The Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections remains committed to providing public safety, protecting victims and changing the delinquent behaviors of the juvenile offenders committed to them. The Department continues to strive to provide a safe and secure environment for staff and youth. Safety is essential to providing education, treatment and rehabilitation to the youth in our care; who will eventually return to our communities.

The Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections is responsible for juveniles adjudicated delinquent and committed by the juvenile courts. The department is accountable to the citizens of Arizona for the promotion of public safety through the management of the state's secure juvenile facilities and it provides services to juvenile offenders including rehabilitation, treatment and education. Arizona law requires that ADJC accomplish its mission by providing supervision, rehabilitation, treatment and education to the juveniles committed to its care.

On October 13, 2000 the Research and Development Section submitted a report entitled Commitments/Releases from ADJC Secure Custody by Race to the Minority Over Representation Group. At the June 20, 2002 Group meeting a request was made to update certain items of interest contained in the original report. This updated report includes the items of interest specified by the Group and it provides a simple yet dynamic picture of this important issue by displaying data for 2000, 2001 and 2002.

The Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections New Commitment Profile is a study of the juveniles committed to Arizona’s juvenile corrections system throughout a Fiscal Year. This report, prepared by the Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections Research and Development Section, presents statistical information about the demographic, commitment offenses, needs assessments, and other related details for the relevant juveniles. This report is a compilation of the collection and analysis of data from Arizona juvenile court commitment orders, ADJC’s juvenile database, YouthBase, as well as other files maintained by the Research and Development Section.

The Arizona Juvenile Justice Commission, in conjunction with the Governor's Office for Children, Youth and Families, works to create conditions in Arizona's communities that promote juvenile justice and the positive development of youth, reduce youth-related problems, advocate for youth involvement in both the planning and implementation of projects, and increase collaboration among sectors in the community to address youth problems.

The conference looked beyond the juvenile justice system proper to examine the roots and potential solutions to the over representation of minority youth in Arizona’s juvenile justice system. Through this important undertaking and the dedication of the Commission on Minorities, Arizona demonstrated once again its important role as a leader in shaping the future of the juvenile justice system.

By February of 1998, the Deloitte Consulting firm was under contract with the State of Arizona and had embarked upon what would become an extensive ten-month evaluation of the primary components of Arizona’s Juvenile Justice System. The main focus of the audit from the beginning was the Administrative Office of the Courts, the Juvenile Justice Services Division, the juvenile courts and their probation departments, and the Department of Juvenile Corrections. As part of the audit, both financial and program audits were conducted related to prevention, diversion (early intervention), probation and treatment. In December of 1998, Deloitte Consulting issued its final report to the Committee. The report, which consisted of hundreds of pages of detailed findings, concluded that “It is our assessment that the Arizona Juvenile Justice System is one of the best in the nation.”

The Arizona Department of Transportation, the Arizona Game & Fish Department and the Arizona State Parks Board are required to conduct a study every three years on watercraft fuel consumption and recreational watercraft usage. The fuel consumption data is collected to determine the allocation of motor vehicle fuel tax to the State Lake Improvement Fund. The information on recreational watercraft usage patterns on Arizona’s lakes and rivers is necessary, in part, to determine the distribution of SLIF funds to applicants.