PUBLICATION ADVISORY

Number of Delinquency Cases Handled in Juvenile Court Declines by More Than 50 Percent Between 2005 and 2019

      WASHINGTON – Delinquency cases handled by juvenile courts decreased by 56% between 2005 and 2019, according to a fact sheet published today by the Office of Justice Programs’ Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.  Decreases occurred across all four general offense categories:  person, property, drug law violation and public order cases.

      In 2019, juvenile courts in the United States handled 722,600 delinquency cases involving youth charged with criminal law violations, 2% fewer than the number of cases handled in 2018.  Estimates are based on data from more than 2,500 courts with jurisdiction over 87% of the nation's youth population in 2019.  The fact sheet is derived from the OJJDP-sponsored report, Juvenile Court Statistics 2019, and developed with support from the National Institute of Justice.

      TITLE:  Delinquency Cases in Juvenile Court, 2019

      AUTHOR:  Sarah Hockenberry, National Center for Juvenile Justice

      WHERE:  https://ojjdp.ojp.gov/publications/delinquency-cases-2019.pdf

      The Office of Justice Programs provides federal leadership, grants, training, technical assistance and other resources to improve the nation’s capacity to prevent and reduce crime, advance racial equity in the administration of justice, assist victims and strengthen the criminal and juvenile justice systems.  More information about OJP and its components can be found at www.ojp.gov.

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OFFICE:  ojjdp.ojp.gov
CONTACT:  Kara McCarthy at 202-307-1241 or [email protected]