Statistical Briefing Book

OJJDP/NIJ Bulletin Summarizes Patterns of Juvenile Court Referrals

OJJDP and the National Institute of Justice have released Patterns of Juvenile Court Referrals of Youth Born in 2000. The bulletin describes the patterns of juvenile court referrals of more than 160,000 youth born in 2000 from 903 selected United States counties. 

Using data from the National Juvenile Court Data Archive, the bulletin focuses on the demographic and case processing characteristics of youth referred to juvenile court and the proportion of youth referred to juvenile court more than once. The report also discusses youth with referral histories that can be defined as serious, violent, and chronic.

Key findings include:

• About one in eight youth was referred to juvenile court before aging out.
• Most youth (63 percent) did not return to juvenile court after their first referral.
• Youth who received a formal sanction at their first referral were more likely to be referred for a subsequent offense, especially if the youth was ordered to residential placement.   

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RESOURCES: 

• Learn more about the OJJDP-sponsored National Juvenile Court Data Archive.  
• See OJJDP's Statistical Briefing Book for information on juveniles in court. 
• Follow OJJDP on Twitter and Facebook.