University of California, Irvine, School of Social Ecology

The University of California, Irvine, (UCI) School of Social Ecology's mission is to foster informed social action by using interdisciplinary approaches to advance research in the areas of health, people, and places; crime prevention and social justice; and technology and human potential. The award supports the continuation of UCI’s analysis of racial and ethnic disparities in local justice systems. The goal of the project is to produce two policy briefs based on case level data from select Safety and Justice Challenge jurisdictions and provide guidance on ways to reduce racial and ethnic disparities and inequality in local justice systems. The focus also includes an analysis of language access services for Limited English Proficient justice-involved individuals and recommendations for how the local justice systems can better serve this population.

The University of California, Irvine, School of Social Ecology's focus is to foster informed social action by using interdisciplinary approaches to advance research in the areas of health; people and places; crime prevention and social justice; and technology and human potential. This X-Grant supports the hiring of graduate research assistants to help with the continued development of the research project focused on understanding the Latinx experience in local justice systems and generating greater involvement of the Latinx community in criminal justice reform.

The University of California, Irvine, School of Social Ecology’s mission is to foster informed social action by using interdisciplinary approaches to advance research in the areas of health, people, and places; crime prevention and social justice; and technology and human potential. The award supports the continuation of the University’s analysis of Latinx individuals in local justice systems. The project’s activities will produce two policy briefs based on data from select Safety and Justice Challenge jurisdictions to examine how jail incarceration impacts Latinx individuals, including an analysis of language access services for the Limited English Proficient (LEP) justice involved population. The information gained from this project includes knowledge about the processing of Latinx individuals in systems outcomes, how front-end justice decisions impact subsequent decisions, and how LEP justice-involved individuals perceive and experience language access services. 

The mission of the University of California, Irvine, School of Social Ecology is to foster informed social action by using interdisciplinary approaches to advance research in three areas: health, people and places; crime prevention and social justice; and technology and human potential. This award supports research and knowledge development to better understand the Latinx experiences in local justice systems and generate greater involvement of the Latinx community in justice system reform. The project’s activities include research and policy briefs based on data and interviews from Safety and Justice Challenge Network sites that examine three key areas of inquiry: (1) Latinx criminal justice data metrics; (2) language access services and plans; and (3) the intersection of criminal justice reform and immigration policy and its impact in local justice systems.

The Crossroads study is an ongoing longitudinal investigation of how court involvement and its sanctions versus diversion from formal processing by the juvenile justice system affect the development of first-time juvenile offenders following an arrest. The study has followed youth ages 13 to 17 years old for four years to understand the effects of formal versus informal processing on the desistance from crime and the underlying psychological, social, and developmental factors that influence the trajectory. This award supports following the youth for an additional year, at which point all youths will be 18 years or older and making the transition to adult roles and responsibilities. The findings can help inform the development of policy and practice guidelines and tools to help juvenile justice policymakers and practitioners make decisions about how to hold youthful offenders accountable, treat them fairly, and prevent re-offending, while saving taxpayer dollars.