Delinquency Cases in Juvenile Court, 2021

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the National Institute of Justice released a fact sheet highlighting key delinquency caseload trends from 2021. There were 437,300 delinquency cases in the United States, down by 39% from 2020, contributing to an overall decline in delinquency cases since its peak in 1997. In 2021, 44% of delinquency cases involved white youth, 35% Black youth, 17% Hispanic youth, 2% American Indian youth, and 1% Asian youth. In addition, over half (53%) of the delinquency cases involved youth under the age of 16 at the time of referral. This fact sheet also highlights the prevalence of detention (26% of all delinquency cases), waiver to criminal court (1% of all delinquency cases), and adjudications (48% of all petitioned cases) in 2021. Among the cases that resulted in an adjudication, notably 65% resulted in probation and 28% resulted in residential placement. This fact sheet is based on the National Center for Juvenile Justice’s annual report, Juvenile Court Statistics 2021, and provides youth defense advocates with baseline data to demonstrate the reach and impact of delinquency cases on youth across the country.