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New York
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State Demographics

In 1996, New York's youth population under age 18 was approximately 4,540,500 (Casey Foundation 1998).

Of the State's children, approximately 12 percent were living in families with incomes below 50 percent of the poverty level in 1995. It is estimated that in 1995, approximately 15 percent of New York's children under age 13 were living in working-poor families or families where at least one parent was working 50 or more hours a week but the family's income was still below the poverty level (Casey Foundation 1998).

New York ranked 19th in the country in terms of teen birth rate for 1995. This same year, the birth rate in the State was approximately 28 births per 1,000 young women ages 15-17. This was up from 22 births per 1,000 young women in 1985 (Casey Foundation 1998). In 1992, there were 25,330 births to New York State young women ages 15-19. Further, there were an additional 640 births to New York State young women under the age of 15 (New York Kids Count 1995, p. 38).

In 1992-93, approximately 3.9 percent of New York State's public high school students dropped out of school. In New York City, the dropout rate was 6 percent, more than twice that of the rest of the State (New York Kids Count 1995, p. 16).

Offense Patterns and Processing of Juvenile Female Offenders

The following statistics give an overview of the information available on female offending and processing patterns in New York:

  • In 1994, young women represented 20 percent (14,632) of juvenile arrests for youth under age 16 (this does not include runaways). When runaways are added to the total, young women represented 22.5 percent (17,302) of all youth arrested (New York Division of Criminal Justice Services 1994).

  • In 1994, young women accounted for 52 percent (2,670) of all youth under age 16 arrested for running away (New York Division of Criminal Justice Services 1994).

  • In 1993, young women represented 15 percent (369) of all youth admitted to Division for Youth custody (New York Division of Criminal Justice Services 1995, p. 2).

  • In 1992, young women represented 28 percent (1,845) of the youth admitted to detention and 12 percent (534) of the youth committed (Poe-Yamagata and Butts 1996, p. 19).

Table 15. New York Top 10 Offenses for Young Women Under Age 16, 1994

Offense

NumberPercent

Larceny -- theft

3,78621.8

Running away

2,67015.4

Simple assault

2,09012

Fraud

1,5719

All other offenses

1,4008

Disorderly conduct

1,1436.6

Other F/P offenses

9715.6

Robbery

8064.7

Aggravated assault

6163.6

Criminal mischief

5303.1

Source: New York Division of Criminal Justice (1994)

Approach to Female Offenders

New York has established the following goals for addressing the needs of juvenile female offenders and at-risk young women in the State:

  • Supply funds for the development of gender-specific programming in the areas of self-esteem building, teen pregnancy, vocational skill building, multicultural education, parenting skills, and curriculum development for residential facilities.

  • Promote improved levels of health and mental health programming and services for young women in residential care in New York State.

References

Annie E. Casey Foundation. 1998. KIDS COUNT Online Data Service. Annie E. Casey Foundation, Baltimore, MD.

New York Kids Count. 1995. 1995 Data Book. Association of New York State Youth Bureaus, New York, NY.

New York Division of Criminal Justice Services. 1994. New York Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Three Year Plan FY 1994. Submitted to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Washington, DC.

New York Division of Criminal Justice Services. 1995. New York 1995 Challenge Activity E Grant Application. Submitted to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Washington, DC.

Poe-Yamagata, E., and J.A. Butts. 1996. Female Offenders in the Juvenile Justice System: Statistics Summary. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Washington, DC.

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Juvenile Female Offenders: A Status of the States Report October 1998