Case processing characteristics of delinquency offenses by race, 2019

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

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Racial and Ethnic Fairness

National data show disparities for minority youth at the court referral, detention, placement, and waiver to criminal court stages.

Counts	Total	White	Minority	Black	AIAN*	AHPI**	Hispanic
Population (10 to upper age)	31,878,900	16,912,900	14,966,000	4,726,300	599,400	1,909,100	7,731,300
Cases referred to juvenile court	722,600	310,200	412,500	254,800	12,900	8,700	136,100
Cases diverted	199,200	104,000	95,200	51,300	3,300	2,700	38,000
Cases detained	186,600	63,100	123,500	75,100	3,200	2,200	42,900
Cases petitioned	386,600	150,100	236,500	153,700	7,200	4,500	71,200
Cases adjudicated	203,600	79,400	124,200	76,200	4,100	2,400	41,500
Adjudicated cases resulting in probation	132,200	54,000	78,200	46,600	2,700	1,800	27,200
Adjudicated cases resulting in placement	55,100	17,200	37,900	23,600	1,000	500	12,700
Cases judicially waived	3,300	1,100	2,200	1,700	<50	<50	400

Rates	Total	White	Minority	Black	AIAN*	AHPI**	Hispanic
Cases referred per 1,000 population	22.7	18.3	27.6	53.9	21.5	4.5	17.6
Cases diverted per 100 cases referred	27.6	33.5	23.1	20.1	25.3	31.0	27.9
Cases detained per 100 cases referred	25.8	20.3	29.9	29.5	25.2	25.6	31.5
Cases petitioned per 100 cases referred	53.5	48.4	57.3	60.3	55.7	51.9	52.3
Cases adjudicated per 100 cases petitioned	52.7	52.9	52.5	49.6	57.4	52.3	58.3
Probation cases per 100 adjudicated cases	64.9	68.0	62.9	61.1	64.5	74.5	65.4
Placement cases per 100 adjudicated cases	27.1	21.7	30.5	31.0	24.6	20.6	30.6
Cases judicially waived per 100 cases petitioned	0.9	0.7	0.9	1.1	0.6	0.6	0.6

Ratio of Rates¹			Minority	Black	AIAN*	AHPI**	Hispanic
Referral rate			1.5	2.9	1.2	0.2	1.0
Diversion rate			0.7	0.6	0.8	0.9	0.8
Detention rate			1.5	1.4	1.2	1.3	1.6
Petitioned rate			1.2	1.2	1.2	1.1	1.1
Adjudicated rate			1.0	0.9	1.1	1.0	1.1
Probation rate			0.9	0.9	0.9	1.1	1.0
Placement rate			1.4	1.4	1.1	1.0	1.4
Waiver rate			1.3	1.5	0.8	0.9	0.9

¹ The ratio of rates is created by dividing the rates for each race/ethnic minority group by the white rate. A ratio of 1.0 indicates statistical parity, i.e., the rates for the comparison groups are equal. For example, if white youth and black youth were referred at the same rate, the ratio would be 1.0, indicating the rates for these groups are equal. When the ratio exceeds 1.0, the rate for the race/ethnic minority group exceeds the rate for white youth; when it is below 1.0, the rate for race/ethnic minority youth is less than the rate for white youth.

**AIAN: American Indian or Alaskan Native; ***AHPI: Asian, Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander.

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In 2019, cases involving black youth were nearly three times more likely to be referred to juvenile court for a delinquency offense than cases involving white youth.
The diversion rate for cases involving black, American Indian, and Hispanic youth was less than the diversion rate for cases involving white youth.
Regardless of race/ethnicity, delinquency cases involving minority youth were more likely to involve detention than cases involving white youth.
Cases involving black youth were more likely to be petitioned than cases involving white youth, but were less likely to result in a delinquency adjudication.
Cases involving Hispanic youth were 60% more likely to involve detention than cases involving white youth, and 40% more likely to receive a placement disposition.

Internet citation: OJJDP Statistical Briefing Book. Online. Available: https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/special_topics/qa11601.asp?qaDate=2019. Released on June 22, 2021.

Data Source: Adapted from Easy Access to Juvenile Populations [https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/ezapop/] and Easy Access to Juvenile Court Statistics [https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/ezajcs/].