needs of the juvenile delinquent; (4) a comprehensive program within a rehabilitation facility in Minnesota for parolees from a State reformatory; (5) a study in South Carolina of the effectiveness of intensive rehabilitation services for public offenders; (6) a rehabilitation program for municipal public offenders in Louisiana; (7) a study in Washington of the influence of identification opportunities on the behavior of adolescent delinquent boys and (8) a study in the District of Columbia to determine essential features of a rehabilitation program for young handicapped inmates of a correctional facility.

Training

Under its training group VRA has been supporting conferences bringing together professionals from both the correctional and rehabilitation fields to explore ways of working more closely together. Recent conferences have been the Midwest Institute of Correctional Manpower and Training, Topeka, Kansas; Institute for Meeting Manpower Needs for Correctional Rehabilitation in the South, Atlanta, Georgia; Rehabilitation of Clients with Behavioral Disorders, Norman, Oklahoma; and Effective Approaches to the Rehabilitation of the Disabled Public Offenders, Andover, Massachusetts.

Social workers trained for correctional work are also supported by the VRA training grant authority. Social work programs with correctional emphasis have been established at Bryn Mawr College, University of Washington, University of Illinois, University of Louisville and University of Missouri.

Correctional Rehabilitation Study Act of 1965

The shortage of skilled personnel in the field of correctional rehabilitation is a critical one. Public Law 89-178 amended the Vocational Rehabilitation Act to make special project grants available for conducting a program of research and study of the personnel practices and needs in the field, and of the educational and training resources for persons already working or preparing to enter these professions. This priority problem has been clearly identified by this legislation which has simultaneously provided a resource for planning to fill the gaps so evident today. A grant has been made to the Joint Commission of Correctional Manpower and Training which is currently undertaking its study.

Rehabilitation research and training centers

The University of Wisconsin's Rehabilitation Research and Training Center is focusing its attention on a 200 block area on the poorest section of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This project is expected to bring into play a wide range of rehabilitative measures designed to improve both the mental functioning and the general well-being of the families in this neighborhood. Although not primarily concerned with juvenile delinquency the findings should have great implication for understanding the relationship between mental retardation and delinquency behavior patterns.

STATISTICS ON YOUTH AND DELINQUENCY AND RELATED PROBLEMS

SIZE OF PRESENT YOUTH POPULATION AND TRENDS FOR FUTURE

In 1965, four million young people reached age 18-double the number reaching that age ten years earlier. Nearly one-third of the Nation's population-close to 70 million persons-is under 18. By 1970. there will be 100 million Americans under 25 years. Youth will soon be the majority age group.

In 1960, forty percent of youth ages 15-24 were concentrated in six large States California, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio and Texas. Some 14.8 million of the child population under 18 years of age live in poverty-stricken tamilies.

Over two out of every three of all youth aged 15-24 were living in urban areas in 1960: 66.1 percent of the 15-19 year olds, and 71.5 percent of the 20-24 year olds.

Between 1965 and 1970, the number of non-white youth reaching age 18 will increase by a fifth over the 430.000 level at the beginning of the period. During the same period, however, the white population reaching 18 will at first actually decrease and will not regain the 1965 figure of about 3.3 million until 1970. During the five years after that, the number of non-white 18 year olds will inCrease that by 20 percent, while the number of whites will increase by 10 percent.

GROWTH OF THE JUVENILE DELINQUENCY PROBLEM

Annual incidence of jurenite delinquency

In virtually every year since 1949, the number of juvenile delinquer te shown an increase over the previous year. This increase has exceeded the crease in the child population. The 1964 juveniie delinquency increase was 1+ y cent, while the child population aged 10-17 increased by only 4 percent. 1954 increase in the incidence of juvenile delinquency

In 1964. delinquency cases coming before the juvenile courts through › :* country increased 14 percent over 1963. Police arrests for criminal acts of jet sons under 18 years of age increased 17 percent over 1963.

Arrests of persons under 18 for serious crimes rose 15 percent as comper d' the increase among adults of 9 percent. For the country as a whole, these y people accounted for 48 percent of all police arrests for serious offenses. Yo accounted for 54 percent of the total arrests for serious offenses in som areas and 38 percent in rural areas. Nationwide, the increase in arrests, exsi ing traffic offenses, for persons under 18 was 17 percent. The rate increase! percent in urban, 21 percent in suburban and 22 percent in rural areas. Increase in the number of arrests

Between 1950-1965, total police arrests for all criminal acts, except traffi fen-es, rose 10 percent while arrests of persons under 18 jumped 54 pervert. N part. this trend is explained by the increase in the juvenile population. Juves arrest rates are also increasing, especially for the more serious crimes. The ars rate for persons under 18 rose 52 percent for Part I offenses between 1960-197 while the adult rate rose by only 25 percent.

