Juvenile Crime and Victimization - Children In Custody

There are many different types of facilities for delinquent youth, including juvenile detention centers, shelters, reception and diagnostic centers, training schools, and group homes. Not all youths placed in these facilities are accused delinquent and status offenders, however. Some are placed for treatment or as a result of abuse, dependency, or neglect. Others are held temporarily while arrangements are being made.

Prisons and Jails

According to a Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) survey, in 1998 1.4% of 592,462 individuals confined in adult jails were seventeen or younger. The number of juveniles confined in the adult jails surveyed increased 366% between 1983 and 1998. The BJS survey revealed that 0.4% (4,775) of one million prisoners confined in state prisons in 1998 were juveniles. Most state prison systems house juveniles. Florida and Connecticut had the highest numbers of juvenile prisoners in adult prisons (572 and 505, respectively), and Hawaii and Rhode Island had the lowest numbers (two and zero, respectively). About 23% of the youths were being held as adjudicated juvenile offenders or pretrial detainees, while 75% had been sentenced as adults.