This report highlights the findings of the 2015 Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement (CJRP), including the number of youth in placement, their demographic profiles, and the reasons for placement.
The 2015 CJRP indicates that the overall number of youth in residential placement declined 54 percent to 48,043 in 2015, the lowest level since data collection began in 1987, when 105,055 youth were held in out-of-home placement. Between 2006 and 2015, nearly 9 in 10 states cut their rates of placement by half or more. Of the offenders in residential placement in 2015, 95 percent were held for a delinquency offense, and 5 percent were held for a status offense. Less than 40 percent were held for a person offense. Females composed 15 percent of the placement population. They tended to be slightly younger than male residents (peak age of 16 for girls compared with 17 years for boys). Minority youth accounted for 69 percent of youth in placement in 2015, with Black males composing the largest percentage. The national detention rate for Black youth was six times the rate for white youth, and their commitment rate was nearly five times the rate for white youth. Although private facilities accounted for nearly half of the facilities holding juvenile offenders in 2015, they held just 31 percent of juvenile offenders in placement. Two-thirds of youth held in residential place in 2015 were committed as part of a court-ordered disposition. The remaining youth were detained pending adjudication, disposition, or placement elsewhere. Extensive tables and figures