Juvenile courts in the United States processed nearly 1.8 million delinquency cases in 1996. This number represented a 3% increase over the 1995 caseload and a 49% increase over the number of cases handled in 1987. More than half (56%) of the delinquency cases processed by U.S. courts with juvenile jurisdiction in 1996 were handled formally (that is, a petition was filed requesting an adjudicatory or waiver hearing). Of the cases that were petitioned, 58% were adjudicated delinquent and 1% were judicially waived to criminal (adult) court. Waivers to criminal court were most common in cases involving person offenses (1.9%) and drug offenses (1.2%). Of all delinquency cases adjudicated in juvenile court in 1996, 28% resulted in residential placement and 54% were placed on the probation caseload.

These statistics are among the findings to be published in Juvenile Court Statistics 1996, the latest in a series of annual reports on cases handled by U.S. courts with juvenile jurisdiction. Although courts with juvenile jurisdiction handle a variety of cases, including abuse, neglect, adoption, and traffic violations, Juvenile Court Statistics Reports focus on the disposition of delinquency cases and formally processed status offense cases. Each report includes national estimates of the number of cases handled by juvenile courts and an appendix that lists caseload statistics for individual States and jurisdictions within each State.

Findings from Juvenile Court Statistics 1996 include the following:

• The number of criminal homicide cases processed by courts with juvenile jurisdiction dropped 12% between 1995 and 1996.

• In 22% of delinquency cases processed in 1996, the most serious charge was a person offense. Person offenses accounted for 16% of all cases in 1987.

• The number of cases involving drug offenses handled in 1996 was 144% greater than the number of these cases processed in 1987.

• Although property offense cases still accounted for the greatest proportion of delinquency cases in 1996 (50%), the proportion was smaller than in 1987 (60%).

• The number of delinquency cases involving female juveniles increased 76% between 1987 and 1996, while cases involving males increased 42%.

• Juveniles were held in secure detention facilities at some point between referral and disposition in 18% of all delinquency cases disposed in 1996, compared with 20% in 1987.

• Delinquency cases were more likely to be processed formally with the filing of a petition in 1996 than in 1987—56% compared with 47%.

• There were 47% more delinquency cases judicially waived to criminal court in 1996 than in 1987, but 3% fewer than in 1992.

These national estimates of juvenile court cases are based on data from nearly 1,800 courts that had jurisdiction over 67% of the U.S. juvenile population in 1996.¹ The unit of count in each Juvenile Court Statistics Report is a case disposed during the calendar year by a court with juvenile jurisdiction. It is possible for an individual youth to have been involved in more than one case during the calendar year. Each case represents a youth processed by a juvenile court on a new referral, regardless of the number of individual offenses contained in that referral. Cases involving multiple offenses are categorized according to the most serious offense. For example, a case involving both a charge of vandalism and a charge of robbery would be characterized as a robbery case. Similarly, cases involving multiple dispositions are categorized according to the most restrictive disposition. A case that resulted in both probation and placement in a residential facility would be coded as residential placement.