U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

John J. Wilson, Acting Administrator

From the Administrator

Obtaining sound information is

essential to arriving at a clear

understanding of any situation. To

that end, OJJDP inaugurated its

annual Children in Custody (CIC)

census in 1974 to assess the status

of juveniles held in detention or

corrections facilities.

While the CIC census served an

important role for more than two

decades, practitioners increasingly

have required more detailed information to understand how facilities are

used, particularly differences in the

use of public and private facilities.

In response to this need, OJJDP

launched the more comprehensive

Census of Juveniles in Residential

Placement (CJRP) in 1997.

Using 1997 CJRP findings, this

Bulletin compares the role of private

facilities, where most status offenders

are held, with that of public facilities,

where most delinquent offenders are

detained. For example, California

leads the United States in custody

rates based on delinquents held in

public facilities, but when public and

private facility data for both delinquent

and status offenders are combined,

the District of Columbia tops the list.

The detailed State-by-State data on

juveniles held in public and private

facilities provided in these pages will

enable readers to better understand

the role these facilities play in their

own States and across the Nation.

John J. Wilson

Acting Administrator

December 2000

State where the offense was committed

and the State where the facility is located.

Consequently, CJRP data can be used to

calculate State custody rates for both

public and private placements. The data

show that, although nationally just 2% of

juveniles were held in out-of-State private

facilities in 1997, in some States the proportion approached 30%. In this Bulletin,

custody rates are calculated for each

State based on the State where the offense occurred. Custody rates represent

the number of juveniles assigned a bed

(because of an offense) on October 29,

1997, per 100,000 juveniles in the general

population age 10 through the upper age

of juvenile court jurisdiction in each

State.

Private facilities

are an important

custody resource

Whereas most delinquents are held in

public facilities, most status offenders are

held in private facilities. Including status

offenders and private facilities in the calculation of custody rates affects State

rankings based on these rates.

If only delinquents in public facilities are

considered, California tops the list of State

custody rate rankings in 1997, with 498

delinquents in public facilities per 100,000

juveniles in the general population age 10

through the upper age of juvenile court

original jurisdiction. Half of the States had

rates that were less than 209 per 100,000.

State Custody Rates, 1997

Melissa Sickmund

In 1974, the Office of Juvenile Justice and

Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) began

collecting information about juvenile detention and corrections facilities through

the Census of Public and Private Juvenile

Detention, Shelter, and Correctional Facilities, better known as the Children in Custody (CIC) census. An assessment conducted by OJJDP in 1993 concluded that

CIC did not fully meet the information

needs of the juvenile justice community.

As a result, OJJDP developed the Census

of Juveniles in Residential Placement

(CJRP) and inaugurated it as the successor to CIC in October 1997.

This Bulletin draws on 1997 CJRP statistics to analyze State custody rates for juvenile offenders, with a focus on types of

facilities used (public versus private) for

delinquent and status offenders.

Better data give

insight into the use

of private facilities

CJRP improves custody rate statistics in

several ways. CIC data did not support

State-specific custody rates for private

facilities because the only State identifier

collected was the State where the facility

was located. The fact that an unknown

number of juveniles in private placement

were held in out-of-State facilities meant

that rates based on facility location were

meaningless or even misleading.

CJRP data include two State identifiers for

each juvenile in residential placement: the
2

Use of private facilities

varies substantially

by State

Several States used private facilities for

less than 10% of offenders in residential

placement in 1997, but many States relied

quite heavily on private facilities, placing

as many as 66% of offenders in them. Most

States made limited or no use of out-ofState private facilities; some States, however, did make significant use of these

facilities, placing as many as 29% of offenders in them.

Of course, several factors influence variations in State custody rates, including

Including status offenders and offenders

held in private facilities in the calculations

drops California to fourth place. Virginia

and New Mexico drop out of the top 10.

Half of the States had rates that were less

than 338 per 100,000.

Custody rates of delinquents in

public facilities

State Rate Rank

California 498 1

Nevada 446 2

South Dakota 416 3

District of Columbia 412 4

Georgia 397 5

South Carolina 368 6

Louisiana 368 7

Connecticut 361 8

Virginia 358 9

New Mexico 325 10

Custody rates of all offenders in

public and private facilities

State Rate Rank

District of Columbia 662 1

Louisiana 583 2

South Dakota 559 3

California 549 4

Wyoming 513 5

Connecticut 508 6

Georgia 480 7

Nevada 460 8

South Carolina 427 9

Alaska 419 10

Virginia 400 13

New Mexico 343 25

Note: Rates are per 100,000 juveniles age

10 through upper age of juvenile court

jurisdiction.

