Shay Bilchik, Administrator Fact Sheet #27. June 1995 Juvenile Admissions to State Custody, 1993 Sonya Rudenstine The State Juvenile Corrections System Reporting Program (SJCSRP), supported by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention as part of the Juveniles Taken into Custody Program, collects data on juveniles admitted and released from State juvenile custody. In 1993, all 50 States and the District of Columbia participated in the program. Of these 51 participants, 35 provided individual level data on 14 variables describing the characteristics of juveniles admitted to state custody and the facilities to which they were admitted. The remaining 16 states provided aggregate counts on a limited number of variables, describing the sex, race/ethnicity, admission and release status of the youth and the most serious offense with which the youth was charged. The State custody numbers reported here represent juveniles admitted to State-run public facilities only. The SJCSRP does not collect information on juveniles admitted to detention, local agencies, jails, lock-ups, prisons, or private facilities. ( Because Massachusetts has only private reception/diagnostic centers, these were included in order not to exclude the high number of juveniles in Massachusetts admitted to these centers. Three private, secure facilities from Maryland were also included because they hold nearly 50% of Maryland's secure confinement juvenile population.) As a result, SJCSRP captures approximately 9% of all juvenile custody admissions. While this segment is small in relation to all admissions, State juvenile custody represents an important piece of juvenile custody. State public facilities are generally more secure and hold juveniles for a longer period of confinement than local or private facilities. Admissions and Releases The number of juveniles admitted to state custody in the nation during 1993 was 53,273, and the number of releases was 49,431. Ninety percent of the admissions were males, and 46 percent were Black youths. Thirty-six percent were White and 14 percent were Hispanic. The majority of admissions were new commitments (56 percent) and 13 percent were parole violators. Most of the releases were to parole or aftercare (almost 57 percent), while 12 percent were discharges. Property offenses (including larceny, burglary, auto theft and vandalism) were the most serious offense for almost 40 percent of admitted youth, and person offenses (including murder, rape, robbery and assault) were for almost 29 percent. Public order offenses were the most serious offense for almost 14 percent of the juveniles admitted to state confinement. This fact sheet was prepared by Sonya Rudenstine, a Research Associate with the National Council on Crime and Delinquency. Joseph Moone of OJJDP serves as program manager for the Research Program on Juveniles Taken into Custody. The data were collected by the U.S. Bureau of the Census and analyzed by NCCD. The work was supported by OJJDP grant 95-JN-FX-KOO2. For further information on this program, call Joseph Moone at (202) 307-5929. For a printed copy of this fact sheet, contact the Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse, 800-638-8736.