NCJ Number
207920
Date Published
October 2004
Length
40 pages
Annotation
This Maine Juvenile Recidivism Report presents data on any repeat adjudications (recidivism) of a juvenile (under 18 years old) whose first-time adjudication in the State's juvenile court system was between January 1, 1998, and December 31, 2001.
Abstract
Data on the recidivism rate for each of the four juvenile cohorts (1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001) are presented as of November 2003. Thirty-five percent of all juveniles (n=4,630) had recidivated as of November 1, 2003; and 39 percent of all recidivists were adjudicated 3 or more times. The recidivism rate at 1 year for the 2001 cohort was three percentage points lower than the recidivism rate for the 1998 cohort. Although the recidivism rate has remained relatively constant at annual time intervals across all four cohorts, the number of juveniles who had recidivated as of November 1, 2003, was 11 percent higher for the 2001 cohort than for the 1998 cohort, even though the 1998 cohort had three more years in which to reoffend. The number of juveniles adjudicated increased 43 percent between 1998 and 2001, with misdemeanor offenses accounting for the total increase in adjudications between 1998 and 2001. Seventy percent of all felony offenses committed by juveniles were property offenses. The number of female offenders adjudicated in 2001 increased 81 percent over the 1998 cohort; adjudications of male juvenile offenders increased 34 percent. The number of 10-13 year-old juveniles adjudicated decreased 11 percent between 1998 and 2001. Drug offenses increased by 216 percent between 1998 and 2001. The number of juveniles adjudicated for sex offenses has decreased 24 percent since 1998. Data are presented for each county. 48 tables and 5 references