Disposition of delinquency cases, 1985-2020

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

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Probation as a Court Disposition

Q:	How many delinquency cases receive probation as the most restrictive disposition?
A:	Probation was ordered in 51% of the nearly 325,400 delinquency cases that received a juvenile court sanction in 2020.

Year	Waived to criminal court	Residential placement	Probation	Other sanctions
1985	6,000	107,700	368,000	228,300
1986	6,600	113,100	379,100	241,900
1987	6,100	109,500	373,200	250,100
1988	6,200	110,200	372,800	251,200
1989	7,500	121,900	395,200	221,000
1990	7,600	124,000	427,500	237,800
1991	9,000	128,500	453,500	288,000
1992	9,600	132,500	483,100	301,900
1993	11,200	138,000	483,800	341,600
1994	13,000	149,100	515,200	374,600
1995	11,900	156,300	550,100	402,300
1996	11,800	168,200	570,600	455,500
1997	10,800	178,000	604,400	445,500
1998	10,400	180,000	582,100	427,600
1999	9,400	180,000	575,300	400,600
2000	7,800	178,800	586,300	395,800
2001	7,000	167,500	588,300	383,700
2002	7,600	165,000	579,900	390,600
2003	7,400	162,200	579,500	397,400
2004	6,800	154,700	576,100	378,000
2005	6,500	151,600	554,300	379,200
2006	6,800	147,800	545,800	351,500
2007	6,700	145,600	550,900	364,000
2008	6,500	138,900	552,800	360,000
2009	6,100	122,200	506,400	340,100
2010	5,800	112,900	462,500	318,600
2011	4,700	102,400	423,900	292,700
2012	4,500	89,200	394,400	267,200
2013	3,900	80,900	364,900	231,700
2014	4,000	73,300	342,900	213,600
2015	3,200	66,700	303,400	209,100
2016	3,200	63,900	282,700	197,500
2017	3,400	62,900	274,200	189,300
2018	3,400	58,200	258,900	177,100
2019	3,300	51,900	242,200	177,300
2020	3,000	35,900	165,100	121,400

It is important to note that 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.

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In 2020, an estimated 165,100 delinquency cases resulted in a term of probation - 55% below the the number of cases placed on probation in 1985.
Adjudicated delinquency cases accounted for 54% (88,700) of all delinquency cases placed on probation in 2020. In the remaining delinquency cases, the youth agreed to some form of voluntary or informal probation.

Internet citation: OJJDP Statistical Briefing Book. Online. Available: https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/probation/qa07102.asp?qaDate=2020. Released on January 10, 2023.

Adapted from Easy Access to Juvenile Court Statistics. Available on-line at: https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/ezajcs/.

Data Source: National Juvenile Court Data Archive. National Center for Juvenile Justice. Pittsburgh, PA.