American Academy of Pediatrics

TABLE 1

Racial and/or Ethnic Disparities in the Juvenile Justice System (All Data From 2018, Unless Otherwise Specified)

	White	African American	Hispanic	AIAN	AHPI
US population <18 y,¹⁰ %	50	14	26	1	5
Juvenile arrest relative rate (RR)^11,^a	—	2.6	Not reported^b	1.3	0.3
Cases referred to juvenile court RR¹²	—	2.9	0.9	1.2	0.2
Cases diverted RR¹²	—	0.6	0.8	0.8	1.0
Cases detained RR¹²	—	1.4	1.5	1.3	1.2
Cases adjudicated delinquent RR¹²	—	0.9	1.1	1.1	1.0
Adjudicated cases resulting in secure confinement RR¹²	—	1.4	1.4	1.2	0.9
Cases judicially waived to criminal court¹²	—	1.6	1.0	0.9	0.9
Juvenile residential placement RR¹³	—	4.6	1.4	2.8	0.2
Decrease juveniles in residential placement 2006–2015,¹⁴ %	54	46	45	51	65
Decline in juvenile court delinquency cases 2005–2015,¹⁵ %	53	44	38	40	57

	White	African American	Hispanic	AIAN	AHPI
US population <18 y,¹⁰ %	50	14	26	1	5
Juvenile arrest relative rate (RR)^11,^a	—	2.6	Not reported^b	1.3	0.3
Cases referred to juvenile court RR¹²	—	2.9	0.9	1.2	0.2
Cases diverted RR¹²	—	0.6	0.8	0.8	1.0
Cases detained RR¹²	—	1.4	1.5	1.3	1.2
Cases adjudicated delinquent RR¹²	—	0.9	1.1	1.1	1.0
Adjudicated cases resulting in secure confinement RR¹²	—	1.4	1.4	1.2	0.9
Cases judicially waived to criminal court¹²	—	1.6	1.0	0.9	0.9
Juvenile residential placement RR¹³	—	4.6	1.4	2.8	0.2
Decrease juveniles in residential placement 2006–2015,¹⁴ %	54	46	45	51	65
Decline in juvenile court delinquency cases 2005–2015,¹⁵ %	53	44	38	40	57

AIAN, American Indian or Alaskan native; AHPI, Asian American, Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander; —, not applicable.

Relative rates relative to white youth.

Not all agencies provide ethnicity data; thus, arrest rates for Hispanic juveniles are not reported.