This report presents characteristics of offenders and case processing of person offense cases in juvenile court for 2007.
Highlights of findings include: (1) juvenile courts handled an estimated 409,200 delinquency cases in 2007, in which the most serous charge was an offense against a person; (2) the person offense caseload was 122 percent greater than in 1985; (3) person offenses accounted for 25 percent of the delinquency caseload, compared to 16 percent in 1985; (4) more than half (56 percent) of person offense cases in 2007 involved white youth, 41 percent involved African-American youth, 1 percent involved American Indian youth (includes Alaskan Native), and 1 percent involved Asian youth (includes Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander); (5) between 1985 and 2007, person offense case rates for African-American juveniles were substantially greater than those for the other racial groups; (6) of the 409,200 person offense cases that juvenile courts disposed, 58 percent (238,400) were handled formally; (7) in 29 percent (41,200) of the 143,600 person offense cases in which the youth was adjudicated delinquent in 2007, the most severe disposition imposed was placement out of the home in a residential facility and probation was ordered in 58 percent (83,400) of the cases, and 13 percent (19,000) resulted in other sanctions; and (8) among person offense cases in which youth were adjudicated delinquent, the percentage of youth ordered to out-of-home placement decreased between 1985 and 2007 and the percentage of youth ordered to probation remained the same. This report presents statistical findings on person offense cases in juvenile court for 2007. Tables and figure