In 2014, Juvenile Law Center published the first-ever comprehensive evaluation of each state’s juvenile record confidentiality and expungement laws against our standard for best practices. The results of that study demonstrated that over 50% of the country fails to adequately protect juvenile records, leading to missed opportunities for youth who exit the juvenile justice system.

Six years later, Juvenile Law Center issues this 2020 juvenile record Scorecard report, which shows some reform, but still widespread deficiencies in the legal protections necessary to keep juvenile records secured. When juvenile record information is readily available to both private and public sectors, and can be used to exclude youth from opportunities, the result of youthful actions is lifelong harm and the  impact is felt greatest by Black and Brown youth.