Juvenile court cases begin as complaints filed with juvenile court intake. Common sources of case referrals vary by offense but include law enforcement agencies, schools, relatives, social service agencies, and victims of crime.

• In 2023, law enforcement agencies referred 84 percent of delinquency cases overall and 15 percent of petitioned status offense cases, for example. In contrast, schools referred 4 percent of overall delinquency cases and 86 percent of petitioned status offense cases. (See a more detailed breakdown of referral sources in the dropdown menus below.) 
• Intake personnel screen cases and decide whether to petition them for formal handling in the juvenile court system. The screening process varies by state but typically is the responsibility of either the court, the juvenile probation department, or the prosecutor’s office. Intake personnel could decide to:
  • Dismiss the case for lack of legal sufficiency.
  • Resolve the case formally. Cases formally handled by the juvenile court are called petitioned cases. In 2023, the court petitioned 52 percent of delinquency cases; 1.1 percent of petitioned delinquency cases were judicially waived from juvenile court to adult criminal court (see below).
  • Resolve the case informally—without a court hearing and adjudication. Informally handled cases are called nonpetitioned; many result in sanctions such as fines, referrals for services, community service, probation, or other interventions. In 2023, 48 percent of delinquency cases were nonpetitioned. 

Delinquent acts and status offenses are not the same.

• The term “status offenses” refers to acts considered illegal when committed by juveniles that would not be considered illegal if committed by adults. They include running away, truancy, curfew violations, behavior deemed ungovernable, and liquor law violations. 
• “Delinquency offenses” refers to illegal acts committed by juveniles that would be considered criminal if committed by adults. Delinquency offense categories include person offenses (e.g., simple assault, aggravated assault, robbery, rape and other violent sex offenses, criminal homicide), property offenses (e.g., larceny-theft, vandalism, burglary, motor vehicle theft, trespassing, stolen property offenses, arson), public disorder offenses (e.g., obstruction of justice, disorderly conduct, weapons offenses, nonviolent sex offenses, liquor law violations), and drug law violations.

An estimated 653,800 delinquency cases were referred to juvenile courts in 2023.

• 71 percent of all delinquency cases involved male youth.
• 56 percent of all delinquency cases involved youth younger than 16, but proportions varied by offense category. Youth younger than 16 accounted for 61 percent of all person offense cases, 55 percent of all property offense cases, 54 percent of all public order cases, and 49 percent of all drug offense cases.

Most delinquency cases were referred by law enforcement agencies.

• Law enforcement agencies referred 84 percent of delinquency cases overall, although percentages varied across offense categories. Law enforcement agencies referred 91 percent of property offense cases, 88 percent of drug violation cases, 87 percent of person offense cases, and 69 percent of public order offense cases.
• Schools referred 4 percent of delinquency cases overall, including 7 percent of drug violation cases, 6 percent of public order cases, 4 percent of person offense cases, and 1 percent of property offense cases.
• Relatives referred 1 percent of delinquency cases overall, including 1 percent each of person and property offense cases. No drug or public order cases were referred by relatives.

76 percent of delinquency cases did not involve detention.

• Juveniles were held in detention facilities at some point between court referral and case disposition in 24 percent of delinquency cases overall, but the likelihood of detention differed by offense category.
• In the 158,200 delinquency cases involving detention, the young person’s most serious charge was:
  • A person offense in 45 percent of cases.
  • A property offense in 25 percent of cases.
  • A public order offense in 24 percent of cases.
  • A drug offense in 6 percent of cases.

A total of 342,600 delinquency cases (52 percent) were petitioned (formally handled within the court system).

• At 40 percent, person offense cases made up the largest proportion of petitioned delinquency cases, followed by property offense cases (29 percent), public order offense cases (24 percent), and drug offense cases (7 percent).

Courts dismissed 27 percent of petitioned delinquency cases, including:

• 24 percent of petitioned drug offense cases.
• 27 percent of petitioned person offense cases.
• 27 percent of petitioned property offense cases.
• 28 percent of petitioned public order offense cases.

1.1 percent of petitioned delinquency cases were judicially waived from juvenile court to adult criminal court.

• 3,900 of the 342,600 petitioned delinquency cases were judicially waived to adult criminal court. Note: This number does not include youth who were sent to adult criminal court under state automatic transfer laws, which vary from state to state. Such laws automatically trigger adult court jurisdiction for a variety of reasons, such as the type of offense charged or the youth’s age.  
• 72 percent of the judicially waived caseload were person offense cases, 15 percent were property offense cases, 9 percent were public order offense cases, and 4 percent were drug offense cases. 

46 percent of petitioned delinquency cases resulted in the juvenile being adjudicated “delinquent.” 

