Every year the Division of Juvenile Justice publishes an annual report, documenting the challenges and achievements of the past year, and containing a wealth of interesting and useful data. In this blog I’ll highlight ten pieces of information from the 2023 publication. All youth referred to are youth alleged to be delinquent; undisciplined youth are not included in these numbers. Unless otherwise noted, the graphics are from the actual report:
Approved – Diverted – Closed Cases (OJD graphic)
These numbers represent the percentages of youth processed through juvenile justice intake. Looking at the last three years, it appears that overall fewer cases are being approved for court. While fewer cases are also being diverted, increasingly more cases are being closed without court involvement.
Delinquency Rate Over Time (OJD graphic)
“Delinquency rate” refers to the number of youths generally in the population age range of 8 to 17 compared to youth who have a complaint filed against them. It is commonly believed that juveniles/youth are committing more offenses. While the delinquency rate has risen, particularly over the last couple of years, here are some thoughts to take into consideration:
The minimum age of jurisdiction, raised from 6 to (in most cases) 10 for offenses committed on or after December 1, 2021shrunk the overall number of youths considered for the delinquency rate. This impacted the rate in that older youth are more likely to be charged with a juvenile offense than a younger child.
Though the rate has raised closer to 30 percent note that this is still a lower rate going back to 2008-09, when there were no 16- or 17-year-olds in juvenile jurisdiction. This tends to indicate that while adding the number of older youths to the system raises the rate of delinquency, the rate of delinquency still isn’t as high as in years past, when those number of youths were not in the system.
Minor – Serious – Violent Crime Percentages (OJD graphic)
These percentages are for complaints made to juvenile justice. Note that the percentages have largely stayed the same over the last three years. In particular, the complaints for violent offenses have slightly waned over the last three years.
Complaints by Race
Out of total of 39,341 complaints, youth of color accounted for 70.5% of all complaints, including 61.1% African American youth and 9.4% Hispanic/Latino youth.
School Based Offenses
School based offenses have not risen to their pre-pandemic rates. From 2010 through 2019, the percentage of school-based offenses averaged 43.7% of the total number of delinquent complaints. While this number dropped precipitously in 2020 and 2021 due to the impact of the pandemic on school attendance, 2022 indicated 34% and 2023 32%. This even though 16- and 17-year-olds began to be charged with school-based offenses starting December 1, 2019.
Top 10 Juvenile Offenses
While these numbers are generally consistent over time, note that possession of a handgun by a minor has increased, from 682 complaints in 2021 to 810 complaints in 2022 to 999 complaints in 2023.
Detention Center Admissions by Race (OJD graphic)
While the total number of youths in detention has increased, there is a marked disproportionality between African American youth and White youth. Detention admissions for African American Youth increased 28% while admissions for White youth increased 4.5% between 2021 and 2022 but effectively stayed the same between 2022 and 2023.
Detention Center Average Length of Stays/Youth Transferred to Superior Court
The Annual Report describes a consistent increase in the average length of stay for youth in detention:
Also notable is the average length of stay for youth in detention who are pending or have been transferred, and the increase from 2022 to 2023:
Youth Development Center (YDC) Commitments by Race (OJD graphic)
African American youth are committed three times more to a YDC than White youth. However, unlike the percentages displayed for youth in detention, the numbers for youth by race committed to YDC have largely stayed the same.
Youth Development Center Average Length of Commitment
Note that in this graphic, despite the influx of older youth in the system, the average length of commitment has generally decreased over time.
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