U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention 

J. Robert Flores, Administrator September 2003 #05

In 1999, juveniles adjudicated for drug or property offenses were

less likely to be placed outside the home than were those adjudicated for person or public order offenses. Following adjudication,

placement was ordered in 22% (17,200) of drug offense cases,

23% (58,700) of property offense cases, 26% (38,100) of person

offense cases, and 27% (41,200) of cases involving public order

offenses, such as weapons offenses, disorderly conduct, and

obstruction of justice. A relatively high proportion of public order

offense cases resulted in out-of-home placement because this

category included escapees from institutions and probation and

parole violators.

Placement cases grew 24% between 1990 and 1999

The number of adjudicated cases that resulted in out-of-home

placement rose from 124,900 in 1990 to 155,200 in 1999. The

largest percentage increase was in the number of drug offense

cases resulting in placement, which grew 73% from 1990 to 1999.

Placement grew 56% for public order offense cases, grew 48%

for person offense cases, and declined 6% for property offense

Juvenile Court Placement of Adjudicated

Youth, 1990–1999

by Charles M. Puzzanchera 

In 1999, nearly one in four adjudicated delinquency

cases resulted in out-of-home placement

Juvenile courts employ a variety of dispositions for youth adjudicated delinquent. Of the 639,100 adjudicated delinquency cases

in 1999, 24% resulted in a judicial disposition of out-of-home

placement (i.e., placement in a residential treatment center, juvenile corrections facility, foster home, or group home); 62%

resulted in an order of probation; 10% resulted in some other

disposition, such as restitution, fines, community service, or

referral to other treatment agencies; and 4% were released at

disposition without sanction. 

Out-of-home placement in adjudicated delinquency cases

Percent of adjudicated delinquency 

cases resulting in placement

1990 1995 1999

Total adjudicated 

delinquency cases 32% 27% 24%

Most serious offense

Person 35% 29% 26%

Property 28 25 23

Drugs 36 24 22

Public order 38 30 27

Gender

Male 33% 28% 26%

Female 26 20 19

Age at referral

12 or younger 24% 16% 15%

13 to 15 33 28 24

16 or older 32 27 26

Race

White 30% 24% 23%

Black 35 31 28

Other 32 28 24

Predisposition detention

Detained 48% 45% 41%

Not detained 22 19 17

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

80,000

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

Number of cases

Person

Property

Drugs Public order

Adjudicated delinquency cases placed out of home,

1990–1999
cases. The general pattern of increase in out-of-home placements

followed the pattern of increase in adjudicated cases between

1990 and 1999—the number of adjudicated drug offense cases

grew 187%, public order offense cases grew 119%, person offense cases grew 98%, and property offense cases grew 16%. In

fact, although the number of adjudicated cases that resulted in

out-of-home placement grew between 1990 and 1999, the overall

proportion of cases that resulted in out-of-home placement declined from 32% in 1990 to 24% in 1999.

cases involving white youth resulted in out-of-home placement,

compared with 28% of cases involving black youth and 24%

involving other minority youth. Between 1990 and 1999, the

number of adjudicated cases resulting in out-of-home placement

increased more for white youth (31%, from 72,600 to 95,000)

than for black youth (17%, from 47,300 to 55,200) or for youth

of other races (–2%, from 5,100 to 4,900).

For further information

This Fact Sheet is based on the forthcoming Report Juvenile

Court Statistics 1999, which will be available on the Office

of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s (OJJDP’s)

Web site (www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ojjdp). To learn more about

juvenile court cases, visit OJJDP’s Statistical Briefing Book

(ojjdp.ncjrs.org/ojstatbb/index.html) and click on “Juveniles

in Court.” OJJDP also supports Easy Access to Juvenile Court

Statistics, a Web-based application that analyzes the data files

used for the Juvenile Court Statistics Report. This application

is available from the Statistical Briefing Book.

Charles M. Puzzanchera is a Research Assistant with the National

Juvenile Court Data Archive, which is supported by an OJJDP grant.

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.

Fact Sheet FS–200305

Out-of-home placement in adjudicated delinquency cases,

by race

Number of adjudicated delinquency cases 

resulting in out-of-home placement

Percent change

1990 1995 1999 1990 to 1999

White 72,600 87,200 95,000 31%

Black 47,300 53,700 55,200 17

Other 5,100 5,900 4,900 –2

Percent change figures are based on unrounded numbers.

Characteristics of adjudicated delinquency cases

resulting in out-of-home placement

Percent of all placed cases

1990 1995 1999

Most serious offense

Person 21% 24% 25%

Property 50 44 38

Drugs 8 9 11

Public order 21 22 27

Gender

Male 89% 87% 85%

Female 11 13 15

Age at referral

12 or younger 5% 4% 4%

13 to 15 52 53 49

16 or older 42 43 47

Race

White 58% 59% 61%

Black 38 37 36

Other 4 4 3

Predisposition detention

Detained 58% 48% 53%

Not detained 42 52 47

Detail may not add to 100% because of rounding.

The number of out-of-home placements increased

across all racial groups between 1990 and 1999

Of the estimated 155,200 adjudicated cases in 1999 that resulted

in out-of-home placement, 95,000 (61%) involved white youth,

55,200 (36%) involved black youth, and 4,900 (3%) involved

youth of other races.1 That same year, 23% of adjudicated

1 Juveniles of Hispanic ethnicity can be of any race, but most are included in

the white racial category.