Juvenile Referrals and Dispositions in New Mexico, 1998

• NCJ Number: 203581
• Author(s): Susan Brumbaugh Ph.D.; Christopher Birkbeck Ph.D.
• Date Published: March 2000
• Length: 53 pages
• Sale Source: New Mexico Criminal and Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council
• Publication Format: Document (Online)
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. Downloaded on December 30, 2003.

Annotation

This paper presents an analysis of the New Mexico Juvenile Justice System and provides information on juvenile referral, case processing, and dispositions in fiscal year 1998.

Abstract

In order to provide baseline information for planners and policymakers, this report offers a detailed examination of juvenile referrals and dispositions in the State of New Mexico during fiscal year 1998 (July 1, 1997, through June 30, 1998). The report examines all cases referred to juvenile probation/parole officers (JPPO's) during FY 98, as well as cases disposed of during this same reporting period. The report is organized into sections covering various aspects of juvenile referrals and dispositions and these include: type of referral, case processing, supervision and treatment covering programs, probation, and confinement, and focus on juveniles. Report highlights include: (1) there were 36,725 cases referred to JPPO's during FY 98; (2) over one-third of the referrals were property-related offenses; (3) nearly three-fourths of the referrals were males; (4) more than half of the referrals were Hispanic juveniles; (5) 55.2 percent of the referrals were handled informally; (6) 22.6 percent of the referrals were handled formally; (7) males were more likely than females to proceed to the formal level; (8) young offenders were more likely to be handled informally; (9) referral to programming was the most frequent type of disposition, as well as probation; (10) more than three-fourths of juveniles referred to programs participated in programs run by private agencies; (11) more serious offenders tended to receive more serious forms of probation; (12) informal supervision was more likely for younger offenders; (13) just over a quarter of confined juveniles were serving terms for relatively non-serious offenses; (14) older juveniles were less likely than young offenders to serve terms at the Youth Development and Diagnostic Center (YDDC); (15) males had more referrals than females; (16) 15 and 16 year olds had the highest average number of referrals; and (17) juveniles from the southeast had the highest average number of referrals. Appendices A-C