Title: Juvenile Offenders in Residential Placement, 1997 Series: OJJDP Fact Sheet #96 Author: Catherine A. Gallagher Published: March 1999 Subject: Juvenile corrections 3 pages 6,000 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. ------------------------------ Juvenile Offenders in Residential Placement, 1997 by Catherine A. Gallagher In October 1997, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) conducted the new Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement (CJRP). This census replaces the old Census of Public and Private Juvenile Detention, Correctional, and Shelter Facilities (also known as the Children in Custody or CIC series) that previously reported on juveniles in facilities intended to hold juvenile offenders. This Fact Sheet presents initial analyses from the 1997 census. The reference date for CJRP was October 29, 1997. Each facility, secure or nonsecure, that holds or can hold alleged or adjudicated juvenile delinquent or status offenders was asked to complete a form that collected information on each juvenile offender in residence on that date. More than 94 percent of all facilities responded to the census. Imputations were possible for most of the nonresponding facilities. Based on this information, there were 125,805 young persons assigned beds in 1,121 public and 2,310 private residential facilities. Of the 3,431 residential facilities, 2,844 had at least one juvenile who met the four criteria for inclusion in CJRP's person-level reporting section. Of the residents in these facilities, 105,790 (84 percent) were: o Under the age of 21. o Assigned a bed in a public or private residential facility on October 29, 1997. o Charged with or court-adjudicated for an offense. o Placed at the facility because of the offense. CJRP collected information on each offender in residential placement including age, race, sex, and offense. Thus, it provides a more comprehensive base for analyzing this population than CIC. For a more detailed description of CJRP and a comparison with CIC, see the OJJDP Fact Sheet Counting What Counts: The Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement (January 1998). The bulk of young offenders (72.2 percent) resided in 1,108 public facilities on the reference date The remaining 27.8 percent were assigned beds in 1,736 private facilities. Public facilities are those owned and operated exclusively by State or local government agencies. Private facilities are those owned and operated by various nongovernmental organizations that provide services to juvenile offenders. More minority than white offenders were in residential placement Forty percent of the offenders were black and 37.5 percent were white. A little less than one-fifth (18.5 percent) of the young offenders were identified as Hispanic. A small percentage of the juveniles were classified as American Indian (1.5 percent), Asian (1.8 percent), or Pacific Islander (0.3 percent). The vast majority of offenders (86.5 percent) were male A comparison of males and females reveals that females were, on average, younger than the males in placement. The mean age of males in residential placement (16) was slightly higher than the mean age for females (15.4). Ten percent of the females were aged 13 and under, whereas 6 percent of males fell into this age group. Looking at the older persons in juvenile facilities shows that more males (14 percent) than females (4 percent) were between the ages of 18 and 20. Overall, females made up less than 14 percent of the residential population. Within specific age groups, one finds the largest percentage of females in the 13-year-old group (21 percent) and the smallest in the 20-year-old group (2.9 percent). Sixteen-year-old black males were the largest group of young offenders in residential placement, accounting for nearly 10 percent of the total. This group is followed in descending order by 16-year-old white males, 17-year-old black males, and 17-year-old white males. Many young offenders (42.4 percent) were in residential facilities for a serious personal or property offense Nearly one-fourth of the juveniles were in facilities because of an aggravated assault, a violent sexual assault, a kidnaping, or a robbery. Approximately one-fifth were charged with serious property offenses, including arson, auto theft, and burglary. Almost 2 percent were charged with or adjudicated for homicide or murder. Few (6.5 percent) were in a facility because of a status offense Status offenses include running away, underage drinking, truancy, curfew violations, and other offenses that are illegal for juveniles but not adults. States differ in what they classify as a status offense. For example, many States no longer consider running away an adjudicable offense. In these States, runaways would not be counted in this census. Only those juveniles who committed an act subject to juvenile court action were included. ------------------------------ Catherine A. Gallagher is a consultant to the U.S. Bureau of the Census on OJJDP survey research projects. ------------------------------ 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-9996