Note: Rates are per 100,000 juveniles age

10 through upper age of juvenile court

jurisdiction.

The proportion of juvenile offenders held in public facilities ranges

from 34% to 99%

Percentage of Juvenile Offenders Held in—

Private Facilities

State Public Facilities In-State Out-of-State

Total United States 74% 23% 2%

Alabama 54 46 0

Alaska 75 25 0

Arizona 86 13 1

Arkansas 59 41 0

California 91 8 1

Colorado 48 41 12

Connecticut 74 24 2

Delaware 68 5 28

District of Columbia 65 32 3

Florida 47 52 2

Georgia 85 15 0

Hawaii 83 9 7

Idaho 69 14 16

Illinois 93 5 2

Indiana 65 33 2

Iowa 38 60 3

Kansas 67 32 0

Kentucky 71 29 0

Louisiana 63 36 0

Maine 80 16 4

Maryland 51 48 1

Massachusetts 34 66 0

Michigan 53 42 5

Minnesota 58 34 8

Mississippi 99 0 1

Missouri 81 19 0

Montana 57 14 29

Nebraska 69 22 10

Nevada 97 3 0

New Hampshire 65 29 5

New Jersey 97 3 0

New Mexico 95 4 0

New York 56 44 1

North Carolina 89 10 0

North Dakota 35 58 7

Ohio 91 8 0

Oklahoma 65 35 0

Oregon 78 22 0

Pennsylvania 37 58 5

Rhode Island 80 20 0

South Carolina 88 12 0

South Dakota 82 16 1

Tennessee 57 43 0

Texas 87 13 0

Utah 52 42 6

Vermont 44 36 20

Virginia 93 7 0

Washington 94 6 0

West Virginia 54 29 18

Wisconsin 69 31 0

Wyoming 50 49 2

Note: State is where the offense occurred. Throughout the United States, there were 3,401

juveniles in private facilities (12%) for whom State of offense was not reported. All but 91

juveniles in public facilities were held in-State.
3

Upper Age

of Juvenile Number of

Court Offenders

Jurisdiction Oct. 29, 1997

Most delinquents are in public facilities; most status offenders are in private facilities

