The analysis revealed that each year juvenile courts handled close to three runaway cases for every 1,000 youth aged 10 through 17 living in their jurisdictions. Girls, whites, and youth 14 through 16 years old were more likely than other youth to be referred to court for running away. Medium-size counties had higher runaway case rates than large or small counties. Overall, one in five runaway youth were admitted to secure detention facilities while their cases were being processed by the court. Law enforcement agencies referred the majority of runaway cases to court. Four out of 10 runaway cases referred to court were dismissed either at intake or after an adjudicatory hearing. States varied widely in the proportion of runaway cases handled formally -- from less than 5 percent to 50 percent or more. There were no significant differences between the processing of boys' and girls' runaway cases. 5 figures