This chapter quantifies the flow of delinquency cases through each of the following stages of the juvenile court system.

Detention: Juvenile courts sometimes hold youth in secure detention facilities during court processing to protect the community, to ensure a juvenile's appearance at subsequent court hearings, to secure the juvenile's own safety, or for the purpose of evaluating the juvenile. This Report describes the use of detention only between court referral and case disposition, although juveniles can be detained by police prior to referral and also after disposition while awaiting placement elsewhere.

Intake: Formal processing of a case involves the filing of a petition that requests an adjudicatory or waiver hearing. Informally processed cases, on the other hand, are handled without a petition and without an adjudicatory or waiver hearing.

Waiver: One of the first decisions made at intake is whether a case should be processed in the criminal (adult) justice system rather than in the juvenile court. Most states have more than one mechanism for transferring cases to criminal court: prosecutors may have the authority to file certain juvenile cases directly in criminal court; state statute may govern that cases meeting certain age and offense criteria be excluded from juvenile court jurisdiction and filed directly in criminal court; and a juvenile court judge may waive juvenile court jurisdiction in certain juvenile cases, thus authorizing a transfer to criminal court. This Report describes those cases that were transferred to criminal court by judicial waiver only.

Adjudication: At an adjudicatory hearing, a youth may be adjudicated (judged) a delinquent if the juvenile court determines that the youth did commit the offense(s) charged in the petition. If the youth is adjudicated, the case proceeds to a disposition hearing. Alternatively, a case can be dismissed or continued in contemplation of dismissal. In these cases where the youth is not adjudicated delinquent, the court can recommend that the youth take some actions prior to the final adjudication decision, such as paying restitution or voluntarily attending drug counseling.

Disposition: Disposition options include commitment to an institution or other residential facility, probation supervision, or a variety of other sanctions, such as community service, restitution or fines, or referral to an outside agency or treatment program. This Report characterizes case disposition by the most severe or restrictive sanction. For example, although most youth in out-of-home placements are also technically on probation, in this Report cases resulting in placement are not included in the probation group.

This chapter describes case processing by offense and by demographics (age, gender, and race) of the juveniles involved, focusing on cases disposed in 2000 and examining trends from 1985 through 2000.

Detention

• The number of delinquency cases involving detention increased 41% between 1985 and 2000, from 234,600 to 329,800. The largest relative increase was for drug offense cases (139%), followed by person cases (100%), and public order cases (78%). In contrast, the number of detained property offense cases declined 10% during this period.

• Despite the decline in the number of detained property cases, these cases still accounted for the largest volume of cases involving detention.

• Despite the growth in the volume of delinquency cases involving detention, the proportion of cases detained was about the same in 2000 as in 1985 (20% vs. 21%).

• For person, property, and public order offense cases, the proportion of cases involving detention changed very little between 1985 and 2000—varying 6 to 9 percentage points, with 1990 being the peak year.

• The use of detention for drug offense cases reached a peak in 1990 when 38% of such cases were detained prior to disposition.

Offense profile of detained delinquency cases:

Most serious offense	1985	2000
Person	19%	28%
Property	52	33
Drugs	7	11
Public order	22	28
Total	100%	100%
Number of cases	234,600	329,800
Note: Detail may not total 100% because of rounding.

• Compared with 1985, the 2000 detention caseload contained greater proportions of person, drug, and public order offense cases and a smaller proportion of property offense cases.

The number of drug offense and person offense cases involving detention more than doubled between 1985 and 2000

In 2000, juveniles were detained between referral and disposition in 20% of all delinquency cases processed

Black youth were overrepresented in the detention caseload compared with their proportions in the overall delinquency caseload

• Although black youth were involved in 28% of all delinquency cases processed in 2000, they were involved in 35% of detained cases.

• This overrepresentation was greatest for drug offense cases: blacks accounted for 22% of all drug cases processed but 37% of drug cases detained.

• The proportion of detained delinquency cases involving black youth has changed little between the late 1980s and 2000.

• In all offense categories, youth of other races made up less than 5% of all cases processed and of those involving detention.

Age

• In each year from 1985 through 2000, delinquency cases involving youth age 16 or older were more likely to be detained than were cases involving youth age 15 or younger. This same pattern held for person and property offense cases.

• For both age groups, drug offense cases were more likely to involve detention than were other offense cases between 1987 and 1992. By 2000, however, person offense and public order offense cases were more likely to involve detention than were drug offense cases.

Gender

• Delinquency cases involving males were more likely to involve detention than were cases involving females during each year from 1985 through 2000. With few exceptions, this pattern was true across the four general offense categories.

