The 1997 and 1998 juvenile arrest rates were the lowest reported in Washington since 1983. The 1998 rate is especially notable given the significant increase in the reporting population. From 1996 to 1997 there was a 5-percent increase in the average number of children referred per month to Child Protective Services for abuse and neglect, with a 4-percent decrease in the average number of children referred from 1997 to 1998. In 1998 the juvenile violent offense arrest rate (3.3 per 1,000 juveniles) continued at a notably low rate, the next-to-lowest rate reported since 1984. The number of juveniles held in detention facilities in 1998 increased by about 12 percent from the number held in 1997. This increase far exceeded the population increase for youth ages 10-17 of less than 2 percent for the same time period. In 1998, 65 percent of the detention population was white, 14 percent was black, 4 percent was Asian/Pacific Islander, 9 percent was Hispanic, and 4 percent was unknown or not reported, relatively unchanged from 1997. Although 54 percent of juveniles held in juvenile rehabilitation administration facilities in 1999 were white, black youth continued to have the highest per capita rate. Tables, figures, notes