New OJJDP Fact Sheets

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention has published three new fact sheets:

• Delinquency Cases in Juvenile Courts, 2004

Summary: The number of delinquency cases handled by juvenile courts decreased 7 percent between 1995 and 2004. During this period, public order offense cases increased 41 percent, drug law violation cases increased 19 percent, person offenses increased 2 percent, and property offense cases decreased 33 percent.

• Petitioned Status Offense Cases in Juvenile Courts, 2004

Summary: Between 1995 and 2004, the number of petitioned status offense cases handled by U.S. courts with juvenile jurisdiction increased 39 percent. Truancy cases increased 69 percent, curfew violation cases increased 38 percent, liquor law violation cases increased 17 percent, while the number of petitioned runaway cases remained relatively stable between 1995 and 2004.

• Drug Offense Cases in Juvenile Courts, 1985–2004

Summary: In 2004, U.S. juvenile courts handled an estimated 193,700 delinquency cases in which a drug offense was the most serious charge. Between 1991 and 2004, the number of cases involving drug offenses that juvenile courts handled more than doubled [emphasis mine]. Drug offense cases accounted for 12 percent of all delinquency cases in 2004, compared with 7 percent in 1985.