U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention 

February 2002 #02

other types of offenses. Following adjudication, placement was

ordered in 23% (17,800) of drug offense cases, 24% (67,100) of

property offense cases, 27% (39,300) of person offense cases,

and 28% (39,600) 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.

Juvenile Court Placement of Adjudicated

Youth, 1989–1998

by Charles M. Puzzanchera

In 1998, more than 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 634,000 adjudicated delinquency cases

in 1998, 26% 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); 58%

resulted in an order of probation; 11% resulted in some other disposition, such as restitution, fines, community service, or referral

to other treatment agencies; and 5% were released at disposition

without sanction. 

In 1998, juveniles adjudicated for drug offenses were less likely

to be placed outside the home than were those adjudicated for

Out-of-home placement in adjudicated delinquency cases

Percent of adjudicated 

delinquency cases resulting

in residential placement

1989 1994 1998

Total adjudicated 

delinquency cases 31% 28% 26%

Most serious offense

Person 33% 31% 27%

Property 27 26 24

Drug 36 28 23

Public order 38 31 28

Gender

Male 32% 29% 27%

Female 26 22 20

Race

White 30% 25% 24%

Black 33 33 30

Other 33 32 25

Age at referral

12 or younger 23% 19% 16%

13 to 15 32 29 26

16 or older 31 29 27

Predisposition detention

Detained 49% 45% 45%

Not detained 21 21 18

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

80,000

Public order

Drug

Property

Person

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998

Year

Number of cases

Adjudicated delinquency cases placed out of home,

1989–98

Placement cases grew 37% between 1989 and 1998

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

placement rose from 119,700 in 1989 to 163,800 in 1998. The

largest percentage increase was in the number of person offense

cases resulting in placement, which grew 73% from 1989 to 1998.

Placement grew 59% for drug offense cases, 52% for public order

offense cases, and 12% for property offense cases. The general

pattern of increase in out-of-home placements followed the pattern of increase in adjudicated cases between 1989 and 1998—

the number of adjudicated drug offense cases grew 146%, person

offense cases grew 111%, public order offense cases grew 105%,
more for white youth (39%, from 71,900 to 99,800) than for

black youth (35%, from 43,200 to 58,400) or for youth of other

races (21%, from 4,600 to 5,600). Although these data do not

control for the severity of the offense or the court histories of

the youth, the disproportionate representation of minorities in

out-of-home placement is a national concern.

For further information

This Fact Sheet is based on the forthcoming Report Juvenile

Court Statistics 1998, which will be available on the Office of

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

site (ojjdp.ncjrs.org). 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 the Manager of Data Analysis and Report

Production for the National Juvenile Court Data Archive, a project supported by an OJJDP grant.

PRESORTED STANDARD

POSTAGE & FEES PAID

DOJ/OJJDP

PERMIT NO. G–91

FS–200202 ct Sheet Fa

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

and property offense cases grew 26%. In fact, although the

number of adjudicated cases that resulted in out-of-home placement grew between 1989 and 1998, the overall proportion of

cases that resulted in out-of-home placement declined from 31%

in 1989 to 26% in 1998.

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–200202

Characteristics of adjudicated delinquency cases resulting

in out-of-home placement

Percent of all placement cases

1989 1994 1998

Most serious offense

Person 19% 24% 24%

Property 50 46 41

Drug 9 9 11

Public order 22 22 24

Gender

Male 88% 88% 85%

Female 12 12 15

Race

White 60% 57% 61%

Black 36 38 36

Other 4 4 3

Age at referral

12 or younger 5% 4% 4%

13 to 15 51 53 50

16 or older 43 43 46

Predisposition detention

Detained 55% 50% 50%

Not detained 45 50 50

Note: Detail in each category may not total 100% because of rounding.

The number of out-of-home placements between

1989 and 1998 increased across all racial groups

Of the estimated 163,800 adjudicated cases in 1998 that resulted

in out-of-home placement, 99,800 (61%) involved white youth,

58,400 (36%) involved black youth, and 5,600 (3%) involved

youth of other races. That same year, 24% of adjudicated cases

involving white youth resulted in out-of-home placement, compared with 30% of cases involving black youth and 25% involving other minority youth. Between 1989 and 1998, the number of

adjudicated cases resulting in out-of-home placement increased

Out-of-home placement in adjudicated delinquency cases,

by race

Number of adjudicated delinquency cases 

resulting in out-of-home placement

Percent change

1989 1994 1998 1989 to 1998

White 71,900 83,600 99,800 39%

Black 43,200 55,600 58,400 35

Other 4,600 6,500 5,600 21