NCJ Number
194885
Journal
Corrections Compendium Volume: 27 Issue: 3 Dated: March 2002 Pages: 6-20
Date Published
2002
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This survey focused on youthful offenders being adjudicated and housed in adult correctional systems.
Abstract
It appears that a growing number of juveniles are housed in adult facilities, requiring a need for programming and guidance in managing this population. Forty-three State correctional systems, plus 3 Canadian provinces and Correctional Service Canada responded to this survey on youthful offenders. Eighteen is the defined age for the majority of the reporting systems, with several exceptions. Age limits for waiver to adult courts indicate that age 14 is the average, ranging from age 10 to 17. On June 30, 2001, there were 7,627 male and 432 female youthful offenders being held in custody in the United States reporting systems, while 1,131 males and 116 females were in Canadian province custody. Twenty-six systems reported that their numbers were lower than in the previous year, while eight systems indicated their numbers were higher than the previous year. In stating the numbers of those youthful offenders who were remanded to juvenile court, the majority of systems reported none. Adjudication procedures varied between the systems. The youthful offender population is primarily being housed in secure facilities. A variety of programs are offered in the U.S. correctional systems. Nearly all the reporting systems offer academic courses or classes to its youthful offender population, as well as mental health counseling, special education, vocational training and/or counseling, sex offender treatment, abuse counseling, organized recreation, positive peer culture efforts, religious programming, prerelease counseling, and programs for those with substance abuse problems. The primary problem areas included idleness, understaffing, discipline infractions, and the influx of gangs.