The U.S. Census Bureau today released a new experimental data product, the Justice Outcomes Explorer (JOE), that measures the economic and health outcomes of people who were charged with criminal offenses, released from prison, or began probation or parole sentences. The outcomes measured include employment, earnings, government program participation, and mortality.
JOE is a collaboration between the Census Bureau and University of Michigan that uses Criminal Justice Administrative Records System (CJARS) to better understand how people involved in the justice system reintegrate into society. This product covers people who were involved in the justice system at any point between 2000 and 2020. Actual coverage of justice involvement depends on the coverage of agencies in the CJARS data, while coverage of outcomes depends on the availability of source data at the Census Bureau.
Experimental data products are innovative statistical products created using new data sources or methodologies that benefit data users in the absence of other relevant products. These products may not meet all our quality standards.
Feedback from data users and stakeholders on the quality and usefulness of this new product can be shared by email at erd.cjars@census.gov.