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Missouri
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State Demographics

In 1996, Missouri's youth population under age 18 was approximately 1,394,200 (Casey Foundation 1998).

Of the State's children, approximately 8 percent were living in families with incomes below 50 percent of the poverty level in 1995. Further, it is estimated that in 1995, approximately 25 percent of Missouri's children were living in working-poor families or families where at least one parent was working 50 or more hours a week but the family's income was still below the poverty level (Casey Foundation 1998).

Missouri ranked 29th in the country in terms of teen birth rate for 1995. This same year, the birth rate in the State was 33 births per 1,000 young women ages 15-17. This was up from 32 births per 1,000 young women in 1985 (Casey Foundation 1998).

Overview of the Juvenile Justice System

Missouri has 45 Judicial Circuit Juvenile Divisions encompassing 115 counties. Each of these circuits has a juvenile court judge who is appointed by the circuit court and a juvenile officer who is appointed by the juvenile court (Missouri Department of Public Safety 1998).

The Division of Youth Services is responsible for providing treatment options for juvenile offenders within the State's juvenile justice system. This includes prevention, community-based programs, and residential options. Further, as of April 1999, the Division will be operating seven highly structured, secure care programs (Missouri Department of Public Safety 1998).

The Formula Grants Program for the State is housed within the Missouri Department of Public Safety.

Offense Patterns and Processing of Juvenile Female Offenders

The following statistics give an overview of the information available on female offending and processing patterns in Missouri:

  • In 1995, young women represented 31 percent (25,176) of all referrals to juvenile court. Anglo young women represented 22 percent of these referrals while African-American young women represented 9 percent. However, African-American females account for only 6.7 percent of the State's youth population and are represented in referrals at nearly one and a half times their percentage in the population (Missouri Department of Public Safety 1998).

  • In 1995, young women represented 22.5 percent (2,741) of all juvenile court referrals for violent offenses. Anglo young women accounted for 12 percent of these referrals, and African-American young women accounted for 10.5 percent (Missouri Department of Public Safety 1998).

  • Also in 1995, young women represented 22 percent (6,229) of all juvenile court referrals for nonviolent offenses. Anglo young women accounted for 15 percent of these referrals, and African-American young women accounted for 7 percent (Missouri Department of Public Safety 1998).

  • Referrals of young women for nonviolent offenses have increased at almost twice the rate of males (female rates increased 27 percent, while male rates increased by only 15 percent) since 1993. This rate is only slightly higher than the 22 percent rate of referrals for nonviolent offenses reported from 1986 to 1992 (Missouri Department of Public Safety 1994).

  • In 1995, young women accounted for 45 percent (9,182) of all referrals for status offenses. Anglo young women accounted for 33 percent of these referrals while African-American young women accounted for 8 percent (Missouri Department of Public Safety 1998).

  • In 1992, young women represented 25 percent (2,221) of all youth admitted to detention and 14 percent (266) of all youth committed (Poe-Yamagata and Butts 1996, p. 19).

Approach to Female Offenders

The specific objectives of Missouri's efforts to address the needs of female juvenile offenders have remained consistent since 1995. They include the following initiatives:

  • To ensure that comprehensive and adequate services are available in Missouri for both male and female youth by developing a State of the State Report on Gender-Specific Services, identifying where there is a need for additional services and developing a program plan to initiate the necessary services.

  • To ensure that juvenile justice processing of youth and the outcomes of juvenile cases in Missouri are equitable and not based on gender bias by assessing processing and outcomes of sample cases, disseminating the research results throughout the courts, and initiating training programs for juvenile court personnel (Missouri Department of Public Safety 1995, pp. 2-3).

In 1995, as part of the State's Juvenile Justice Advisory Group (JJAG), the State formed a Gender Equity Task Group to determine the issues of greatest need and to draft a strategic plan for implementing the Challenge Grant activities. This plan was then adopted by the entire JJAG. To increase their knowledge, members of both the JJAG and the Gender Equity Task Force have attended trainings held in the State on female development and appropriate programming for young women (Missouri Department of Public Safety 1995, p. 6).

In April 1997, as part of a statewide conference on the issue, Missouri also released a report containing the findings of its research effort. The report is titled Gender and Juvenile Justice in Missouri. It contains detailed information on both delinquent and status offending patterns for young women in the State and results from a perceptions survey conducted on juvenile and family court personnel and staff from residential placements (Kempf-Leonard 1997, p. 2). Information on obtaining this report can be found in Appendix B, Available State Products.

In June 1998, as part of the Missouri Juvenile Justice Association's Gender Services Challenge Grant, a statewide gender conference entitled "Girls are Unique" was conducted. Two hundred people from throughout the State representing various agencies, organizations, schools, and city and county circuits attended the two-day conference. The agenda addressed the issue of improving the quality of treatment for young women in Missouri. The goals for participants of the conference included the following:

  • To identify characteristics of a quality program for girls.

  • To define reasons programming and treatment for girls should be different from programming and treatment for boys.

  • To recognize interventions designed to meet the unique developmental needs of girls.

  • To define strategies to advocate for improving program services for girls.

The outcome of the conference was the re-establishment of a Gender Task Force consisting of interested professionals from around the State.

References

Annie E. Casey Foundation. 1998. KIDS COUNT Online Data Service. Annie E. Casey Foundation, Baltimore, MD.

Kempf-Leonard, Kimberly. 1997. Gender and Juvenile Justice in Missouri. Department of Public Safety, Jefferson City, MO.

Missouri Department of Public Safety. 1995. Missouri 1995 Challenge Activity E Grant Application. Submitted to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Washington, DC.

Missouri Department of Public Safety. 1998. The State of Juvenile Justice, Issues and Priorities for Missouri's Juvenile Justice System 1998-2000. Missouri Department of Public Safety and the Missouri Juvenile Justice Advisory Group, Jefferson City, MO.

Poe-Yamagata, E., and J.A. Butts. 1996. Female Offenders in the Juvenile Justice System: Statistics Summary. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Washington, DC.

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Juvenile Female Offenders: A Status of the States Report October 1998