Juvenile courts employ a variety of dispositions for youth adjudicated as delinquent.
As of the time of the census, the average time juveniles had spent in public facilities was 192 days and the average time spent in private facilities was 174 days. In 1997, juveniles adjudicated for drug offenses were less likely to be placed outside the home than were those adjudicated for other types of offenses. All of the increase in placements was the result of the increase in the total number of adjudicated delinquency cases between 1988 and 1997. Suggestions of bias by courts when assessing the home conditions of minority youth and the lack of available community resources to provide needed supports have been raised as possible factors contributing to racial disparities in placement practices. For further information This Fact Sheet, which continues the Residential Placement of Adjudicated Youth series, is based on the Report Juvenile Court Statistics 1997.