For more than a century, the juvenile court has played a leading role in our nation's fight against juvenile crime and violence, protecting society and reforming young offenders by holding them accountable for their delinquent acts. Its influence on a child's development can last a lifetime.

To ensure an informed exercise of authority, the juvenile court must stay abreast of evolving social changes. The court must understand the offenders who come before it and must be fully informed about the types, availability, and effects of the resources that it may require to help troubled youth.

As is the case with its predecessors in this 73-year-old publication series, Juvenile Court Statistics 1999 addresses these and other significant issues, profiling the nearly 1.7 million delinquency cases handled by courts with juvenile jurisdiction in 1999 and reviewing judicial trends since 1990.

By tracking key trends in juvenile court caseloads and providing a broad array of data about the court's work, this Report provides a detailed portrait of the juvenile court in 1999—its 100th birthday—and offers a reference guide to policymakers, practitioners, researchers, and others concerned with the court's critical contributions to securing the future of our youth and our nation.

J. Robert Flores
Administrator
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention