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Rural vs. Urban

Geography is destiny more often than we’d like. Rural youth face longer travel times, fewer providers, and thinner alternative portfolios; urban youth face volume pressure and waitlists. Both realities bend decisions on diversion, detention, and reentry.

What We Track

• Diversion Access & Completion: eligibility, starts, and completion rates by rurality.
• Detention & ALOS: admissions and average length of stay; timeliness of 24–48 hour hearings.
• Provider Availability: MH/SUD, mentoring/CM, alternatives; travel time to nearest provider.
• Telehealth & Broadband: coverage constraints and substitution for in-person services.
• Education Re-engagement: days to re-enrollment and McKinney–Vento supports after release.

Geography Lens (Typical Questions)

1. Access: Are rural youth offered diversion at the same rate as urban peers with similar risk?
2. Timeliness: Do long distances slow hearings, assessments, or program starts?
3. Capacity: Do provider deserts push detention/placement decisions in lieu of services?
4. Continuity: Does telehealth bridge gaps for therapy or crisis response post-release?

Practice Moves

• Stand up portable alternatives: evening/reporting centers, virtual groups, mobile crisis.
• Use telehealth by default for therapy where broadband allows; provide hotspots/transport where it doesn’t.
• Regionalize specialized services and share slots across counties; document travel support.
• Front-load reentry: schedule school/MH/SUD appointments before release; confirm transport.

Methods & Notes

• Rurality defined via county RUCA/RUCC or state analog; reported alongside population density.
• Rates normalized to youth 12–17; school metrics to enrolled students.
• Small-n cells pooled across 2–3 years and flagged; breaks in series are annotated.

Related

• Race, Equity & Disparities
• Detention · Diversion · Reentry & Aftercare
• State Juvenile Justice Pipelines
• YARI+ — At-Risk Counties (AR)

Transparency note: Rural/urban splits can magnify small-n volatility—pool judiciously and read confidence bands with caution.