Crossover youth are the young people with two types of court cases: (1) dependency and neglect and (2) juvenile justice. This project connected child welfare and court system records to help meet federal reporting requirements and inform state policies and practices aimed at serving crossover youth.
We’re excited to share that the Colorado legislature approved SB21-138, aimed at improving support for individuals in the criminal justice system with a brain injury. The Colorado Lab-supported study Reducing Recidivism for Justice Involved Individuals with Traumatic Brain Injury informed and prompted creation of law.
We’re pleased to welcome Denver Public Schools and the Colorado Judicial Branch as new partners to the Linked Information Network of Colorado (LINC). LINC was created through the Lab’s partnership with the Colorado Governor’s Office of Information Technology to help state and local government agencies harness data to inform solutions to critical social problems.
Calls for criminal justice reform ring loud in Colorado. Overburdening of the corrections system is a part of the problem, driven in large part by the state’s
rate of recidivism. Half of people convicted of crimes in Colorado return to the criminal justice system within three years.
Seeking a deeper understanding of the issue, researchers at the University of Denver partnered with the Colorado Division of Probation Services. Their study examined the significant link between recidivism and traumatic brain injury (TBI).
TBI, a serious public health issue, often reduces executive function and impulse control which can increase criminal behavior and make it more difficult to successfully complete probation or parole. Approximately 50% of incarcerated individuals have TBI. This project examined the impact of a screening program that offers training and support for probationers identified with a TBI-related cognitive impairment and the probation officers who supervise them.