Custody Data (1997-Present)

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), Serving Children, Families, and Communities

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Q:	How do custody rates vary by race?
A:	For every 100,000 non-Hispanic black juveniles living in the U.S., 767 were in a residential placement facility on February 22, 2006 - for Hispanics the rate was 326, and for non-Hispanic whites it was 170.

State custody rates by race/ethnicity, 2006

State of offense	Custody rate (per 100,000)
State of offense	Total	White	Minority	Black	Hispanic	American Indian¹	Asian¹

U.S. total	295	170	486	767	326	540	85

Alabama	342	213	564	610	195	*105	*0
Alaska	430	257	722	902	*178	841	314
Arizona	246	183	306	658	282	288	*38
Arkansas	261	172	476	595	196	*0	*165
California	351	163	453	1,268	396	408	114

Colorado	397	284	617	1,234	544	574	133
Connecticut	170	56	433	618	337	*342	*0
Delaware	327	103	695	893	285	*0	*0
District of Columbia	671	197	735	789	274	*0	*367
Florida	397	288	526	972	140	195	56

Georgia	276	124	450	544	173	*0	*12
Hawaii	92	*18	116	*65	108	*0	44
Idaho	297	286	353	*382	305	866	*159
Illinois	206	114	336	500	196	1,343	66
Indiana	364	278	734	945	356	*153	*35

Iowa	323	253	878	1,525	361	1,279	237
Kansas	335	208	772	1,230	553	436	182
Kentucky	273	204	724	865	203	*0	*68
Louisiana	279	129	469	521	*71	*201	*47
Maine	152	146	277	*447	*0	*259	*206

Maryland	174	74	295	364	116	*0	*21
Massachusetts	198	95	517	706	474	*187	131
Michigan	268	162	550	654	214	421	*38
Minnesota	280	151	871	1,364	274	2,086	279
Mississippi	128	61	199	213	*0	*0	*0

Missouri	227	134	574	701	199	*95	*75
Montana	235	184	516	*1,038	333	514	*0
Nebraska	368	236	932	1,471	565	1,794	*94
Nevada	317	247	389	902	261	513	93
New Hampshire	148	123	521	1,233	399	*798	*0

New Jersey	176	46	363	705	176	*440	*9
New Mexico	204	83	262	550	285	137	*0
New York	270	118	458	754	290	167	41
North Carolina	144	74	259	315	121	149	*41
North Dakota	355	240	1,110	*318	*387	1,392	*0

Ohio	322	188	837	989	252	*0	*33
Oklahoma	232	149	403	756	207	243	*139
Oregon	319	281	445	1,104	316	1,042	*57
Pennsylvania	321	136	962	1,229	560	*263	99
Rhode Island	308	160	705	1,501	327	1,646	357

South Carolina	317	161	542	605	100	*0	*0
South Dakota	672	371	1,898	3,049	1,139	1,889	*823
Tennessee	216	140	422	483	147	*162	*0
Texas	335	196	432	843	335	130	24
Utah	267	197	578	1,981	513	425	203

Vermont	81	71	*323	*381	*613	*0	*0
Virginia	283	127	563	741	275	*123	72
Washington	206	164	322	698	252	547	85
West Virginia	320	277	953	1,205	*283	*0	*0
Wisconsin	251	141	696	1,206	135	793	167
Wyoming	559	416	1,415	4,138	945	1,586	*0

¹American Indian includes Alaskan Natives; Asian includes Pacific Islanders.
* Rate based on fewer than 10 observations.

Notes: The custody rate is the number of juvenile offenders in residential placement on February 22, 2006 per 100,000 juveniles age 10 through the upper age of original juvenile court jurisdiction in each State. U.S. total includes 1,466 youth in private facilities for whom State of offense was not reported and 133 youth in tribal facilities. Minorities include blacks, Hispanics, American Indians/Alaskan Natives, Asians/Pacific Islanders, and those identified as "other race."

To preserve the privacy of the juvenile residents, cell counts have been rounded to the nearest multiple of three. Detail may not add to total because of rounding. Rates are based on rounded totals. More information on this rounding rule is available on the CJRP Databook Web site.

[ Map of minority to nonminority ratio ] [ Excel file ]

In all but 8 states, the custody rate for black juvenile offenders exceeded the rate for other race/ethnicity groups.
Nationally, the ratio of the custody rate for minorities to that for whites was 2.9 to 1.
In 33 states, the ratio between the minority-to-white custody rate was above the national average. In 5 states, the minority-to-white custody rate was more than 6 to 1.
In Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Arizona, Florida, and Maine the ratio was less than 2 to 1.

Internet citation: OJJDP Statistical Briefing Book. Online. Available: http://ojjdp.ncjrs.gov/ojstatbb/corrections/qa08203.asp?qaDate=2006. Released on September 12, 2008.

Data Source: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement 2006 [machine-readable data files]. Washington, D.C.: OJJDP.