National Survey of Youth in Custody, 2018

The third National Survey of Youth in Custody (NSYC-3) was conducted in all 50 states and the District of Columbia by Westat (Rockville, MD), under a cooperative agreement with the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). Data collection was conducted in 332 juvenile facilities between March and December 2018. Interviewing juveniles in residential facilities on such sensitive topics required extensive preparations with agency and facility administrators prior to the interview. These preparations ranged from methods to obtain consent, procedures to file mandatory reports of child abuse or neglect, arrangements for counseling in case a youth became upset, and logistical support to physically carry out the interviewing. The specific procedures that had to be negotiated with state and local authorities were: Random sampling to questionnaires - the NSYC-3 used a survey of sexual victimization and an alternative survey with items on facility living conditions, mental health, drug and alcohol use prior to admission to the facility, and other topics. Youth were randomly assigned one of the questionnaires so that, at the time of the interview, the content of the survey remained unknown to facility staff, the survey interviewers, and other youth. Age-specific sexual victimization questionnaire - The ACASI application presented somewhat different versions of the NSYC questionnaire depending on the age of the respondent. The content and wording of questions used to screen youth who had experienced sexual activity while at the facility differed by age. Youth aged 14 or younger were presented screener questions that used less explicit terminology to ask about sexual contact (e.g., "...rubbed your private parts"). If a younger respondent answered affirmatively to one of the screener questions, then they received additional questions using more explicit terminology. All NSYC respondents aged 15 or older were presented only those questions using the more explicit terminology. Consent to interview minors - 21 states and the District of Columbia provided consent in loco parentis (ILP), in which the state agency acting as the guardian provided consent; 21 states required written consent and 1 states required either verbal or written parental or guardian consent (PGC); 1 state allowed for a combination of ILP and written PGC, and 6 states required passive consent (PGC-NR), in which guardians were mailed consent packets and, if the guardian did not indicate a refusal the state then granted consent for those youth to be interviewed. Mandatory reporting of abuse or neglect - all survey staff in direct contact with youth were required to comply with state and local reporting requirements when a youth made a verbal statement suggesting abuse or neglect. Jurisdictions provided contact information and instructions for submitting reports to an agency outside of the facility (e.g., local Child Protective Services). Counseling services - jurisdictions were asked to identify both facility-based and external resources for counseling services in the event a youth would become emotionally upset during the interview or make a specific request to the interviewer for such services. The interviews, which averaged approximately 30 minutes in length, used audio computer-assisted self-interviewing (ACASI) data collection methods. Youth interacted with the computer-administered questionnaires using a touchscreen and synchronized audio instructions delivered through headphones. Youth could choose to take the interview in either English or Spanish. Youth completed the interview in private, with the interviewer remaining in the room but in a position that did not offer a view of the computer screen. A total of 6,910 youth participated in the NSYC-3. Of these, 6,211 youth completed the survey on sexual victimization and passed editing and consistency checks. A total of 699 completed the alternative survey.