data snapshot

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

Data Reflect Changing Nature of Facility
Populations, Characteristics, and Practices
The number of youth in residential placement fell 53%,
74% in large facilities, between 2000 and 2014

Percentage of facilities over capacity
25%

Number of youth in placement
120,000
108,802

20%

2014

80,000

15%
50,821
27,366
13,207

All facilities

14,720

8,735

Small
Medium
Large
(<20 beds) (21−100 beds) (>100 beds)
Facility size

Nearly half of all facilities were privately operated, but
they held less than 30% of youth in placement in 2014

5%

8%

6%
4%

0%

All facilities

2%

4%

3%

Medium
Large
Small
(<20 beds) (21−100 beds) (>100 beds)
Facility size

In 2014, 90% of reporting facilities evaluated all youth
for suicide risk
Percentage of facilities screening all youth
100%

Facility operation:
Private

15%

10%

39,609

20,000

Youth

2014

55,974

40,000

0

25%

2000

2000

100,000

60,000

In 2014, 4% of all facilities were over capacity,
compared with 8% in 2000

State

Local

80%

Proportion of petitioned cases referred
29%
34%
37%

90%

88%
74%

60%
58%

40%
46%

Facilities

21%

33%
20%

0%

20%
40%
60%
80%
Percentage of facilities and youth held

100%

0%

Suicide
risk

Education
needs

Substance
abuse

Mental health
needs

Nearly half of training schools and detention centers
reported use of isolation to control behavior
ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb

Percentage of facilities reporting past month use
70%
60%

Locked youth in room*
Mechanical restraints†

Access more information on residential
facilities and youth in placement

62%

50%
46%

40%

47%

43%

30%
20%

23%

24%

10%
0%
All facilities

Training school

Detention center

* Locked in isolation, seclusion, or sleeping room for more than 4 hours.
† Restraints include handcuffs, leg cuffs, waist bands, leather straps, or restraining
chairs. Excludes use for transportation purposes.

n Review FAQs about residential facility characteristics
n Analyze data with Easy Access to the Census of
Juveniles in Residential Placement
Notes: Throughout this publication, juveniles and youth refer
to those charged with or adjudicated for law violations held in
residential facilities. This publication was prepared by Charles
Puzzanchera and Sarah Hockenberry, National Center for
Juvenile Justice, with funds provided by OJJDP through grant
#2013-MU-FX-0005. August 2016.
Data source: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention. Juvenile Residential Facility Census [machine-readable
data files]. Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau (producer).