Most delinquency cases do not involve detention between referral to court and disposition

When is secure detention used?

A youth may be placed in a secure juvenile detention facility at various points during the processing of his or her case. Most delinquency cases, however, do not involve detention. Although detention practices vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, a general model of detention practices is useful.

When a case is referred to juvenile court, intake staff may decide to hold the youth in a detention facility while the case is being processed. In general, the youth will be detained if there is reason to believe he or she is a threat to the community, will be at risk if returned to the community, or may fail to appear at an upcoming hearing. The youth may also be detained for diagnostic evaluation purposes.

In all states, legislation requires that a detention hearing be held within a few days (generally within 24 hours). At that time, a judge reviews the decision to detain the youth and either orders the youth released or continues the detention.

National juvenile court statistics count the number of cases that involve detention during a calendar year. As a case is processed, the youth may be detained and released more than once between case referral and disposition. Juvenile court data do not count individual detentions, nor do they count the number of youth detained. In addition, although in a few states juveniles may be committed to a detention facility as part of a disposition order, the court data do not include such placements in the count of cases involving detention.

Although the percentage of cases involving detention dropped from
1989 to 1998, the number of cases involving detention increased

• Overall, youth were detained in 19% of delinquency cases handled in 1998.

• The number of delinquency cases involving detention rose 25% from 1989 to 1998. Person offense cases had the largest relative increase in detained cases (63%).

• Although there was a 6% decline in detained property cases between 1989 and 1998, they accounted for the largest volume of cases involving detention in every year.

• In 1998, the percentage of cases that involved detention was lower for property offense cases (15%) than for the other general offense categories (22–23%).

• For all four general offense categories, the probability of detention was lower in 1998 than in 1989. This was especially true for drug cases.

Source: Author’s adaptation of Puzzanchera et al.’s Juvenile Court Statistics 1998.

White youth were least likely to be detained, but they accounted for the largest volume of delinquency cases involving detention

• The number of delinquency cases involving white youth who were detained rose 33% from 1989 to 1998. For black youth and youth of other races, the increases in the number of cases detained was smaller (15% and 19%, respectively).

• Trends in the likelihood of detention followed similar patterns for all racial groups, although the proportion of cases involving detention remained lower for white youth than for black youth or youth of other races.

Note: Juveniles of Hispanic ethnicity can be of any race, but most are included in the

white racial category.

Source: Author’s adaptation of Puzzanchera et al.’s Juvenile Court Statistics 1998.

The detention caseload has changed

Property offense cases continue to account for the largest proportion of delinquency cases involving detention, but their share declined from 1989 to 1998. Person offense cases had an increase in their share of the detention caseload.

Offense profile of delinquency cases involving detention:

Offense	1989	1998
Delinquency	100%	100%
Person	21	27
Property	48	36
Drugs	11	13
Public order	21	24
Note: Detail may not total 100% because of rounding.

Relative to their share of the juvenile population, black youth were overrepresented in the detention caseload in 1998. Black youth made up 15% of the population but 35% of cases involving detention. Compared with the detention caseload in 1989, however, the extent of their overrepresentation has diminished somewhat. Youth of other races were not overrepresented in the detention caseload relative to their proportion in the population.

Racial profile of delinquency cases involving detention:

Race	1989	1998
All races	100%	100%
White	57	61
Black	39	35
Other races	4	4
Note: Detail may not total 100% because of rounding. All racial groups include Hispanics.

Not only were black youth overrepresented among cases involving detention relative to their proportion of the juvenile population, they were also overrepresented relative to their proportion of the overall delinquency caseload. Although black juveniles made up 29% of all delinquency cases processed in 1998, they accounted for 35% of cases involving detention.

This overrepresentation was greatest for drug cases. Black youth were involved in 29% of all drug cases handled but in 44% of drug cases involving detention.

Percentage of cases that involved black juveniles, 1998:

Offense	All cases	Detained cases
Delinquency	29%	35%
Person	35	38
Property	26	34
Drugs	29	44
Public order	29	29

Juveniles age 15 or younger accounted for 53% of cases involving detention in 1998. Those age 12 or younger made up 5% of the detention caseload that year. The age profile for detained delinquency cases changed only slightly between 1989 and 1998.

Age profile of delinquency cases involving detention:

Age	1989	1998
All ages	100%	100%
10 or younger	1	1
11	1	1
12	4	3
13	9	9
14	16	15
15	24	24
16	26	26
17 or older	19	21
Note: Detail may not total 100% because of rounding.

Males were more likely than females to be detained

Overall, the youth was detained in 20% of delinquency cases involving males in 1998. In comparison, females were detained in 14% of their delinquency cases. Both males and females were least likely to be detained in property offense cases.

Percentage of delinquency cases involving detention, 1998:

Offense	Male	Female
Delinquency	20%	14%
Person	24	18
Property	16	9
Drugs	23	19
Public order	22	19

With the exception of drug cases, the use of detention for both males and females declined a few percentage points from 1989 to 1998. For males, the proportion of drug cases involving detention was 15 points higher in 1989 than in 1998; for females, it was 9 points higher.