(a) Research and evaluation

(1) The Administrator shall—

(A) annually publish a plan to identify the purposes and goals of all agreements carried out with funds provided under this subsection; and

(B) conduct research or evaluation in juvenile justice matters, for the purpose of providing research and evaluation relating to—

(i) the prevention, reduction, and control of juvenile delinquency and serious crime committed by juveniles;

(ii) the link between juvenile delinquency and the incarceration of members of the families of juveniles;

(iii) successful efforts to prevent status offenders and first-time minor offenders from subsequent involvement with the juvenile justice and criminal justice systems;

(iv) successful efforts to prevent recidivism;

(v) the juvenile justice system;

(vi) juvenile violence;

(vii) the prevalence and duration of behavioral health needs (including mental health, substance abuse, and co-occurring disorders) among juveniles pre-placement and post-placement in the juvenile justice system, including an examination of the effects of secure detention in a correctional facility;

(viii) reducing the proportion of juveniles detained or confined in secure detention facilities, secure correctional facilities, jails, and lockups who are members of minority groups;

(ix) training efforts and reforms that have produced reductions in or elimination of the use of dangerous practices;

(x) methods to improve the recruitment, selection, training, and retention of professional personnel who are focused on the prevention, identification, and treatment of delinquency;

(xi) methods to improve the identification and response to victims of domestic child sex trafficking within the juvenile justice system;

(xii) identifying positive outcome measures, such as attainment of employment and educational degrees, that States and units of local government should use to evaluate the success of programs aimed at reducing recidivism of youth who have come in contact with the juvenile justice system or criminal justice system;

(xiii) evaluating the impact and outcomes of the prosecution and sentencing of juveniles as adults;

(xiv) successful and cost-effective efforts by States and units of local government to reduce recidivism through policies that provide for consideration of appropriate alternative sanctions to incarceration of youth facing nonviolent charges, while ensuring that public safety is preserved;

(xvi) ¹ evaluating services, treatment, and aftercare placement of juveniles who were under the care of the State child protection system before their placement in the juvenile justice system;

(xvii) determining—

(I) the frequency, seriousness, and incidence of drug use by youth in schools and communities in the States using, if appropriate, data submitted by the States pursuant to this subparagraph and subsection (b); and

(II) the frequency, degree of harm, and morbidity of violent incidents, particularly firearm-related injuries and fatalities, by youth in schools and communities in the States, including information with respect to—

(aa) the relationship between victims and perpetrators;

(bb) demographic characteristics of victims and perpetrators; and

(cc) the type of weapons used in incidents, as classified in the Uniform Crime Reports of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and

(xviii) other purposes consistent with the purposes of this subchapter and subchapter I.

(2) The Administrator shall ensure that an equitable amount of funds available to carry out paragraph (1)(B) is used for research and evaluation relating to the prevention of juvenile delinquency.

(3) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to permit the development of a national database of personally identifiable information on individuals involved in studies, or in data-collection efforts, carried out under paragraph (1)(B)(x).

(4) Not later than 1 year after December 21, 2018, the Administrator shall conduct a study with respect to juveniles who, prior to placement in the juvenile justice system, were under the care or custody of the State child welfare system, and to juveniles who are unable to return to their family after completing their disposition in the juvenile justice system and who remain wards of the State in accordance with applicable confidentiality requirements. Such study shall include—

(A) the number of juveniles in each category;

(B) the extent to which State juvenile justice systems and child welfare systems are coordinating services and treatment for such juveniles;

(C) the Federal and local sources of funds used for placements and post-placement services;

(D) barriers faced by State ² and Indian Tribes in providing services to these juveniles;

(E) the types of post-placement services used;

(F) the frequency of case plans and case plan reviews;

(G) the extent to which case plans identify and address permanency and placement barriers and treatment plans;

(H) a description of the best practices in discharge planning; and

(I) an assessment of living arrangements for juveniles who, upon release from confinement in a State correctional facility, cannot return to the residence they occupied prior to such confinement.

(b) Statistical analyses
The Administrator shall—

(1) plan and identify the purposes and goals of all agreements carried out with funds provided under this subsection; and

(2) undertake statistical work in juvenile justice matters, for the purpose of providing for the collection, analysis, and dissemination of statistical data and information relating to juvenile delinquency and serious crimes committed by juveniles, to the juvenile justice system, to juvenile violence, and to other purposes consistent with the purposes of this subchapter and subchapter I.

(c) Grant authority and competitive selection process
The Administrator may make grants and enter into contracts with public or private agencies, organizations, or individuals and shall use a competitive process, established by rule by the Administrator, to carry out subsections (a) and (b).

(d) Implementation of agreements
A Federal agency that makes an agreement under subsections (a)(1)(B) and (b)(2) with the Administrator may carry out such agreement directly or by making grants to or contracts with public and private agencies, institutions, and organizations.

(e) Information dissemination
The Administrator may—

(1) review reports and data relating to the juvenile justice system in the United States and in foreign nations (as appropriate), collect data and information from studies and research into all aspects of juvenile delinquency (including the causes, prevention, and treatment of juvenile delinquency) and serious crimes committed by juveniles;

(2) establish and operate, directly or by contract, a clearinghouse and information center for the preparation, publication, and dissemination of information relating to juvenile delinquency, including State and local prevention and treatment programs, plans, resources, and training and technical assistance programs; and

(3) make grants and contracts with public and private agencies, institutions, and organizations, for the purpose of disseminating information to representatives and personnel of public and private agencies, including practitioners in juvenile justice, law enforcement, the courts, corrections, schools, and related services, in the establishment, implementation, and operation of projects and activities for which financial assistance is provided under this subchapter.

(f) National recidivism measure
The Administrator, in accordance with applicable confidentiality requirements and in consultation with experts in the field of juvenile justice research, recidivism, and data collection, shall—

(1) establish a uniform method of data collection and technology that States may use to evaluate data on juvenile recidivism on an annual basis;

(2) establish a common national juvenile recidivism measurement system; and

(3) make cumulative juvenile recidivism data that is collected from States available to the public.