Frequently Asked Questions about Juveniles in Court

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) provide the latest answers to the most commonly asked questions about youth in juvenile court. Here you will learn about trends in the volume of delinquency and petitioned status offense cases handled by the nation’s juvenile courts, and case processing characteristics.

2020 was the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which may have impacted policies, procedures, and data collection activities regarding referrals to and processing of youth by juvenile courts. Additionally, stay-at-home orders and school closures likely impacted the volume and type of law-violating behavior by youth referred to juvenile court in 2020.

Counts and Trends

How many delinquency cases are handled by juvenile courts? [Answer]
What are the characteristics of delinquency cases handled by juvenile courts? [Answer]
What proportion of delinquency cases are referred to juvenile court by law enforcement agencies? [Answer]
How has the delinquency caseload changed since the 1960s? [Answer]
Does the trend in delinquency cases vary across offenses? [Answer]

Delinquency Case Rates

Do delinquency case rates vary by age and offense? [Answer]
What are the delinquency case rate trends for certain offenses? [Answer]

Detention

Has the juvenile courts' use of detention in delinquency cases changed? [Answer]
Do trends in the number of detained cases vary by offense? [Answer]
Do trends in the use of detention vary by offense? [Answer]
Have trends in the number of detained cases varied by race? [Answer]

Manner of Handling

Has the juvenile courts' formal delinquency caseload grown? [Answer]
Has the juvenile courts' handling of delinquency cases changed? [Answer]

Disposition

Has there been an increase in the number of delinquency cases ordered to formal probation or residential placement? [Answer]
Have there been increases in the number of cases judicially waived to criminal court? [Answer]

Case Flow

How does the juvenile court process a typical delinquency case? [Answer]

Counts and Trends

How many petitioned status offense cases are handled by juvenile courts? [Answer]
Do the trends in the petitioned status offense cases vary by offense? [Answer]
What are the characteristics of petitioned status offense cases handled by juvenile courts? [Answer]
What proportion of petitioned status cases are referred to juvenile court by law enforcement? [Answer]

Petitioned Status Case Rates

What are the case rate trends for petitioned status offenses? [Answer]

Detention

Has the number of petitioned status offense cases involving detention changed? [Answer]
Do trends in the number of detained status cases vary by offense? [Answer]
Do trends in the use of detention vary by offense? [Answer]

Disposition

Has the sanctioning of petitioned status offense cases changed? [Answer]
What is the trend in dispostions for adjudicated status offense cases? [Answer]