Title: Juvenile Court Processing of Delinquency Cases, 1987-1996 Series: OJJDP Fact Sheet #104 Author: Anne L. Stahl Published: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, April 1999 Subject:Adjudication-juvenile cases 3 pages 5000 bytes Figures, charts, forms, and tables are not included in this ASCII plain-text file. To view this document in its entirety, download the Adobe Acrobat graphic file available from this Web site or order a print copy from NCJRS at 800-851-3420. BJA at 800-688-4252. Office for Victims of Crime Resource Center at 800-627-6872.Juvenile Court Processing of Delinquency Cases, 1987-1996 by Anne L. Stahl More than half of delinquency cases handled by juvenile courts in 1996 were formally processed In 1996, U.S. courts with juvenile jurisdiction handled an estimated 1.76 million cases involving delinquency charges. More than half (56%) of these cases were processed formally, either by filing a delinquency petition in the juvenile court or waiving the case to criminal court. This Fact Sheet presents national data on delinquency cases processed by juvenile courts from 1987 through 1996. National estimates were generated using information from the National Juvenile Court Data Archive. Nearly 1,800 jurisdictions containing 67% of the U.S. juvenile population contributed data for these national estimates. The number of formally processed delinquency cases increased 78% between 1987 and 1996 Between 1987 and 1996, the total delinquency caseload of U.S. juvenile courts increased 49%. The number of cases formally processed by juvenile courts rose from 552,600 to 983,100 during this time period. In contrast, the number of cases handled informally (without a petition or court hearing) increased just 23% since 1987. Between 1987 and 1992, juvenile courts handled a greater number of delinquency cases informally, although the proportion was nearly equal from 1989 to 1992. Beginning in 1993, formally processed delinquency cases outnumbered those handled informally. In 1996, the formal delinquency caseload was 27% larger than the informal caseload. The likelihood of formal processing for delinquency cases in general increased from 47% to 56% between 1987 and 1996. The largest relative changes were in formal processing of liquor law violation cases (from 27% to 49%) and weapons offense cases (from 47% to 64%). The proportion of formally processed aggravated assault cases dropped slightly from 63% to 61%. In nearly one-third of all delinquency cases referred to juvenile courts, the youth was adjudicated delinquent or waived to criminal court A youth may be adjudicated delinquent because he or she admits to the charges or because the court finds sufficient evidence to judge the youth delinquent. The most severe court actions in delinquency cases are adjudication in juvenile court or waiver to criminal court. Only 1% of formally processed cases were waived to criminal court in 1996. Despite increases in the use of formal processing, the proportion of delinquency cases that were either adjudicated or waived to criminal court did not change substantially. Adjudications and waivers represented between 29% and 33% of all delinquency cases each year from 1987 to 1996. In 1996, drug cases were most likely to result in adjudication or waiver (37%) and property cases were least likely (31%). For further information This Fact Sheet is based on the forthcoming Report Juvenile Court Statistics 1996. Copies will be available from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's (OJJDP's) Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse, 800-638-8736. OJJDP also supports distribution of an easy-to-use, PC-compatible software version of the data analyzed in Juvenile Court Statistics 1996. To obtain the software, write to the National Juvenile Court Data Archive project at the National Center for Juvenile Justice or call 412-227-6950 and request Easy Access to Juvenile Court Statistics. Both the Report and software can be downloaded from OJJDP's home page: www.ojjdp.ncjrs.org. Anne L. Stahl is the Manager of Data Collection for the National Juvenile Court Data Archive, a project supported by an OJJDP grant. Janet Chiancone, Social Science Program Specialist in OJJDP's Research and Program Development Division, serves as the Program Manager. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, and the Office for Victims of Crime. FS-99104 The number of formally processed delinquency cases increased substantially between 1987 and 1996 Between 1987 and 1996, the likelihood of formal handling increased for nearly every offense --Percent of delinquency cases --handled formally Most serious offense--1987--1992--1996 Total delinquency--47%--50%--56% Person offenses--53%--54%--59% Criminal homicide--82--88--91 Forcible rape--77--75--79 Robbery--81--85--87 Aggravated assault--63--63--61 Simple assault--41--41--51 Other violent sex offenses--71--68--75 Other person offenses--49--56--63 Property offenses--45%--47%--52% Burglary--68--69--76 Larceny-theft--35--35--41 Motor vehicle theft--64--67--73 Arson--52--51--56 Vandalism--37--39--50 Trespassing--32--34--41 Stolen property offenses--55--61--68 Other property offenses--55--61--71 Drug law violations--54%--65%--62% Public order offenses--46%--51%--60% Obstruction of justice--70--68--77 Disorderly conduct--28--35--38 Weapons offenses--47--54--64 Liquor law violations--27--42--49 Nonviolent sex offenses--52--47--51 Other public order offenses--29--40--54 Despite increases in the use of formal processing, the total proportion of delinquency cases resulting in adjudication or waiver remained virtually the same The proportion of cases that were either adjudicated or waived to criminal court did not change substantially for most offenses between 1987 and 1996 --Percent adjudicated or waived --to criminal court Most serious offense--1987--1992--1996 Person --31%--30%--33% Property --29--28--31 Drugs--35--39--37 Public order --30--31--35