• The court adjudicated the juvenile “delinquent” in a total of 156,800 petitioned delinquency cases. 
• 79 percent of adjudicated delinquency cases involved male youth.
• 54 percent of adjudicated delinquency cases involved youth younger than 16. 

In 68 percent of cases adjudicated delinquent, probation was the most restrictive disposition ordered by the court. 

• In the 106,300 adjudicated delinquency cases resulting in probation, the juvenile’s most serious offense was:
  • A person offense in 39 percent of cases. 
  • A property offense in 30 percent of cases. 
  • A public order offense in 24 percent of cases. 
  • A drug offense in 8 percent of cases. 

In 28 percent of cases adjudicated delinquent, the court placed the juvenile in an out-of-home residential setting, such as a secure treatment facility or therapeutic group home. 

• In the 43,300 adjudicated delinquency cases resulting in out-of-home residential placement, the juvenile’s most serious offense was:
  • A person offense in 39 percent of cases. 
  • A public order offense in 28 percent of cases. 
  • A property offense in 27 percent of cases. 
  • A drug offense in 6 percent of cases. 

An estimated 65,000 petitioned status offense cases were referred to juvenile courts in 2023. 

• 63 percent of the petitioned status offense caseload were juveniles younger than 16. 
• 53 percent of the petitioned status offense caseload were male. Male juveniles accounted for the majority of petitioned curfew (69 percent), liquor law violation (56 percent), truancy (53 percent), and ungovernability (52 percent) cases. 
• Females accounted for 57 percent of petitioned runaway cases.  

Common sources for petitioned status offense referrals included schools and law enforcement agencies, but proportions varied by offense. 

• Schools referred 61 percent of petitioned status offense cases overall, including: 
  • 86 percent of truancy cases, 7.1 percent of ungovernability cases, 3.1 percent of liquor law violation cases, 0.9 percent of curfew violation cases, and 0.7 percent of runaway cases. 
• Law enforcement agencies referred 14.6 percent of petitioned status offense cases overall, including: 
  • 87.7 percent of curfew violation cases, 83.2 percent of liquor law violation cases, 34.4 percent of ungovernability cases, 28.4 percent of runaway cases, and 1.5 percent of truancy cases. 
• Relatives referred 8.5 percent of petitioned status offense cases overall, including:
  • 40.8 percent of ungovernability cases, 28 percent of runaway cases, 3.1 percent of curfew violation cases, 2.8 percent of liquor law violation cases, and 1.4 percent of truancy cases.

Truancy was the most serious charge in 63 percent of petitioned status offense cases. Truancy accounted for the majority of the petitioned status offense caseload for both male (63 percent) and female (64 percent) youth.

Federal law prohibits detention for status offenders. Exceptions occurred rarely. 

• Under the four core requirements of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA), status offenders may not be placed in secure detention or corrections facilities. However, the valid court order exception allows judges to place juveniles in secure or locked detention for violating a valid court order that was issued for a status offense. 
• The court ordered a juvenile’s detention in 4 percent of the 65,000 petitioned status offense cases. 
• In the 2,800 petitioned status offense cases involving detention, the most serious offense was:
  • Truancy in 27 percent of cases. 
  • Running away in 22 percent of cases. 
  • Liquor law violation in 17 percent of cases. 
  • Ungovernability in 16 percent of cases. 
  • Curfew violation in 3 percent of cases. 

Juveniles were adjudicated for a status offense in 32 percent of the estimated 65,000 petitioned status offense cases. 

• In these 21,000 adjudicated status offense cases, the most serious charge was: 
  • Truancy in 52 percent of cases. 
  • Liquor law violation in 14 percent of cases. 
  • Ungovernability in 9 percent of the cases. 
  • Running away in 6 percent of the cases. 
  • Curfew violation in 5 percent of cases. 

63 percent of adjudicated status offense cases resulted in formal probation for the juvenile. 

• In the 13,300 adjudicated status offense cases resulting in probation, the juvenile’s most serious charge was: 
  • Truancy in 55 percent of cases. 
  • Liquor law violation in 13 percent of cases. 
  • Ungovernability in 11 percent of cases. 
  • Running away in 7 percent of cases. 
  • Curfew violation in 2 percent of cases. 

9 percent of adjudicated status offense cases resulted in out-of-home placement. 

• In the 1,900 adjudicated status offense cases resulting in a juvenile’s out-of-home placement, the most serious offense was:
  • Truancy in 36 percent of cases. 
  • Ungovernability in 18 percent of cases.
  • Running away in 15 percent of cases.
  • Liquor law violation in 5 percent of cases. 
  • Curfew violation in 1 percent of cases.