Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice Reports and Dashboards

Below is a list of available Massachusetts Trial Court statistical reports and interactive dashboards on child welfare and juvenile justice matters. Summary statistics reflect the type and volume of cases handled across the state over recent years.

Interactive Dashboards

• ​​​​​​Massachusetts Trial Court, Case Filings, Adult and Juvenile Substance Abuse, M.G.L. Chapter 123, Section 35
  • Case filings for adult and juvenile substance use commitments under M.G.L. Chapter 123, Section 35. Section 35 authorizes involuntary commitments to a treatment facility for up to 90 days in cases where someone is likely to do serious harm to themself or others. This data is updated quarterly.
• Massachusetts Juvenile Court, Applications for Delinquent Complaint
  • Applications for delinquent complaint filed in the Massachusetts Juvenile Court. If a youth is suspected of committing a delinquent offense, a police officer may arrest the youth or give them a summons to appear at the Juvenile Court. In either case, the officer files an application for delinquent complaint with the court. This data is updated annually.
• Massachusetts Juvenile Court, Child Requiring Assistance Dashboard
  • Demographic characteristics of children/youth subject to a child requiring assistance petition. A child requiring assistance case is one where parents, guardians, or school officials ask the court to help supervise a child. This data is updated annually.
• Massachusetts Juvenile Court, Delinquency Dismissals and Adjudications
  • Dashboard of delinquency adjudications for delinquency cases proceeding to plea or trial. The court's finding of "delinquent" or "not delinquent" in a given case is called an adjudication. An adjudicated delinquent is a youth who has been found guilty by the court of committing a delinquent act. This data is updated annually.
• Massachusetts Juvenile Court, Demographics of Selected Juvenile Matters
  • Demographic characteristics of children/youth subject to delinquency cases, applications for delinquent complaint, and youthful offender cases. This data is updated annually.

Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice Reports

• Disproportionate Minority Contact
  • Report of a disproportionate minority contact assessment conducted by the Massachusetts Trial Court to determine to what extent disparate contact exists in the juvenile justice system. Disproportionate minority contact (DMC) is the overrepresentation of minority youth at a point of contact in the juvenile justice system.
• Selected Statistics on Emerging Adults

Last updated:	August 24, 2022