10/22/24
In 2021, juvenile courts in the United States handled 437,300 delinquency cases that involved youth charged with criminal law violations, 13% less than the number of cases handled in 2020. From 2005 through 2021, the number of delinquency cases declined 73%, with decreases in all four offense categories: property offense cases and public order offense cases (down 78% each), drug law violation cases (down 75%), and person offense cases (down 62%). In 2021, person offense cases accounted for the largest proportion (37%) of the delinquency caseload, followed by property offense cases (30%), public order offense cases (22%), and drug offense cases (11%).