Overview
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) supports high-quality, rigorous research, evaluations, and statistical analyses across a range of juvenile justice topic areas. These activities are central to OJJDP’s mission to prevent and respond to juvenile delinquency and victimization.
OJJDP’s research provides information about the risk and protective factors that contribute to or deter youth’s involvement in the juvenile justice system. It also helps the field understand adolescent behaviors, system responses, and the interventions that are most likely to promote positive youth outcomes.
OJJDP uses this information to prioritize issues, guide the development of policies and programs, and inform training and technical assistance. OJJDP also uses the latest tools and resources to disseminate juvenile justice data, statistics, and research findings and make these findings more accessible and applicable to local needs and issues.
Looking for what works?
Visit OJJDP's Model Programs Guide (MPG) for evidence-based program, literature reviews, implementation guides, topical summaries, and more.
Seeking statistics?
Access the Statistical Briefing Book (SBB) for information and data on juvenile crime and victimization and to learn more about youth involved in the juvenile justice system.
National Archive of Criminal Justice Data
The Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Institute of Justice, and OJJDP sponsor the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD).
NACJD facilitates research in criminal and juvenile justice through the preservation, enhancement, and sharing of computerized data resources; through the production of original research based on archived data; and through specialized training workshops in quantitative analysis of crime and justice data.
Guidance for OJJDP Research Grantees
All OJJDP awards that include research activities and those made under solicitations funded with OJJDP research funds have additional research-specific special conditions and grant requirements.
Research grantees should work with their assigned OJJDP program manager on specific questions, but the OJJDP Research Grantee Guidance web page outlines the general policies and procedures of those conditions.
Research Priorities
Department of Justice and OJJDP priorities guide the research, which included:
- Data collections and analyses that provide national statistics, descriptive data, and information about trends in the juvenile justice system, delinquency, and victimization.
- Basic research that explores the pathways and causes of delinquency and victimization, including longitudinal studies.
- Evaluations that increase understanding of what works (and what does not work) in preventing and reducing delinquency, victimization, and risk behavior and promoting positive developmental outcomes.