The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office of Justice Programs (OJP) recently released a Juvenile Justice Statistics report regarding juveniles in residential placement over the past decade. As described in the report, the 2017 Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement (CJRP) shows that the number of youth in placement continues to decline. Between 1997 and 2017, the number of youth in residential placement decreased 59% and of the offenders held in 2017, 96% were held for a delinquency offenses (behaviors that would be criminal law violations for adults) and 4% were held for status offenses (running away, truancy, etc.). In addition, females accounted for 15% of the placement population and minority youth accounted for 67% of youth in placement, with black males forming the largest share.
- Ann Tucker