A comprehensive report on juvenile crime, victimization, and the juvenile justice system

To say the National Center for Juvenile Justice’s (NCJJ) 2014 Juvenile Offenders and Victims report is comprehensive is not doing it justice.

The center used a vast array of sources from Census Bureau to the FBI to state agencies with the objective of giving the public, media, elected officials, and juvenile-justice professionals accurate statistics on the types of crime juveniles are committing, who’s committing the crimes, and trends in criminal behaviors.

Among the findings were

• The number of juveniles being arrested for violent crimes dropped to its lowest level in 30 years. The same proved true for juveniles arrested for murder.
• The number of cases being handled by juvenile courts fell to the lowest level since 1990. It was also found that female arrests rose by 69 percent in the last 30 years.
• Fewer kids were placed in residential facilities, reaching a 20-year low.

The NCJJ does not explain the statistics. One of the report’s authors and director of the NCJJ, Melissa Sickmund, suggested that child welfare is intervening more so that juveniles are helped before they are adjudicated. Then there is the issue of the high costs of keeping a kid in a facility. States are increasingly looking for ways other than incarceration to deal with young offenders.

Also covered in the study were

• how many kids surveyed witnessed violence (61 percent) and how many were subjected to such violence as assault and bullying (46 percent) in the last year
• the number of kids aged 15-17 that were killed by a gun
• high schoolers injured as a result of a school fight
• the disparity in black youths being sent to placement after adjudication for drug use (27 percent) as opposed to Asians (17 percent) and whites (16 percent)

The effect of services provided after a youth was released from placement was examined. It was found that those who received community-based supervision, for instance, “were more likely to attend school, go to work, and avoid further involvement with the juvenile justice system. Youth contact with aftercare before release and extended availability of transitional community-based support services increased these benefits.”

The authors of the report realize that most people will use it as a reference tool for specific topics. They, however, urge readers to check out other sections. Each, they say, “offers something new, something that will expand your understanding, confirm your opinions, or raise questions about what you believe to be true.”