NCJ Number
84937
Date Published
1982
Length
39 pages
Annotation
The impact of the deinstitutionalization of status offenders at State and local levels is examined for Arizona, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Abstract
The placement of adjudicated statue offenders in secure public institutions has been virtually eliminated in the seven States. There was evidence of the upgrading of the status offender to a delinquent in only one locality in one of the States. There has also been a substantial reduction in the use of detention for preadjudicated status offenders. There has been a decline in the number of youth who commit status offenses and who then enter the juvenile justice system. Although the Federal mandate does not clearly state that diversion is necessary, there is a range of diversion activities in all of the States. For those status offenders who are diverted to some other service system, the predominant forms of out-of-home care are group homes or foster care arrangements (the choice between the two often depends on the level of commitment and amount of resources that a State has to devote to the development of alternative types of facilities). It is unclear what is happening to youth who commit status offenses but do not enter the juvenile system or its closely related diversion programs. Most officials and observers believe that more of these youth are being ignored altogether. This study, however, was not able to examine other possible community settings (e.g., private hospitals, clinics, and schools) in which status offenders might be receiving services.