Since 2001, DJJ has published the DRG annually to fulfill General Assembly reporting mandates. While there are many similarities between the current DRG and previous editions, changes have been implemented to report the data more accurately and to align with DJJ’s changing operational and data needs. Some revisions and data clarifications are described below:

• Any changes to the data after the download date are not reflected in this report.

• Counts, percentages, and ADPs may not add to totals or 100% due to rounding. Decimal values are used in percentage calculations.

• Rounded percentages less than 0.1% are presented as 0.0%.

• Expunged cases are included unless otherwise specified.

• Adult intake, probation, and parole cases are excluded from all data.

• Not applicable or not available (N/A) is used in tables throughout this report to indicate instances where data cannot be calculated (e.g., groups of zero, offense definitions and classifications, absence of post-D detention with programs, and pending cases in the recidivism analysis).

• Ethnicity is reported as “Hispanic," “Non-Hispanic," or “Unknown/Missing." A substantial percentage of youth have unknown or missing ethnicity data. Effective FY 2020, ethnicity is a required field but may still be recorded as unknown.

• Reported ages were expanded to include youth over 20 and under 21. In prior reports, these youth were included in the “Missing" age category; therefore, age data are not comparable to previous reports.

• Unless otherwise specified, the MSO is determined by a ranking assigned to each type of complaint. Periodically, DJJ uses VCC information published by VCSC to develop the rankings. Felonies are given the highest ranks, ordered first by their statutory maximum penalty and then their highest primary offense score on VCSC’s guidelines. Next, misdemeanors are ranked by their statutory maximum penalty. Finally, the remaining complaints are ranked in the following order from most to least severe: technical violations, other offenses, non-delinquent traffic offenses, status offenses, and DR/CW complaints.

• The DAI ranking of MSOs used by DJJ is checked periodically against the VCSC designation and the Code of Virginia to ensure consistency and is updated accordingly.

• ADPs and LOSs presented for probation and parole exclude time spent by youth on a linking case status. (See Appendix H for an explanation of continuous probation and parole statuses.)

• Locality-specific CSU data are presented in summary form. More detailed locality-specific CSU data are available on DJJ’s website.

• With the exception of initial YASIs, when risk is reported, the closest risk assessment completed within 180 days before or after the measurement date (e.g., probation start date) is used unless otherwise specified.

• Some localities utilize multiple JDCs. In the map on page 37, the localities served are determined by the highest number of detainments.

• Subsequent commitments are excluded unless otherwise specified. An offense that occurred while in direct care also may result in an adult jail or prison sentence rather than a subsequent commitment to DJJ; these sentences are not included.

• Blended sentences from circuit court are included as a commitment type in this report. Data on blended sentences represent commitments with an active adult sentence at the time of commitment.

• The categorization of commitment types (i.e., blended, determinate, indeterminate) and assigned LOSs are based on the initial commitment(s) and not subsequent commitment(s) unless otherwise specified.

• The Division of Education SY starts in September and ends in June of the following year. Credits and credentials earned in the summer are counted toward the previous SY.

• Canceled, rescinded, and successfully appealed commitments are not included except in the direct care ADP and Division of Education data.

• Youth in non-JCC placements are not included in the Division of Education data.

• In the Recidivism chapter, intake cases with diversion plans and intake cases with first-time diversion plans are counted for each intake case with an open diversion, successful diversion, or unsuccessful diversion without a petition filed. Successful diversion plans are counted for each intake case with a successful diversion.