Across offense categories, detention was more likely in cases involving older youth than younger youth, males than females, and black juveniles than white juveniles

Percentage of delinquency cases detained by age group:

	15 or younger					16 or older
Year	All	Person	Property	Drugs	Public order	All	Person	Property	Drugs	Public order
1985	19%	23%	16%	20%	28%	23%	28%	21%	22%	26%
1986	19	24	16	24	27	23	28	20	26	24
1987	18	22	15	29	26	22	26	19	29	24
1988	19	23	15	34	26	22	27	19	32	23
1989	20	24	16	37	27	24	28	19	36	25
1990	22	26	18	39	28	25	30	21	37	26
1991	20	24	16	39	25	22	28	19	36	23
1992	19	22	16	36	24	22	27	18	33	22
1993	18	21	15	29	22	21	27	17	27	22
1994	18	21	14	25	22	21	27	17	24	21
1995	16	20	12	21	18	18	25	15	20	19
1996	16	21	12	20	18	18	26	14	20	19
1997	17	22	13	19	21	20	27	16	21	22
1998	17	21	14	21	20	21	26	17	24	23
1999	19	22	15	21	22	22	28	19	24	23
2000	19	22	15	17	22	22	28	18	21	25

Percentage of delinquency cases detained by gender:

	Male					Female
Year	All	Person	Property	Drugs	Public order	All	Person	Property	Drugs	Public order
1985	21%	27%	19%	22%	26%	17%	18%	13%	19%	29%
1986	22	27	19	26	26	17	19	13	21	27
1987	21	25	17	30	25	16	17	11	23	25
1988	21	26	18	33	25	16	18	12	26	25
1989	22	27	18	38	26	17	19	12	28	25
1990	24	29	20	39	28	18	20	14	28	26
1991	22	27	18	38	25	15	18	12	27	21
1992	21	26	18	35	23	15	17	12	26	23
1993	20	25	17	29	23	14	17	11	22	19
1994	20	25	17	26	23	14	17	11	18	18
1995	18	23	15	22	20	12	17	8	16	15
1996	18	24	14	21	19	12	19	8	13	16
1997	20	25	16	21	22	14	19	9	16	19
1998	20	24	17	24	22	15	18	10	20	18
1999	22	25	18	23	23	17	20	12	20	20
2000	21	26	18	20	24	17	20	12	15	22

Percentage of delinquency cases detained by race:

	White					Black
Year	All	Person	Property	Drugs	Public order	All	Person	Property	Drugs	Public order
1985	18%	21%	16%	18%	25%	26%	30%	23%	33%	31%
1986	18	21	15	20	24	28	31	24	43	32
1987	17	19	14	20	23	27	29	22	48	30
1988	17	20	14	21	23	28	30	23	51	30
1989	18	22	15	23	24	29	30	23	56	30
1990	20	24	17	27	26	29	31	24	52	31
1991	18	22	15	25	23	27	30	22	49	27
1992	18	21	15	25	23	25	27	21	45	24
1993	17	21	14	20	21	24	26	19	39	24
1994	17	21	14	18	21	23	26	18	36	22
1995	14	19	12	14	17	22	25	17	34	20
1996	14	20	11	13	17	22	26	17	34	21
1997	16	21	12	14	20	23	27	18	34	23
1998	17	21	13	18	21	23	25	20	34	21
1999	18	22	15	17	20	25	26	20	38	28
2000	18	23	15	15	21	25	25	21	32	29

	Other race
Year	All	Person	Property	Drugs	Public order
1985	25%	31%	21%	26%	36%
1986	25	34	21	20	32
1987	24	31	21	29	30
1988	26	32	24	31	29
1989	27	31	24	32	30
1990	29	38	25	35	33
1991	24	30	21	33	27
1992	22	28	21	22	22
1993	22	31	18	18	27
1994	22	30	18	19	27
1995	21	29	16	17	29
1996	21	31	15	20	31
1997	22	32	16	19	32
1998	22	30	16	22	31
1999	23	32	17	21	29
2000	24	32	18	22	28

Race

• Each year between 1985 and 2000, the use of detention was more likely for delinquency cases involving black youth than for cases involving white youth or youth of other races.

• Regardless of offense, cases involving black youth were more likely to be detained than cases involving white youth in each year between 1985 and 2000, except for public order in 1998.

• For white youth and youth of other races, person offense cases were more likely to involve detention than were other offense cases in 2000.

• With few exceptions, property offense cases were least likely to involve detention within each race group between 1985 and 2000.

Intake Decision

• The overall delinquency caseload increased 43% between 1985 and 2000, while the number of nonpetitioned delinquency cases increased just 12%. This means that over the period from 1985 to 2000, the likelihood that a delinquency case would be handled informally declined.

• Since 1992, petitioned cases have outnumbered nonpetitioned cases. In 2000, there were 36% more petitioned than nonpetitioned delinquency cases.

