NCJ Number
149729
Date Published
October 1994
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This report profiles the 1,338,100 juvenile delinquency cases that came before the juvenile courts of the United States in 1991.
Abstract
The caseload represented a 16 percent increase in total cases since 1987. The number of cases involving offenses against persons increased 40 percent during that period, while the number of drug law offense cases decreased by 19 percent. Half the delinquency cases disposed by the courts in 1991 were processed formally with the filing of a petition. Juveniles were adjudicated delinquent in 59 percent of petitioned delinquency cases in 1991, compared with 63 percent in 1987. Twenty-nine percent of adjudicated delinquency cases resulted in out-of-home placement and 57 percent resulted in probation. Nearly 10,000 delinquency cases, representing 1.5 percent of those processed formally, were transferred to criminal court. This number also represented a 39 percent increase since 1987. Juveniles were also held in secure detention facilities at some point between referral and disposition in 20 percent of all delinquency cases; 49 percent of these were charged with property offenses. Figures, tables, footnotes, and glossary
Date Published: October 1, 1994