Health, mental health and social service use in high-level offenders age 18 to 25 in Alberta
Date
2019-07-19
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
PolicyWise for Children & Families
Abstract
A large proportion of crime is committed by a small number of prolific offenders. This report used administrative data to compare the service use of young Albertans (18 to 25 years old) with different levels of criminal offending using data from 2005/06 to 2009/10. Analyses examined these individuals’ sociodemographic characteristics and public service use patterns based on their total number of offences. This report found that there were 26,572 individuals between the ages of 18 to 25 years in 2005/06 who were charged with at least one offence between 2005/06 and 2009/10. This report further found that higher-level offenders were more likely to be high users of healthcare and provincial social systems and to experience other challenges, such as substance abuse and homelessness, than lower-level offenders. These findings provide evidence that a coordinated and collaborative approach to service-delivery between ministries may benefit young adults heavily involved with the justice system.
Description
This report compares the service use of young adults (18 to 25 years old) in Alberta with high levels of criminal offenses to those with fewer offenses using administrative data from 2005/06 to 2009/10.
Keywords
corrections, criminality, young adults, big data, longitudinal, prolific offenders, recidivism, mental health, substance use, welfare, administrative data, data linkage
Citation
Child and Youth Data Laboratory. (2019). Health, mental health and social service use in high-level offenders age 18 to 25 in Alberta. Edmonton, AB: PolicyWise for Children & Families.