MENU TITLE: Juvenile Court Statistics 1993: National Estimates of Petitioned Status Offense. Cases Series: OJJDP Published: June 1996 11 pages 25,797 bytes NATIONAL ESTIMATES OF PETITIONED STATUS OFFENSE CASES COUNTS AND TRENDS Status offenses are acts which are illegal only because the person committing them is a juvenile. In other words, an adult cannot be arrested for status offenses. The four major status offense categories used in this report are runaway, truancy, ungovernability (also known as incorrigibility), and underage liquor law violations (e.g., minor in possession of alcohol, underage drinking).[1] In 1993, U.S. courts with juvenile jurisdiction petitioned and formally disposed an estimated 111,200 status offense cases.[2] This number was 37% more than the number of petitioned status offense cases handled in 1989. Petitioned runaway cases increased by 47% between 1989 and 1993. The number of truancy cases was 49% higher in 1993 than in 1989, ungovernable cases grew by 24%, and status liquor offenses climbed by 9%. The Nation's juvenile courts processed 4.1 petitioned status offense cases for every 1,000 youth at risk of referral in 1993. The total case rate was 28% higher in 1993 than in 1989. The rate for runaway cases increased by 36%, truancy grew by 38%, and the rate of ungovernable cases increased by 16%. The status liquor case rate increased just 2% between 1989 and 1993. The majority of formally handled status offense cases in 1993 involved either charges of truancy (30%) or status liquor law violations (24%). Other cases involved runaway (18%), ungovernability (14%), or other miscellaneous status offenses (14%). Compared with 1989, the Nation's juvenile courts handled proportionately fewer ungovernability and liquor law violation cases in 1993 and slightly more runaway and truancy cases. ------------------------------- SOURCE OF REFERRAL Law enforcement agencies referred 40% of the petitioned status offense cases disposed by juvenile courts in 1993. The source of referral varied substantially with the nature of the offense. Law enforcement agencies referred 92% of formally processed status liquor law violation cases to juvenile court but only 40% of runaway cases, 13% of truancy cases, and 10% of ungovernability cases. ------------------------------- DETENTION In 8% of the formally processed status offense cases disposed by juvenile courts in 1993, the juvenile was held in a detention facility at some point between referral to court and case disposition. Detention was used in 16% of runaway cases, 7% of ungovernability cases, 5% of status liquor law violations, and 2% of cases involving truancy charges. Of the estimated 8,400 petitioned status offense cases that involved detention in 1993, 37% were runaway cases, 16% were liquor law violation cases, and 12% were ungovernability cases. The number of formal status offense cases that involved detention in 1993 was 29% greater than the number in 1989. A decline was seen in ungovernable cases involving detention, but the number of runaway, truancy, and liquor law violation cases that involved detention increased between 1989 and 1993. ------------------------------- JUDICIAL DECISION AND DISPOSITION Adjudication In 1993, 54% of petitioned status offense cases handled by juvenile courts resulted in formal adjudication.[3] Adjudication was most common in ungovernability and truancy cases. Runaway cases were the least likely to be adjudicated. The proportion of petitioned status offense cases resulting in adjudication declined between 1989 and 1993. The smallest relative decline in adjudication was found among status offense cases involving runaway youth; 48% of these cases were adjudicated in 1993 compared with 50% in 1989. Disposition The majority (60%) of adjudicated status offense cases in 1993 resulted in probation. Overall, 18% of adjudicated cases resulted in the youth being placed outside the home in a residential facility, and 19% resulted in other dispositions, including restitution or fines, participation in some form of community service, or enrollment in a treatment or counseling program. In a small number of adjudicated cases (3%), the case was dismissed, or the youth was otherwise released. Out-of-Home Placement. The dispositions used in adjudicated status offense cases varied according to the most serious offense involved in the case. For example, adjudicated cases involving charges of ungovernability or runaway were the most likely to result in out-of-home placement in 1993. Residential placement was far less common for adjudicated cases involving status liquor law violations. Although the likelihood of out-of-home placement was nearly the same in 1993 as in 1989 (18% versus 17%), the likelihood of placement for runaway and truancy cases increased between 1989 and 1993. The number of adjudicated status offense cases that resulted in out-of-home placement grew by 28% between 1989 and 1993. The number of runaway and truancy cases resulting