In this fact sheet, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Justice Programs (OJP) summarizes statistical information about violent crime cases in juvenile courts in 2021.
This National Report Series fact sheet published by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Justice Programs (OJP) provides statistics about 2021 violent crime cases in juvenile court. In 2021, juvenile courts processed an estimated 42,300 cases in which the most serious offense was a violent crime. Violent crime cases peaked in 1995, when an estimated 112,000 cases were processed. Since 1995, the number of violent crime cases declined more than 60% through 2021. In 2021, juvenile courts handled 1.3 violent crime cases for every 1,000 youth aged 10 through the upper age of juvenile court jurisdiction. The 2021 violent crime case rate was three-fourths of the 2012 rate but one-third the 1995 rate. Criminal homicide was the most serious charge in 1,500 cases, about 4% of all violent crime cases handled in 2021. Aggravated assault and robbery combined to account for 80% of all violent crime cases. In 2021, the majority of violent crime cases involved males, a pattern that has changed little in the last 10 years. Compared with 2012, a larger proportion of violent crime cases in 2021 involved youth aged 16 or older. The race/ethnicity profile of youth involved in violent crime cases has changed since 2012. Approximately 77% of the 42,300 violent crime cases in 2021 were handled formally with the filing of a petition requesting an adjudicatory or waiver hearing. Of the petitioned cases, most resulted in a delinquency adjudication, 40% did not result in a delinquency adjudication, and 5% were judicially waived to criminal court. The majority of adjudicated cases received probation as the most serious disposition and 37% received a disposition of out-of-home placement. The disposition profile of adjudicated violent crime cases changed little between 2012 and 2021.