Juveniles in Corrections

• NCJ Number: 202885
• Author(s): Melissa Sickmund
• Date Published: June 2004
• Length: 24 pages
• Publication Series: OJJDP National Report Series
• Grant Number(s): 95-JN-FX-K008; 1999-JN-FX-K002
• Agencies: OJJDP
• Publication Type: Survey

Annotation

This report presents the latest available national and State-level data from the biennial Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement (CJRP), as of October 27, 1999.

Abstract

The CJRP surveys both public and private juvenile residential placement facilities in every State and collects individual data on each juvenile offender in residential placement, including gender, date of birth, race, placement authority, most serious offense charged, court adjudication status, date of admission, and security status. Facilities also provide information about the housing of overflow detention populations, physical layout of the facility, separation of residents, counts of residents age 21 and older, and the use of locked doors and/or gates. The CJRP does not capture data on juveniles held in adult prisons or jails, therefore, in the CJRP data, juveniles placed in juvenile facilities by criminal courts represent an unknown proportion of juveniles incarcerated by criminal courts. This current report presents the latest data obtained for 134,011 youth held in 2,939 facilities on October 27, 1999. Highlights from the CJRP include:(1) 81 percent of residents in juvenile residential placement facilities were juvenile offenders; (2) juvenile offenders held for delinquency offenses accounted for 78 percent of residents; (3) private facilities accounted for 61 percent of facilities holding juvenile offenders; (4) between 1997 and 1999, there was a 3 percent increase in the number of juvenile offenders in custody; (5) from 1997 to 1999, the number of status offenders in both public and private facilities declined for all offense categories except underage drinking; (6) in 1999, the overall custody rate in the United States was just 1 percent greater than the 1997 rate, however, there was no substantial variation from State to State; (7) nationally, 29 percent of juveniles in residential placement were being held for property crimes, while 35 percent were held for person offenses; (8) minority youth accounted for 7 in 10 juveniles held in custody for a violent offense in 1999; (9) in 1999, minority you accounted for 34 percent of the U.S. juvenile population and 62 percent of the juveniles in custody; and (10) nationally, the number of females in residential placement increased 2 percent from 1997 to 1999. Tables, figures, and sources