Deaths of juveniles in custody are relatively rare—suicide was the leading cause in 2002

In 2002, 24 juvenile facilities reported a total of 26 deaths

In 1994, juvenile facilities reported that 45 juveniles died while in custody. According to the 2000 JRFC, 30 youth died in custody. In 2002, juvenile facilities holding juvenile offenders reported that 26 youth died while in the legal custody of the facility. These deaths occurred in 24 facilities. Twenty-two facilities reported single deaths; two facilities reported two deaths each.

More than half of the deaths reported occurred inside the facility (14 of 26). Public facilities accounted for most of the deaths that occurred inside the facility; private facilities accounted for most of the deaths that occurred outside the facility. Deaths inside the facility accounted for most deaths reported by public facilities; deaths outside the facility accounted for most deaths reported by private facilities. Overall, public facilities reported 16 deaths; private facilities reported 10 deaths.

All facilities reporting suicides said they evaluate all residents for suicide risk. All but two said they evaluate residents within 24 hours of arrival to determine whether the offender is at risk for suicide. Of those two, one facility said it evaluates by the end of the first week. The other said youth are screened for suicide risk at detention intake or if referred for screening by a counselor. In 2002, 122 facilities holding juvenile offenders reported transporting juvenile(s) to a hospital emergency room because of suicide attempt(s). None of these facilities also reported a suicide death.

During the 12 months prior to the census, suicide was the most commonly
reported cause of death in custody, followed by accidents
    Inside the facility
 Outside the facility
Cause of death Total All Public Private All Public Private
Total 26  14  11  3 12   5 7
Suicide 10  8 7 1 2 1 1
Accident 6 1 1 0 5 2 3
Illness/natural 6 4 2 2 2 1 1
Homicide 2 0 0 0 2 1 1
Other 2 1 1 0 1 0 1

  • Accidents were the leading cause of death for youth ages 13–17 in the general population, followed by homicide and suicide.

Note: Data are reported deaths of youth in custody from October 1, 2001, through September 30, 2002. Reported homicides were attributed to nonresidents.

Source : Author's analysis of Juvenile Residential Facility Census 2000 [ machine-readable data file ].

The death rate was lower for youth in custody than for youth in the general population

There has been concern about the risk of death for youth in custody and whether that risk is greater than the risk faced by youth in general. Death rates for the general population (detailed by age, sex, race, ethnicity, and cause of death) can be applied to data on the population held in juvenile residential facilities to calculate the number of deaths that would be expected if the custody population had the same rate of death as the general population. Based on this analysis, more than 60 deaths would be expected in the custody population during 2002. This is more than double the number of deaths that were reported to JRFC.



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Juvenile Residential Facility Census,
2002: Selected Findings		 OJJDP National Report Series Bulletin
June 2006