Juvenile Justice System
The Number of youths involved in the juvenile justice system has significantly decreased over the past decade, according to a recent report from the National Council on Crime and Delinquency.between 1997 and 2006,the number of youths in custody fell 12%, from 105,055 to 92,854, peaking in 1999 at 107,667.
while there are various factors behind this decrease, it is not a result of an increase in youths transferred to adult jails and prisons: the number of such transfers concurrently decreased by 38%, dropping from 13,652 to8,494 between 1999 and 2006.
The youth arrest rate also declined 28% over the past decade, from 9,198 to 6,632 per 100,000, however, disparities in custody rates among racial/ethnic groups have persisted.
The number of native american youths in custody increaed 13%, from 1,615 to 1,828, wherear the number of white youths decreased 18%, from 39,445 to 32,495, the number of african american youths decreased 11%, from 41,896 to 37,337, and the number of Hispanic youths decreased 2%, from 19, to 19,027.
African american youths continue to make up almost 40% of the population in custody despite accounting for less than 15% of the total youth population.
