Most youth sent to adult prisons are 17-year-olds, males, minorities, and person offenders

Youth younger than 18 accounted for 2% of new court commitments to state adult prisons

Thirty-seven states reported 1999 data to the National Corrections Reporting Program (NCRP). These states contain more than 87% of the U.S. population ages 10–17. Based on NCRP data from participating states, an estimated 5,600 new court commitments to state adult prison systems nationwide in 1999 involved youth younger than 18 at the time of admission. These admissions accounted for 2% of all new court commitments during the year. More than 3 in 4 of these youth were 17 years old at the time of admission. States with an upper age of original juvenile court jurisdiction below 17 made up half of all admissions of youth younger than 18.

Youth younger than 18 were 6% of all new court commitments to state prisons for robbery

In 1999, the proportion of new admissions involving youth younger than 18 was slightly higher for person offenses than for other types of offenses. The proportion of under-18 new admissions was 6% for robbery and 4% for homicide. In comparison, for most other offense categories the under-18 proportion of admissions was below 3%.

For youth younger than 18, the number of new admissions to state prison
was nearly 65% greater in 1999 than in 1985

• On average, new admissions for youth younger than 18 rose 5% per year between 1985 and 1999. However, new admissions of those in this age group peaked in 1995 and
  dropped 26% by 1999.
  
  
• In comparison, the total number of inmates newly admitted to state prisons rose
  sharply from 1985 through 1990 (76%) and then leveled off.

Source: Author's adaptation of Strom's Profile of State Prisoners Under Age 18, 1985–97; Hughes and Beck's analyses of 1999 National Corrections Reporting Program data; and Beck and Karberg's Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2000.

Of youth newly admitted to state prisons, 6 in 10 had committed a person offense

Compared with young adult inmates ages 18 through 24 at admission, new commitments involving youth younger than 18 had a substantially greater proportion of person offenses (primarily robbery and assault) and a smaller proportion of drug offenses (notably drug trafficking).

The vast majority of youth younger than 18 newly admitted to prison were male

Males accounted for 96% of new court commitments to prison involving youth younger than 18. Commitments of females younger than 18 primarily involved charges of robbery, assault, murder, burglary, and drugs.

The standing population of inmates younger than 18 held in state
prisons in 2000 was 70% greater than in 1985

• The 1-day count of state prisoners younger than 18 grew 135% between 1985 and 1997 and then fell 28% by 2000, for an overall increase of 70%. In contrast, the overall prison population increased steadily from 1985 through 2000 (161%).
  
  
• From 1985 through 2000, the proportion of inmates younger than 18 remained less than 1%.

Source: Author’s adaptation of Beck and Karberg’s Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2000.

Growth in under-18 prison admissions was greater for black males than for white males

From 1985 to 1999, prison admissions increased 38% for white males younger than 18 and 68% for black males in the same age group. Since 1995, however, the number of admissions in this age group has generally declined for both white and black males. During the period when the number of prison admissions for youth younger than 18 was on the rise, increases were greater for black males and recent declines have been greater for white males.

Robbery and aggravated assault accounted for a large proportion of the increase in prison admissions for both white and black males younger than 18. Unlike their white counterparts, however, black males also saw a large increase in drug admissions (from 30 to 490). In comparison, admissions of white males younger than 18 for drug offenses increased from 20 to 60.

Person offenses accounted for 66% of new admissions for young black males

Person offenses accounted for the majority of new admissions for both white and black males younger than 18. For whites, 56% of admissions were for person offenses—primarily robbery (22%) and aggravated assault (16%). For blacks, the proportion of admissions involving person offenses was higher (66%), stemming primarily from a greater proportion of robbery admissions (38%).

Among inmates released from state prison in 1998 who were younger than
18 when they were admitted, 78% were released before their 21st birthday

• Among inmates released from state prison in 1998 who were younger than 18 when they were admitted, 95% were released before their 25th birthday.
  
  
• A smaller proportion of person offenders younger than 18 were released from state prison before age 21 (72%) than was the case for other inmates younger than 18 incarcerated for offenses other than person offenses (85%).
  
  
• The average age at release among person offenders who were younger than 18 at admission was 20 years 6 months. The average age at release among those held for offenses other than person offenses who were younger than 18 at admission was 19 years 4 months.
  
  
• The average time served for inmates admitted before age 18 was just over 2 years 8 months. For person offenders, it was 3 years 4 months and for other offenders, it was about 2 years.

Source: Author’s analysis of BJS’ National Corrections Reporting Program 1993–1998 [machine-readable data files].