For information on the estimation procedure, see the "Methods" section in this Bulletin or in Juvenile Court Statistics 1996. The national estimates for 1987 through 1996 described in this Bulletin include revisions made after publication of previous Juvenile Court Statistics Reports.
Rate calculations control for State variations in the upper age of original juvenile court jurisdiction. The population used in the denominator of the case rate calculations includes youth age 10 or older who were at, or under, the upper age of original jurisdiction of the juvenile court according to the laws of their State. In most States, the upper age of original jurisdiction is 17, but the upper age ranged from 15 to 17 in 1996. (See juvenile population in the glossary.)
Care should be exercised when interpreting age, sex, or racial differences in the analysis of juvenile delinquency cases; reported statistics do not control for the seriousness of the behavior leading to each charge or the extent of a youth's court history.
Nearly all youth of Hispanic ethnicity are included in the white racial category.
In a number of cases, the petition is withdrawn before an adjudicatory hearing is held.
In many communities, social service agencies, rather than the juvenile courts, have assumed responsibility for screening and diverting alleged status offenders. Because of great differences in intake and screening procedures for informally handled status offense cases, national estimates are not calculated. The national estimates presented here and in Juvenile Court Statistics focus on formally handled, or petitioned, status offense cases.
Due to the homogeneity of offenses contained in the miscellaneous category, these cases are not always discussed independently. All totals in the tables and figures, however, include miscellaneous status offenses.
