National Racial and Ethnic Disparities (R/ED) Databook

R/ED Data Sources

OJJDP's reporting requirements include ten measures that capture flow at nine points in the system. These ten measures are (1) youth resident population, (2) youth arrests, (3) referrals to juvenile court, (4) diversions from juvenile court, (5) pre-disposition detentions, (6) petitions, (7) adjudications, (8) adjudications that result in probation, (9) adjudications that result in secure placement, and (10) transfer/ waiver to criminal court. In addition, each of these ten measures should be subdivided into six race/ethnicity groups: (1) White, (2) Black, (3) Hispanic, (4) American Indian and Alaska Native, (5) Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islanders, and (6) Asian. [The ideal actually includes a seventh race/ethnicity group labeled 'Mixed' that covers a wide range of possible subgroups.]

Data analysts may not always have access to all juvenile justice system processing stages due to the limitations of available data. As such, a common question is what to do when the available data are less than ideal. In developing the national data sources, we were faced with the same problems. We had data for all ten measures, although for some they were not the ideal measures. For example, our measure of “transfer/waiver to criminal court” was the national estimate of judicial waivers. This measure excludes a prosecutor’s decision to directly file a juvenile matter in criminal court or transfers that followed local legislation and place a youth’s behavior directly into criminal court. Some do not consider these two methods of handling a youth in criminal court as a true ‘transfer’ because the cases were never actually in the juvenile justice system. As data analysts, this was a moot point since data capturing these two methods are not available at the national level. We also had to make data compromises because the arrest and juvenile court processing data were not available that distinguished Hispanics or that separated Asian/Pacific Islanders into its subgroups. Given these data limitations, we developed data presentations that took maximum advantage of available data.

The measures presented in this application are:

• Population at risk (ages 10-17): The data were developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and provide national estimates of the U.S. resident population by demographic subgroups. For the years 1990 and beyond, these data classify individuals into one of five racial groups. This is accomplished by estimating how mixed race individuals would self-identify if they had been asked to pick a single race. These population estimates are available from Easy Access to Juvenile Populations (https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/ezapop/).
• Youth arrests: The youth arrest estimates were developed by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) (1980-2014) and the National Center for Juvenile Justice (NCJJ) (2015-present) based on data reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Uniform Crime Reporting Program. The unit of count is an arrest, not an individual arrested. This means that a youth may be represented in the arrest counts more than once. Note that arrest estimates detailed by race (i.e., White, Black, American Indian/Alaskan Native, and Asian/Pacific Islander), while not shown here, are available from the Law Enforcement and Youth Crime [https://www.ojjdp/.gov/ojstatbb/crime/faqs.asp#2] section of the Statistical Briefing Book.

The following measures of juvenile court activity were derived from the work of the National Juvenile Court Data Archive (Archive) that is maintained by the National Center for Juvenile Justice. Archive data are the basis for the annual Juvenile Court Statistics series that monitors the workloads of the nation's juvenile courts. The Juvenile Court Statistics series uses 'case disposed' as the unit of count to describe court workloads. A case represents a youth referred to juvenile court for a new referral for one or more offenses. The term disposed means that during the year some definite action was taken or some treatment plan was decided on or initiated. Under this definition, a youth could be involved in more than one case during a calendar year. The Juvenile Court Statistics series develops national estimates of cases handled by U.S. juvenile courts. The following race/ethnicity groups are available from this collection: White, Black, American Indian/Alaskan Native, Asian/Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander, and Hispanic. National estimates of delinquency cases processed by juvenile courts in the U.S. are available from Easy Access to Juvenile Court Statistics (https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/ezajcs/)

• Cases referred to juvenile court: The number of delinquency referrals disposed in the calendar year.
• Cases diverted: The number of delinquency referrals disposed in the calendar year that were diverted from the formal juvenile justice system (i.e., before the filing of a petition requesting an adjudicatory hearing on a charge of delinquency). Some cases are dismissed after referral to juvenile court with no further action anticipated; these cases are not considered to be diverted. Cases that are diverted are either referred to another agency for service or receive services voluntarily from those that work within the juvenile justice system (primarily intake or probation officers).
• Cases detained: The number of delinquency referrals disposed in the calendar year that had experienced secure detention prior to case disposition.
• Cases petitioned: The number of delinquency referrals disposed in the calendar year in which a petition was filed with the court requesting either a transfer or an adjudicatory hearing.
• Cases adjudicated: The number of delinquency referrals disposed in the calendar year that were petitioned and the court adjudicated the youth to be a delinquent.
• Adjudicated cases resulting in probation: The number of delinquency referrals disposed in the calendar year that were petitioned and the court adjudicated the youth to be a delinquent and ordered the youth to a period of formal probation.
• Adjudicated cases resulting in placement: The number of delinquency referrals disposed in the calendar year that were petitioned and the court adjudicated the youth to be a delinquent and ordered the youth to a period of secure confinement.
• Cases judicially waived: The number of delinquency referrals disposed in the calendar year that were petitioned and the juvenile court judge waived jurisdiction over the matter and sent the case to criminal court.