A number of sources—law enforcement agencies, social services, schools, parents, probation officers, and victims—referred delinquency cases to juvenile courts. Although there were variations across offense categories, 86% of all 1996 delinquency cases were referred to juvenile courts by a law enforcement agency (table 6). Law enforcement agencies referred 93% of drug law violation cases, 91% of property offense cases, 86% of person offense cases, and 69% of public order offense cases.

Table 6: Percentage of Delinquency Cases Referred by Law Enforcement, 1987, 1992, and 1996