish to speak.
No formal committee vote on House Bill 4396 was recorded at the May hearing; committee members indicated they had no questions at the hearing and the sponsor anticipated further consideration at a future meeting.