in out-of-home placement increased substantially (60% and 79%, respectively), while the number of status liquor law violation cases ending in placement declined by 3%. Of all formally handled status offense cases that involved out-of-home placement in 1993, 25% were referred to court for running away, 25% for ungovernability, 22% for truancy, and 10% for status liquor law violations. Formal Probation. In 1993, an order of formal probation was most likely in adjudicated truancy cases (78%) and least likely (52%) in adjudicated liquor law violation cases. The proportion of cases that resulted in formal probation decreased in nearly all offense categories between 1989 and 1993. The total number of adjudicated status offense cases that resulted in formal probation increased by 13% between 1989 and 1993. The number of formal probation cases involving runaway charges increased by 25%, those involving truancy grew by 19%, and ungovernability cases increased by 9%. In contrast, probation cases involving status liquor offenses declined by 9% between 1989 and 1993. In 1993, 40% of the adjudicated status offense cases that resulted in probation involved truancy as the most serious charge, 21% involved liquor law violations, 15% involved ungovernability, and 14% involved running away. Compared with the 1989 caseload, status offense cases resulting in formal probation in 1993 involved slightly more runaway and truancy charges and slightly fewer charges of ungovernability and liquor law violations. ------------------------------- AGE AT REFERRAL Juveniles age 15 or younger at the time of court referral accounted for 60% of formally processed status offense cases disposed by courts in 1993 compared with 58% in 1989. Juveniles under the age of 16 were involved in 78% of truancy cases, 72% of ungovernability cases, and 68% of runaway cases, but only 25% of status liquor law violation cases. The offense profile of status offense cases reflects age-related behavior differences. Truancy was charged in 40% of cases involving younger youth compared with 17% of cases involving older youth. Liquor law violations were charged in 44% of cases involving older youth but only 10% of cases involving younger juveniles. Petitioned status offense case rates increased continuously with the age of juveniles. In 1993, juvenile courts processed 3.1 petitioned status offense cases involving 13-year-old juveniles for every 1,000 13-year-olds in the population at risk of referral. The case rate for 15-year-olds (7.8 per 1,000) was more than double the rate of 13- year-olds, while the rate for 17-year-olds (8.8 per 1,000) was nearly triple that of 13-year-olds. Between 1989 and 1993, petitioned status offense case rates increased among all age categories older than the age of 10. The rates for 14-year-olds and 15-year-olds rose by 33% and 35%, respectively. Age-specific case rate patterns were different among the individual offense categories. Runaway, truancy, and ungovernability case rates all peaked by age 15 and decreased substantially by age 17. By contrast, status liquor law violation case rates increased continuously with age. The liquor case rate increased from 1.1 cases per 1,000 youth at risk at age 15, to 2.6 at age 16, and 5.1 at age 17. Detention Youth under the age of 16 accounted for more than half (56%) of the petitioned status offense cases that involved detention in 1993, while youth under the age of 14 accounted for 13%. Fifteen-year-olds and 16-year-olds each accounted for slightly more than one-quarter of the petitioned status offense cases involving detention. The likelihood of detention in formally processed status offense cases varied little across age groups. Detention was used in 6% to 9% of petitioned status offense cases involving youth between the ages of 12 and 17. Among the four major status offenses, the use of detention was most likely for runaway cases involving 16-year-olds. Judicial Decision and Disposition The dispositional profiles of status offenders age 15 or younger versus those age 16 or older were slightly different, possibly reflecting the substantial involvement of older juveniles in status liquor law offenses. Overall, the probability of adjudication was greater for the younger group (57% versus 51%). The likelihood of adjudication varied within the four major status offense categories. Among cases involving charges of truancy, younger youth were considerably more likely than older youth to be adjudicated (58% compared with 48%). When the most serious charge in the case was a liquor law violation, cases involving younger youth were still more likely to be adjudicated, although the difference was slightly less (59% versus 54%). Between 1989 and 1993, the likelihood of adjudication declined for status offense cases involving younger youth (from 63% to 57%) as well as older youth (from 61% to 51%). Substantial reductions in the use of adjudication for truancy, liquor law violations, and miscellaneous status