U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

National

Report Series

March 2002 #07

Juvenile Offenders in Residential

Placement: 1997–1999

by Melissa Sickmund

There were 108,931 juvenile offenders in

residential placement on October 27, 1999

In October 1999, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) conducted the second wave of data collection for

the Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement (CJRP). Placement

facilities that hold or can hold accused or adjudicated juvenile offenders (delinquents or status offenders) were asked to provide information on all juvenile offenders in residence on the last Wednesday

of October. Responses to the CJRP identified 134,011 persons

assigned beds on that date in 3,712 public, private, and tribal facilities. Individual-level data were collected on residents who were less

than 21 years old; assigned a bed in a residential facility at the end

of the day on October 27, 1999; charged with an offense or court

adjudicated for an offense; and placed at the facility because of the

offense.

There were 108,931 juvenile offenders who met these CJRP inclusion

criteria. These offenders were held in 1,136 public, 1,794 private, and

9 tribal facilities.

More than one-third of juvenile offenders in residential

placement were held for person offenses

Juvenile offenders in Percent 

residential placement change 

Most serious offense Number Percent 1997–99

Total juvenile offenders 108,931 100 3

Delinquency 104,237 96 5

Person 38,005 35 7

Criminal homicide 1,514 1 –21

Sexual assault 7,511 7 34

Robbery 8,212 8 –13

Aggravated assault 9,984 9 5

Simple assault 7,448 7 12

Other person 3,336 3 50

Property 31,817 29 –1

Burglary 12,222 11 –3

Theft 6,944 6 –5

Auto theft 6,225 6 –5

Arson 1,126 1 23

Other property 5,300 5 13

Drug 9,882 9 6

Drug trafficking 3,106 3 2

Other drug 6,776 6 9

Public order 10,487 10 8

Weapons 4,023 4 –4

Other public order 6,464 6 17

Technical violation* 14,046 13 12

Violent Crime Index* 27,221 25 3

Property Crime Index* 26,517 24 –3

Status offense 4,694 4 –32

* Technical violations include violations of probation, parole, and valid court

orders. Violent Crime Index offenses include criminal homicide, sexual assault,

robbery, and aggravated assault. Property Crime Index offenses include burglary, theft, auto theft, and arson.

Private facilities experienced greater growth in their population of juvenile offenders than did public facilities

Juvenile offenders in Percent 

residential placement change 

Facility operation 1997 1999 1997–99

All facilities 105,790 108,931 3

Public 76,335 77,158 1

Private 29,455 31,599 7

Tribal* – 174 –

* Tribal facilities were not included in the CJRP in 1997.
This Fact Sheet is based on the author’s analysis of the Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement 1997 & 1999 (machine-readable data

files). For more census information, visit the OJJDP Statistical Briefing

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

corrections” or “Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement.”

Melissa Sickmund, Ph.D., is a Senior Research Associate at the National

Center for Juvenile Justice. This work is part of the National Juvenile

Justice Data Analysis Project, which is supported by OJJDP funds.

The population of juvenile offenders in placement rose in some States and fell in others

The population of juvenile offenders in residential placement increased

in 32 States between 1997 and 1999. The increases ranged from 1

to 33%, and in half of these States, the increase was 10% or greater.

In the remaining 18 States and the District of Columbia, the decrease

in the proportion of juvenile offenders in residential placement ranged

from 1 to 38%. In half of these States, the declines were 6% or more.

For further information

S. Department of Justice U.

Office of Justice Programs

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

ashington, DC 20531 W

Official Business

Penalty for Private Use $300

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DOJ/OJJDP

PERMIT NO. G–91

National Report Series Fact Sheet FS–200207

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.

FS–200207

Nationwide, 371 juvenile offenders were held in juvenile

facilities per 100,000 juveniles in the population

State* Number Rate State* Number Rate

U.S. total 108,931 371 Upper age 17 (continued)

Upper age 17 Oklahoma 1,123 273

Alabama 1,589 333 Oregon 1,549 404

Alaska 382 419 Pennsylvania 3,819 285

Arizona 1,901 334 Rhode Island 310 284

Arkansas 705 234 South Dakota 603 632

California 19,072 514 Tennessee 1,534 256

Colorado 1,979 407 Utah 985 320

Delaware 347 431 Vermont 67 96

Dist. of Columbia 259 704 Virginia 3,085 415

Florida 6,813 427 Washington 2,094 307

Hawaii 118 96 West Virginia 388 202

Idaho 360 220 Wyoming 310 488

Indiana 2,650 384 Upper age 16

Iowa 1,017 296 Georgia 3,729 475

Kansas 1,254 383 Illinois 3,885 322

Kentucky 1,188 270 Louisiana 2,745 580

Maine 242 167 Massachusetts 1,188 206

Maryland 1,579 269 Michigan 4,324 417

Minnesota 1,760 290 Missouri 1,161 205

Mississippi 784 229 New Hampshire 216 167

Montana 246 220 South Carolina 1,650 441

Nebraska 720 342 Texas 7,954 370

Nevada 789 378 Wisconsin 1,924 338

New Jersey 2,386 273 Upper age 15

New Mexico 855 378 Connecticut 1,466 513

North Dakota 235 297 New York 4,813 334

Ohio 4,531 345 North Carolina 1,429 221

Note: The rate is the number of juvenile offenders in residential placement

per 100,000 juveniles ages 10 through the upper age of original juvenile

court jurisdiction in each State. The U.S. total includes 2,645 juvenile offenders in private facilities for whom the State of offense was not reported and

174 juvenile offenders in tribal facilities.

* State where the offense occurred.

The demographic profile of juvenile offenders in residential placement changed little from 1997 to 1999

Demographic Juvenile offenders in residential placement (%)

characteristic 1997 1999

Female 14 13

Minority 63 62

Black 40 39

Younger than 15 17 22