Age at Referral

Detention
Youth under age 16 accounted for more than half (56%) of the petitioned status offense cases that involved detention in 1995, while youth under age 15 accounted for 30% of cases involving detention (table 65). Fifteen-year-olds and 16-year-olds each accounted for more than one-quarter of the cases involving detention.

The likelihood of detention in formally processed status offense cases varied little across age groups (table 66). Detention was used in 6% to 8% of petitioned status offense cases involving youth between ages 13 and 17. Across all ages, detention was used in a greater proportion of runaway cases than other status offense categories.