Juvenile Court Statistics 2000

While juvenile courts may handle a variety of matters pertaining to juveniles, this report focuses on the cases involving law violations, which are known as delinquency or status offenses. The unit of count utilized was the number of cases disposed; data on cases were gathered from juvenile courts or juvenile justice agencies. The 2000 estimates were based on case records from over 1,700 courts with jurisdiction over 71 percent of the juvenile population in 2000. Following the introduction in chapter 1, chapters 2 and 3 describe the national estimates of delinquency and status cases handled in 2000 and analyze trends in caseloads since 1985. The volume and rate of delinquency cases are examined, as are the sources of referrals and the characteristics of both the juvenile offenders and their offenses. The flow of delinquency cases through the courts is outlined with particular attention paid to each decision-making point, such as detention and final disposition. Chapter 4 focuses on a sample-based profile of status offense cases handled during the study period and includes information about demographic characteristics, offenses, and case processing. Highlighted findings show that juvenile courts handled an estimated 1,633,300 delinquency cases in 2000, with roughly 4,500 delinquency cases handled on any given day. In comparison, in 1960 there were approximately 1,100 delinquency cases handled daily. Trend analysis indicated that juvenile case processing increased 43 percent between 1985 and 2000.

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