IN SUMMARY, THE YOUTH COURTS REPORTED 12,508 DISPOSED CASES. OF THESE, 11,764 WERE DELINQUENCIES (94 PERCENT), 84 INVOLVED TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS, 544 WERE NEGLECT AND ABUSE CASES, AND 116 WERE SPECIAL PROCEEDINGS. MORE THAN HALF OF THE CASELOAD, 6,417 CASES, WERE HANDLED UNOFFICIALLY; THE REMAINING 6.109 WERE HANDLED OFFICIALLY. LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES REFERRED 77 PERCENT OF THE CASES; PARENTS AND RELATIVES, 12 PERCENT; AND SOCIAL AGENCIES, PROBATION OFFICERS, SCHOOLS AND OTHER SOURCES REFERRED 11 PERCENT. THE AVERAGE AGE OF CHILDREN REFERRED WAS 15 YEARS AND 1 MONTH. MALES COMPOSED 72 PERCENT OF THE CASES, AND FEMALES 28 PERCENT. APPROXIMATELY 54 PERCENT OF ALL CASES WERE WHITE; 45 PERCENT BLACK; AND ONE PERCENT WERE INDIAN OR OF ANOTHER RACE. NO PRIOR REFERRALS IN 1978 WERE REPORTED FOR 10,111 CASES, AND 8,728 CASES INVOLVED OFFENDERS WITH NO PRIOR REFERRALS FOR PREVIOUS YEARS. TABLES PROVIDE DETAILED INFORMATION ON OFFENDER CHARACTERISTICS, REFERRAL GROUNDS, AND CASE DISPOSITIONS; AND A GRAPH SHOWS THE NUMBERS OF DISPOSED CASES BY MONTH. A COPY OF THE JUVENILE COURT STATISTICAL CARD USED TO COLLECT DATA ON EACH CASE IS INCLUDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)