NCJ Number
131649
Date Published
1992
Length
47 pages
Annotation
This analysis of existing data on juvenile custody from 1978-89 notes that although the youth population declined by 11 percent between 1979 and 1989, the number of juveniles in custody increased 31 percent from 71,922 to 93,945.
Abstract
The data consisted mostly of 1-day counts and admissions information. Results revealed that the overall custody rates for juveniles in public and private juvenile facilities increased 46 percent from 251 per 100,000 in 1979 to 367 per 100,000 in 1989. In addition, while the private sector's custodial role is expanding, many juvenile facilities are above capacity. Moreover, the custody rates for minority youth are much higher than their proportion in the community. Furthermore, males made up 78 percent of the admissions and 81 percent of the 1-day counts for all juvenile facilities. In 1989, most youth held in public facilities were in training schools and detention centers, whereas the majority of youths held in private juvenile facilities were in halfway houses. A juvenile held in a public facility in 1989 was most likely to be black, male, ages 14-17, and held for a delinquent offense such as a property crime of a crime against a person. In contrast, a juvenile held in a private facility was most likely to be white, male, ages 14-17 years, and held for a nondelinquent offense such as running away, truancy, or incorrigibility. Tables and figures