NCJ Number
154774
Date Published
1994
Length
207 pages
Annotation
This report contains data on Washington's juvenile population and juvenile justice system, a description of the State juvenile justice code, a list of projects the Governor's Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee (GJJAC) is funding with Federal juvenile justice funds, and information on State compliance with the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act.
Abstract
The GJJAC was established to implement provisions of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974. To this end, the GJJAC focuses on removing nonoffending youths and status offenders from locked facilities, ensuring complete separation of youth from adult offenders in jails and lockups, eliminating juvenile confinement in adult jails and lockups, and assessing minority youth overrepresentation in the juvenile justice system. The GJJAC is concerned about the increasing number of juvenile arrests for drug and alcohol offenses, juvenile delinquency prevention, and transitional services for juvenile offenders. The 1994 report of the GJJAC notes that Washington has 1.3 million juveniles 17 years of age and younger and that nonwhite youth comprise about 18 percent of the State's population. Dropout rates for African American, Native American, and Hispanic youth are about 2 to 2.5 times the dropout rate for youth of all races. In addition, there has been a steady increase in the number of families referred to child protective services for child abuse. In 1993, 52,831 juvenile arrests were reported, for an arrest rate of 92.7 per 1,000 juveniles between 10 and 17 years of age. The rate and number of juveniles arrested for alcohol offenses increased for the first time in 10 years. Arrests for violent offenses totaled 3,252, more than double the number recorded in 1982. In 1993, 259 juvenile cases were sentenced outside the standard range and over 21,000 juveniles were held in detention facilities on separate offenses. A summary of Washington's Juvenile Justice Code is provided, along with an assessment of GJJAC compliance with the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act. 82 tables and 23 graphs