Special Topics

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), Serving Children, Families, and Communities

Hispanic youth in the juvenile justice system

OJJDP supports efforts to better understand the characteristics and experiences of Hispanic/Latino youth who come into contact with the juvenile justice system through special analysis and dissemination of general population information, as well as subnational information about Hispanic arrests and juvenile court cases. Visit the Hispanic youth in the juvenile justice system section to learn more.

Racial and Ethnic Fairness

Fairness refers to decisions that do not discriminate against youth from gender, racial, ethnic, or other subpopulations. These could be decisions on how to process a case (i.e., pre-disposition detention) or how to respond to a behavior (i.e., responses appropriate to risk and harm). Research indicates that when youth perceive themselves being treated fairly, they are more likely to internalize the lessons of accountability. Visit the racial and ethnic fairness section to find out about disproportionality at various stages of the justice system, including arrest, juvenile court, and residential placement.

State Juvenile Justice Profile

The State Juvenile Justice Profiles provide state level data on a variety of juvenile justice indicators, including population characteristics, youth as victims, youth arrest rates, and youth in residential placement. Users can quickly find these data for each state and even compare among states.