offense cases caused the overall likelihood of adjudication for cases involving older juveniles to decline between 1989 and 1993. However, the use of adjudication for cases involving older youth charged with running away changed very little during the same time period. Adjudicated status offense cases involving juveniles under the age of 16 were more likely to result in out-of-home placement (20% versus 14% for older youth). For both younger and older juveniles, the use of out-of-home placement for adjudicated status offense cases was relatively unchanged between 1989 and 1993. For adjudicated cases involving juveniles age 15 or younger, the likelihood of placement was 20% in both 1989 and 1993. Among cases involving older youth, the use of placement grew only slightly, rising from 12% to 14%. The proportion of adjudicated cases resulting in formal probation decreased slightly between 1989 and 1993 for both younger youth (from 68% to 64%) and older juveniles (from 57% to 55%). Compared with cases involving older juveniles, a larger proportion of the cases of younger juveniles was placed on formal probation after adjudication (64% versus 55%). However, a substantially larger proportion of the older group was ordered to pay fines or to enter a treatment or counseling program after adjudication (29% versus 14%), reflecting the greater involvement of older juveniles in status liquor law violation cases. Among older youth, the likelihood of formal probation -- after adjudication -- decreased most in truancy cases (from 91% to 76%). ---------------------------------- SEX Males were involved in 57% of petitioned status offense cases in 1993. Males did not dominate all of the individual offense categories, but they accounted for the majority (70%) of status liquor law violation cases. Males and females were more equally involved in truancy and ungovernability cases. Less than half (37%) of runaway cases involved males. The offense profiles of male and female status offense cases reflect the relatively greater male involvement in liquor law violations and the greater female involvement in runaway cases. Runaway cases accounted for 26% of status offense cases involving females compared with 12% of cases involving males. By contrast, a liquor law violation was charged in 29% of status offense cases involving males compared with 16% of cases involving females. The volume of petitioned status offense cases involving females increased by 43% between 1989 and 1993, while the volume of cases involving males increased by 33%. For both males and females, the largest relative increases were in the number of cases involving charges of runaway and truancy. Runaway cases grew by 40% among males and 51% among females between 1989 and 1993, while truancy cases increased by 49% among males and 48% among females. In 1993, juvenile courts handled 4.5 status offense cases involving males for every 1,000 at-risk males in the population and 3.6 status offense cases involving females for every 1,000 females at risk of referral. The male and female petitioned status offense case rates were relatively equal compared with the large differences in delinquency case rates. This statement was especially true for males and females under the age of 16. However, the status offense case rates for males age 16 and older were considerably higher than those for females of the same age. The status offense case rate for females peaked at age 15 and declined by age 17. On the other hand, the case rate for males increased continuously through the age of 17. For both truancy and ungovernability cases, the male and female case rates were nearly equal at each age, peaking at age 15 and declining markedly thereafter. By contrast, status liquor case rates were substantially greater for males than for females after the age of 14. Both male and female case rates within the status liquor category increased continuously with age, showing large increases in the older age groups. Among males, the 17-year-old status liquor case rate was more than five times the rate of 15-year-olds, while among females the 17-year-old case rate was nearly three times the rate of 15-year-olds. In runaway cases, unlike any of the other status offense categories, the female case rate was consistently greater than the male case rate. Detention Status offense cases involving females were only slightly less likely to involve detention than cases involving males in 1993. Detention was used in 8% of all status offense cases involving males and 7% of those involving females. For both males and females, runaway cases were the most likely to involve detention, which was used in 20% of runaway cases involving males and 13% of those involving females. The likelihood of detention was relatively unchanged for both sexes between 1989 and 1993. However, the use of detention declined slightly in cases involving males charged with ungovernability and females charged with runaway. Judicial Decision and Disposition