 State Statistical Summaries The States in Tables 1-4 were identified by Community Research Associates (CRA) as having developed unique approaches to addressing the needs of female juvenile offenders within their State juvenile justice systems. They do not represent all States that have chosen to address gender-specific services. States were chosen based on their participation in Challenge Activity E of the JJDP Act (up to FY 1997). There is, however, one notable exception to this categorization. The State of Oregon has been included in this document without participating directly in Challenge Activity E. The State of Oregon has chosen to use Challenge Activity funds to address community-based alternatives to incarceration for female juvenile offenders under Challenge Activity A. Moreover, Oregon has directed its Formula Grant funds toward gender-specific programming in its juvenile justice system. The examples presented here are programs that States have chosen to initiate; they are not presented as evaluated models to be followed. However, they do represent States that are trying to reduce gender bias in the juvenile justice system and in doing so have used funding from OJJDP. Individual State information is provided in the next section as descriptive accounts of approaches to addressing the service delivery needs of this population. State system descriptions, statistical data on young women, and demographic information are provided when possible, in an attempt to give a context in which to place the individual State approach. In most cases, the reader should contact the State Juvenile Justice Specialist for additional information. Although it is nearly impossible to make comparisons across States for most of the demographic and juvenile offense data available regarding young women, an attempt has been made to provide a summary of available data for the States highlighted here.
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