After noting a decrease in the arrests of children between 1988 and 1997, the chapter reports that between 1980 and 1997, the annual number of murders by children below age 13 was relatively stable at an average of approximately 30 per year, with more than half of these murders being done with firearms. A section on juvenile court referrals of child delinquents reports that law enforcement agencies referred a larger percentage of arrested child delinquents to the juvenile courts in 1997 than in 1988; data on their age, gender, race, and offenses are provided. When children brought before the court were adjudicated delinquent in 1997, approximately one of every five (19 percent) was removed from the home and placed in a residential facility, and nearly two-thirds were placed on formal probation. Data are provided on the ages and offenses of child delinquents in residential placement in 1997, as well as the types of facilities in which they were held. A discussion of the future of child delinquents in the juvenile justice system cites data to show that delinquents referred to the court for the first time before they were 13 years old were far more likely to become chronic offenders than juveniles referred to the court at an older age. 1 table, 12 figures, and 2 notes