Juvenile court handling of petitioned status offense cases differed slightly according to the sex of the juvenile. Formally handled status offense cases involving males were slightly more likely to be adjudicated than cases involving females (55% compared with 53%). The likelihood of adjudication for males and females differed only slightly within each of the four major status offense categories. The probability of adjudication for formal status offense cases declined between 1989 and 1993 for both males and females. Only in cases of females charged with runaway did the rate of adjudication remain relatively unchanged. The likelihood of out-of-home placement was similar in 1989 and 1993 for both males and females. Once adjudicated, the likelihood of out-of-home placement for petitioned status offense cases was comparable for both males and females (17% and 18%, respectively). For runaway cases involving males, the probability of out-of-home placement increased from 21% in 1989 to 31% in 1993. The likelihood of placement among truancy cases involving females also grew slightly, rising from 8% to 12% of all adjudicated cases. Probation was less likely in 1993 than in 1989 for adjudicated status offenders of both sexes. For adjudicated cases involving males, the use of probation decreased from 61% in 1989 to 58% in 1993. For those involving females, the use of probation decreased from 67% to 63% of all cases. Changes in the use of probation varied among the four major status offenses. For status offense cases involving males charged with ungovernability, the likelihood of probation increased (from 62% to 64%). The use of probation declined for both males and females in status offense cases involving charges of runaway and truancy. Overall, adjudicated cases involving females were somewhat more likely than those involving males to result in formal probation (63% versus 58%), while other dispositions (e.g., fines, referrals for counseling or treatment) were more common in cases involving males (21% compared with 16%). Most of these differences reflected the greater involvement of males in status liquor law violations, which were less likely than most other status offenses to result in formal orders of probation and more likely to result in other sanctions, such as fines, restitution, and counseling. ------------------------------- RACE In 1993, white juveniles were involved in 75% of all formally processed status offense cases, a proportion comparable to their representation in the general population.[4] White youth were involved in 75% of runaway cases, 71% of truancy cases, 71% of ungovernability cases, and 87% of status liquor law violation cases. The disproportionate involvement of white juveniles in status liquor law violation cases is also observed when offense profiles are established for each racial group. Compared with the status offense caseload of black youth, the caseload of white youth showed a greater proportion of status liquor law violations (27% versus 6%). Liquor law violations were even more frequent in the status offense caseload involving juveniles of other races (38%). Status offense cases involving black youth were more likely to involve truancy charges (38% compared with 29% for whites and 26% for youth of other races). Between 1989 and 1993, the number of petitioned status offense cases involving white juveniles increased by 34%, while the number of cases involving black youth grew by 46%, and those involving youth of other races rose by 48%. The number of cases involving charges of runaway or truancy increased considerably among all three racial groups. The number of cases involving charges of ungovernability increased less among black youth than other youth, while cases of liquor law violations changed little among white youth but increased substantially among black youth and youth of other races. The petitioned status offense case rate for black juveniles was greater than the case rate for white youth or that for youth of other races. In 1993, juvenile courts handled 5.5 formal status offense cases involving black youth for every 1,000 at-risk black youth in the population. Among white youth and youth of other races, the overall 1993 case rates were 3.8 and 3.7, respectively. In three of the four major status offense categories, case rates for black youth were substantially greater than corresponding rates for whites or youth of other races. The case rate for liquor law violations was the only exception. The rate of liquor cases was lowest among black juveniles (0.4 per 1,000 youth at risk), while white juveniles had the next lowest rate of liquor law violation cases (1.0 cases per 1,000), and the highest rate was for youth of other races (1.4 cases per 1,000). The overall status offense case rate for white juveniles increased continuously with age in 1993, rising from 2.5 for 13-year-olds to 9.3 for 17- year-olds. Case rates for black youth increased through the age of 15 and then dropped