Custody Rate

Delinquent Offenders Status Offenders

All Offenders Public Private Public Private

Rate Rank Rate Rank Rate Rank Rate Rate

Total United States 105,790 368 260 85 6 18

Alabama 17 1,685 349 23 178 32 129 9 9 33

Alaska 17 352 419 10 314 12 82 23 0 21

Arizona 17 1,868 345 24 292 16 39 39 4 9

Arkansas 17 603 198 44 115 42 68 28 2 13

California 17 19,899 549 4 498 1 44 32 2 6

Colorado 17 1,748 380 17 179 31 189 3 1 10

Connecticut 15 1,326 508 6 361 8 123 13 17 7

Delaware 17 311 403 12 272 18 128 11 0 0

District of Columbia 17 265 662 1 412 4 232 1 15 0

Florida 17 5,975 394 14 198 27 193 2 1 2

Georgia 16 3,622 480 7 397 5 68 27 10 4

Hawaii 17 134 106 50 83 49 14 48 5 5

Idaho 17 242 146 49 101 47 43 33 0 0

Illinois 16 3,425 286 33 266 19 18 45 1 1

Indiana 17 2,485 366 19 209 26 94 18 34 29

Iowa 17 1,064 308 31 112 44 156 7 4 36

Kansas 17 1,242 387 16 256 20 59 31 4 67

Kentucky 17 1,079 244 40 180 29 40 38 2 22

Louisiana 16 2,776 583 2 368 7 186 4 1 28

Maine 17 318 220 41 162 35 42 36 15 4

Maryland 17 1,498 273 34 139 39 128 10 1 4

Massachusetts 16 1,065 194 47 69 50 124 12 0 1

Michigan 16 3,710 375 18 186 28 148 8 11 29

Minnesota 17 1,522 258 37 147 37 84 22 3 25

Mississippi 17 756 219 42 214 25 2 51 1 1

Missouri 16 1,401 248 38 180 30 29 40 20 18

Montana 17 302 267 35 146 38 85 20 5 29

Nebraska 17 741 354 22 236 24 86 19 6 24

Nevada 17 857 460 8 446 2 13 49 0 2

New Hampshire 16 186 154 48 97 48 42 35 2 12

New Jersey 17 2,251 266 36 255 21 4 50 4 4

New Mexico 17 778 343 25 325 10 15 47 1 3

New York 15 4,661 323 30 176 33 84 21 4 60

North Carolina 15 1,204 196 45 174 34 16 46 2 5

North Dakota 17 272 338 26 115 43 101 15 4 115

Ohio 17 4,318 333 28 297 15 22 41 7 6

Oklahoma 17 808 196 46 125 40 60 30 4 8

Oregon 17 1,462 390 15 310 14 73 25 2 6

Pennsylvania 17 3,962 302 32 107 46 164 5 4 27

Rhode Island 17 426 412 11 325 11 78 24 3 6

South Carolina 16 1,583 427 9 368 6 43 34 8 8

South Dakota 17 528 559 3 416 3 70 26 44 25

Tennessee 17 2,118 358 21 156 36 103 14 47 53

Texas 16 6,898 327 29 279 17 41 37 4 3

Utah 17 768 248 39 123 41 99 16 6 20

Vermont 17 49 70 51 34 51 22 43 4 9

Virginia 17 2,879 400 13 358 9 22 42 12 7

Washington 17 2,216 335 27 310 13 20 44 4 0

West Virginia 17 398 201 43 107 45 65 29 0 29

Wisconsin 16 2,013 359 20 241 23 97 17 10 11

Wyoming 17 340 513 5 244 22 163 6 9 95

Note: State is where the offense occurred. The total for the United States includes 3,401 juveniles in private facilities for whom State of offense was

not reported. Rates are per 100,000 juveniles age 10 through upper age of jurisdiction. State ranks are based on unrounded rates.
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differences in States’ upper age of juvenile

court jurisdiction, extended age of jurisdiction (i.e., how long the juvenile justice

system has jurisdiction over youth for

dispositional purposes), and provisions

for transfer to criminal court; jurisdictions’ demographic composition; offenders’ offense profiles; and bedspace availability in custodial facilities. Thus, State

custody rate comparisons should be interpreted with caution.

Conclusion

These data show that information on the

relative use of public and private facilities

from State to State is important in understanding State-specific custody rates. Knowing what types of offenders are placed in

what types of residential facilities can be

useful in comparing States and making program development decisions within States.

Readers no doubt will find many other ways

to employ these data to better understand

the use of custody as a sanction in their

own State and in other States.

A note on

confidentiality

By statute and regulation, OJJDP must protect the privacy of individuals included in

its surveys. To comply with this requirement, OJJDP requires all published data

from CJRP to be rounded to the nearest

multiple of three. These data are rounded

after a table has been produced from the

underlying data. Each cell is rounded independently, without consideration as to

row or column totals. As a result, in many

tables, the internal cells do not add to the

marginal totals. Rates and percentages

presented from CJRP are also based on

rounded totals. More information on this

rounding rule is available on the CJRP

Databook Web site (see below).

For further information

This Bulletin is based on analysis of data

from the 1997 CJRP. OJJDP also supports

the online CJRP Databook, a component

of OJJDP’s Statistical Briefing Book (visit

www.ojjdp.ncjrs.org and click on JJ Facts

& Figures). The Databook allows users to

access thousands of State and national

CJRP data displays interactively online.

Related publications are also available

online at OJJDP’s Web site (www.ojjdp.

ncjrs.org) and may be ordered from the

Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse by telephone at 800–638–8736; by mail at P.O.

Box 6000, Rockville, MD 20849–6000; or

by e-mail at www.ncjrs.org/puborder.

This Bulletin was prepared under grant

number 1999–JN–FX–K002 from the Office of

Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention,

U.S. Department of Justice.

Points of view or opinions expressed in this

document are those of the author and do not

necessarily represent the official position or

policies of OJJDP or the U.S. Department of

Justice.

Acknowledgments

This Bulletin was written by Melissa

Sickmund, Ph.D., Senior Research

Associate at the National Center for

Juvenile Justice. The author gratefully

acknowledges the efforts of the many

public and private residential placement facilities that contribute data to

CJRP.

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.