Juvenile Court Placement of Adjudicated Youth, 1990-1999

• NCJ Number: 203721
• Author(s): Charles M. Puzzanchera
• Date Published: September 2003
• Length: 2 pages
• Agencies: OJJDP
• Publication Type: Factsheet

Annotation

This Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Fact Sheet reports on the juvenile court placement of adjudicated youth between 1990 and 1999.

Abstract

There are a variety of disposition options available in juvenile court. In 1999, of the 639,100 adjudicated delinquency cases, 24 percent resulted in an out-of-home placement. Of the other adjudicated delinquency cases, 62 percent resulted in an order of probation; 10 percent received some other disposition, such as restitution or fines; and 4 percent were released without sanction. The delineation of disposition outcome by offense reveals that out-of-home placement was ordered in 22 percent of cases involving drug offenses, 23 percent of property offense cases, 26 percent of cases involving an offense to a person, and 27 percent of public order cases. In comparison to 1990, although the number of out-of-home placements grew between 1990 and 1999, the overall proportion of cases resulting in out-of-home placement actually decreased from 32 percent in 1990 to 24 percent in 1999. Cases involving drug offenses represented the largest percentage increase (73 percent) of out-of-home placements between 1990 and 1999. Further comparisons between 1990 and 1999 indicate that the number of out-of-home placements increased across all racial groups; in 1999, 61 percent of adjudicated cases involving white youth resulted in out-of-home placement, compared to 36 percent involving Black youth and 3 percent involving youth of other races. The number of adjudicated cases resulting in out-of-home placement increased more for white youth (31 percent) than for Black youth (17 percent) between 1990 and 1999. Out-of-home placement decreased by 2 percent for youth of other races during this period. Resources for more information are listed. Tables