substantially. The status offense case rate for youth of other races also increased through the age of 15, then declined through the age of 17. Among the runaway, truancy, and ungovernability caseloads, the case rates of all racial groups dropped substantially before the age of 17. By contrast, the rates of status liquor law violation cases increased continuously with age for all racial groups. Unlike the case rate distributions for other offenses, the rate for liquor law violations was substantially lower for black youth in all age groups than for whites or youth of other races. The increased involvement of both older youth and nonblack youth in status liquor law violations may account for some of the racial differences in the overall status offense case rates. Detention In 1993, detention was used at some point between referral and disposition in 7% of all petitioned status offense cases involving white youth and 10% of cases involving black youth. The likelihood of detention for cases involving charges of truancy or ungovernability was identical for white and black juveniles (2% and 6%, respectively). In runaway cases and liquor law violation cases, black juveniles were more likely to be detained than white youth. Between 1989 and 1993, the use of detention for petitioned status offense cases declined among both white and black youth in cases involving runaway and ungovernability charges. In all other cases, the use of detention either remained unchanged or increased slightly. Judicial Decision and Disposition Petitioned status offense cases involving white youth and those involving black youth were less likely to be adjudicated than those involving youth of other races in 1993. Adjudication resulted in 54% of cases involving white youth, 53% of those involving black youth, and 62% of cases involving youth of other races. When the most serious charge in a case was truancy, cases involving black youth were more likely to be adjudicated (59%) than those involving white youth (55%) or youth of other races (50%). In cases of ungovernability or liquor law violations, the likelihood of adjudication for cases involving black youth was less than those involving white youth or youth of other races. In 1993, 23% of adjudicated status offense cases involving black youth resulted in out-of-home placement compared with 17% of cases involving white youth, and 17% of those involving youth of other races. Among adjudicated cases involving charges of running away, those involving black youth were slightly more likely to result in out- of-home placement -- 32% compared with 26% among whites. Among the adjudicated ungovernability cases disposed by juvenile courts in 1993, those involving white juveniles were more likely to end in out-of-home placement (32%) than were cases involving black youth (26%). Between 1989 and 1993, the probability of out-of-home placement increased slightly for status offense cases involving white youth (from 15% to 17%) and black youth (from 20% to 23%) but decreased for cases involving youth of other races (from 22% to 17%). Once adjudicated, status offense cases involving black youth were the most likely to result in out- of-home placement (23%) or formal probation (66%). Adjudicated cases involving black youth were substantially less likely than those involving other juveniles to result in other dispositions, such as fines, restitution, or placement in a counseling or treatment program. Such dispositional differences may reflect the offense profile of black youth, which varies from the offense profiles of white youth and youth of other races. In 1993, probation was the most restrictive disposition used in 59% of status offense cases involving white youth, 66% of cases involving black youth, and 57% of those involving youth of other races. In all racial groups, the status offense cases most likely to result in formal probation were those involving charges of truancy. The likelihood of formal probation decreased slightly between 1989 and 1993 for most status offense cases regardless of race. Probation increased only among cases involving black youth charged with liquor law violations. ------------------------------- NOTES 1. A number of other behaviors may be considered status offenses (e.g. curfew violations). All such offenses are combined within a "miscellaneous" category in this report. Due to the heterogeneity of these offenses, these cases are not discussed independently. However, all totals include the "miscellaneous status offenses." 2. This report presents analyses only of formally handled status offenses. See the Introduction to this report for further explanation. 3. The remaining flow diagrams in this chapter present only proportions and not estimates of case counts because of the relatively low volumes of cases in many of the branches. 4. Whites make up approximately 80% of the Nation's youth population at risk. Nearly all youth of Hispanic ethnicity are included in the white racial category.