NCJ Number
185974
Date Published
July 2000
Length
54 pages
Annotation
This 1999 annual statistical report of the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission (TJPC) provides information on the magnitude and nature of juvenile criminal activity and the juvenile probation system's response; this information is offered to help assist the State's effort to improve the juvenile justice system and reduce juvenile crime in Texas.
Abstract
After an overview of the operation of the TJPC for calendar year 1999, the report provides data on juvenile referral, detention, disposition, and supervision workload activity. During calendar year 1999, police agencies in Texas arrested 154,650 juveniles between the ages of 10 and 17. Of this number, 61,026 were warned and released, handled in justice municipal courts or diverted, and 93,624 were referred to juvenile probation departments. In addition to police agency referrals, social agencies, parents, schools, the Texas Youth Commission, and others referred another 25,372 juveniles, for a total of 118,996. This is a decrease of 6,612 (5.3 percent) total referrals from the previous year, which is the fourth decrease of referrals in Texas in four consecutive years. All of the 254 counties in Texas received services through 164 juvenile probation departments in 1999. These departments were staffed by 6,243 employees, 2,078 of whom carried a probation caseload. In 1999, 50,201 juveniles were held in secure detention facilities prior to adjudication hearings. Approximately 31 percent of those detained were released in less than one day. An additional 8,341 placements were made to residential facilities, generally following the juvenile's disposition. Juvenile probation departments disposed of 36,690 referrals by giving a supervisory caution, diverting to other agencies for treatment, or dismissing the complaints, and initiated 15,671 deferred prosecutions or other temporary supervision under guidelines of their juvenile boards. Also included in this report are a glossary of juvenile justice terminology, a Texas juvenile crime clock, and appended probation activity by county.