Juvenile Detention Facilities in North Carolina: Use in 1993

• NCJ Number: 154432
• Author(s): S H Clarke; L E James; K L Carl
• Date Published: 1994
• Length: 43 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts
• Corporate Author: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Government
• Sale Source: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Government; National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study investigated the use of juvenile detention (secure custody) facilities by the North Carolina State's district courts.

Abstract

Using data supplied by the Department of Human Resources and by court counselors statewide, the study examined 3,709 instances of detention during the period January-October 1993. Five-sixths of detentions and of the use of detention-facility space involved children charged with offenses specified in the 1993 legislation: crimes against persons and property, probation violation, and running away from home. The most commonly cited grounds for detention, in terms of use of detention facilities, were that the child was detained pending placement, usually in training school (37 percent of use) and that the child was charged with a felony and considered dangerous to persons or property (26 percent of use). Juveniles who were committed, but were awaiting admission to training school, accounted for approximately one-fourth of detention facility use. Most children remain in detention no more than a few days, but a few remain for periods as long as a year. The few who remain for long periods account for a large share of the use of detention space. During the 1991-93 period, the 5 percent who stayed more than 60 days in detention used 31 percent of the space. Comments by court counselors indicate they attempt to find placements other than detention and training school for children who spend long periods in detention. Often these children are either perceived as dangerous or have emotional problems that make it difficult to find other placements for them. From 1982 to 1992, police arrests of juveniles for misconduct that would be criminal for adults increased 64 percent, and filings of delinquency petitions increased 61 percent. Still, data show that the training school population remained approximately 700 from 1991 to 1993, and monthly training school admissions showed no trend. Although monthly admissions to detention declined from 1991 to 1993, an 81-percent increase in the median time spent in detention caused the detention population to increase. The findings suggest that detention may have increasingly become a de facto substitute for training school. 3 tables and 7 figures