• The number of petitioned drug offense cases increased 275% between 1985 and 2000—more than any other offense category.

• Unlike the trends for other offense categories, the number of formally handled property offense cases peaked in 1996 and then declined through 2000.

Offense profile of delinquency cases, 2000:

Most serious offense	Nonpetitioned	Petitioned
Person	21%	24%
Property	44	39
Drugs	11	13
Public order	23	25
Total	100%	100%
Number of cases	693,000	940,300
Note: Detail may not total 100% because of rounding.

• Compared with nonpetitioned cases, petitioned cases in 2000 involved higher proportions of person, drug, and public order offenses and a lower proportion of property offenses.

The number of petitioned delinquency cases increased 81% between 1985 and 2000

Between 1985 and 2000, the petitioned caseload increased for all offense categories

In 2000, juvenile courts petitioned nearly 6 in 10 delinquency cases

Most serious offense	Number of petitioned cases		Petitioned cases as a percent of all cases
Total Delinquency	940,300		58%
Person offenses	227,000		60
Criminal homicide	1,400		82
Forcible rape	3,700		78
Robbery	19,300		86
Aggravated assault	36,700		72
Simple assault	139,200		54
Other violent sex offenses	9,800		78
Other person offenses	16,900		62
Property offenses	363,000		54
Burglary	84,200		78
Larceny-theft	129,700		43
Motor vehicle theft	29,400		77
Arson	5,300		64
Vandalism	54,900		51
Trespassing	22,700		46
Stolen property offenses	17,600		70
Other property offenses	19,200		67
Drug law violations	117,800		61
Public order offenses	232,600		59
Obstruction of justice	127,100		71
Disorderly conduct	36,200		40
Weapons offenses	22,600		60
Liquor law violations	8,900		33
Nonviolent sex offenses	7,900		53
Other public order offenses	29,900		65
Violent Crime Index*	61,000		76
Property Crime Index**	248,500		54
* Includes criminal homicide, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. ** Includes burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. Note: Detail may not add to totals because of rounding.

Between 1985 and 2000, the use of formal processing increased for all four general offense categories

• Analysis of referral offenses showed that the likelihood of formal handling was greater for more serious offenses within the same general offense category. In 2000, for example, 72% of aggravated assault cases were handled formally, compared with 54% of simple assault cases. Similarly, more than three-quarters of burglary and motor vehicle theft cases were handled formally by juvenile courts, compared with 43% of larceny-theft and 51% of vandalism cases.

• Between 1985 and 2000, the use of formal processing increased for all four general offense categories—increasing more for drug offense cases than for any of the other general offense categories. The likelihood of formal processing increased 18 percentage points for drug offense cases (from 43% to 61%), compared with a 6-percentage point increase for person offense cases (from 54% to 60%).

• In each year between 1988 and 2000, drug offense cases were more likely than other offense cases to be handled formally.

Age

• In each year between 1985 and 2000, delinquency cases involving juveniles age 16 or older were more likely to be petitioned than were cases involving younger juveniles.

• In 2000, 55% of delinquency cases involving youth age 15 or younger were petitioned, compared with 61% of cases involving older youth.

• Since 1991, the proportion of drug offense cases petitioned declined for both age groups.

• Among youth age 15 or younger, drug offense cases were most likely to be handled formally of any offense category between 1987 and 2000 while property offense cases were least likely to be handled formally during this period.

Gender

• Across all offenses, the proportion of delinquency cases petitioned increased for males and females between 1985 and 2000.

• Regardless of offense, juvenile courts were more likely to petition cases involving males than females.

• For both males and females, property offense cases were least likely to be petitioned than cases involving other offense categories.

The likelihood of formal handling increased between 1985 and 2000 for all demographic categories

Percentage of delinquency cases petitioned by age group:

	15 or younger					16 or older
Year	All	Person	Property	Drugs	Public order	All	Person	Property	Drugs	Public order
1985	42%	51%	40%	38%	45%	50%	59%	50%	46%	46%
1986	44	52	42	46	45	50	59	50	51	46
1987	44	51	41	52	46	51	59	50	55	47
1988	45	52	42	57	47	52	58	51	59	49
1989	48	53	45	62	50	54	60	53	62	50
1990	47	52	44	66	50	54	59	52	65	51
1991	47	52	44	68	49	54	59	52	68	50
1992	48	52	45	66	50	55	58	52	66	53
1993	50	54	46	62	52	57	61	54	64	56
1994	50	54	47	59	52	58	62	55	61	57
1995	51	55	47	58	54	59	63	56	62	60
1996	53	57	50	58	55	60	64	57	62	60
1997	53	56	50	57	55	59	63	57	61	60
1998	54	57	51	59	56	60	63	57	63	61
1999	55	58	51	59	56	60	64	57	62	61
2000	55	58