The document aims to encourage information systems to adopt coding schemes for a core set of important data elements to promote the compatibility of data from year to year within the court, among various courts, and with available State and national crime and census data. Using standard or widely accepted definitions, the document defines and discusses two general terms, case and intake, and other terms such as unique identifier, date of birth, sex, race, ethnicity, residence location, school grade, legal custody, living arrangements, reason for referral, number of prior referrals, and adjudicated offense.