Official figures may give a somewhat misleading picture of crime trends; at: the years there has been a trend toward more formal record keeping and actiets especially in the treatment of juveniles, and police efficiency may have incries* But, considering other factors together with official statistics, there is genr consensus that juvenile delinquency has increased significantly in recent years in both amount and rates.

HIDDEN DELINQUENCY

One study indicates that the number of undetected delinquents is about true the number apprehended, and that the number is large among the middle ar higher income groups.

Self-report studies reveal that perhaps 90 percent of all young people have cur mitted at least one act for which they could have been brought to a juver court. Many of these offenses were trivial-i.e., fighting, truancy and run. away from home.

TYPES OF OFFENSES

Types of offenses for which juveniles are arrested

Arrests of juveniles for serious crimes constitute a small fraction of all jere nile arrests. Youth are most frequently arrested or referred to the juvenile evers for netty larceny, disorderly conduct, liquor-related offenses and conduct mot violation of the criminal law-i.e., curfew violation, truancy, incorrigibility running away from home.

A great majority of juvenile Part I arrests involve offenses against protses not against the person: larceny and auto theft account for 93 percent of the P. I arrests of persons under 18; homicide, manslaughter, rape, robbery and asa for only 7 percent.

Federal Bureau of Investigation statistics, 1964

The amount of serious crime for which young people are responsible, howet g is evident from the statistics compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigo for 1964:

Aggravated assault.---Youth aged 20-24 led the arrest rate for this of... and persons under 18 comprised 15 percent of the total arrest for this offer → Forcible rape.-62 percent of the persons arrested for this offense were er 25 years of age, 40 percent under 21 and 19 percent under 18. The highest arr rate for this offense was of persons aged 18-21.

Other ser offenses.-Persons under 18 accounted for 24 percent of •h• arrests.

Robbery. One out of every 5 of the solved cases involved persons under 18. Young offenders were involved in 62 percent of the strong-arm robberies and 38 percent of the armed robberies. Young persons under 18 accounted for 28 percent of all police arrests for robbery, and persons under 25 for 68 percent of the arrests. The highest arrest rate group was among persons aged 20-24. Burglary.--Slightly more than half of the persons arrested for this offense were under 18, and 8 out of every 10 arrests were of persons under 25. Larceny.-Persons under 25 accounted for 75 percent of all arrests for this offense, those under 21 for 66 percent and those under 18 for 54 percent. The highest arrest group was persons aged 15–19.

Auto theft.-Approximately half of the solved auto thefts involved persons under 18 years of age. In the past five years, the arrest of persons under 18 has more than doubled the growth of the population aged 10-17 which is primarily identified with this crime.

TYPES OF OFFENSES: DELINQUENT TENDENCIES

Cases coming before the juvenile courts

Juvenile court statistics for 1964 indicate that youth committing acts whien would not be considered criminal if committed by an adult constitute about a quarter-or 185.000-of the total number of children's cases coming before the juvenile court for conduct classified as delinquent. Approximately one out of every 5 of the boys' delinquency cases and over half of the girls' cases fell into this category.

Youth in correctional institutions

A summary review of the populations of nearly 20 correctional institutions for delinquent children indicates that between 25-30 percent of their populations is composed of children whose offenses would not be considered criminal if committed by an adult.

A survey of State and local detention programs revealed that of the 1,300 youth who were detained in jail pending hearing, about 40 percent were in this category. And, of the 82.000 youth in the study who were in detention homes, approximately 50 percent fell into this category.

Juvenile arrests in California

In 1963, 60 percent of the juveniles arrested in California were apprehended for delinquent tendencies which have no counterpart in adult offense categories.

JUVENILE DELINQUENCY BY AGE AND SEX

Incidence of juvenile delinquency by age

The peak age of criminality occurs within the 15-19 year old group. More 15 year olds were arrested in 1965 than members of any other age group, and 16 year olds were a close second.

Federal Bureau of Investigation figures for 1965 show that approximately 30 percent of all persons arrested in that year were under 21 years of age, and that about 20 percent were under 18 years of age. Although the 15-17 year old group represents only 5.4 percent of the total population, it accounted for 25.9 percent of all Part I arrests and 12.8 percent of the total umber of arrests, excluding traffic offenses. The 11-17 age group, representing 13.1 percent of the population, accounted for 45.2 percent of all the Part I arrests.

The Offenses young people commit vary greatly according to their age. Chances of being arrested for theft are greatest for those 10-17 and become less likely for those aged 18-24. On the other hand, arrests for assault, drunkenness and disorderly conduct are more common in the older age groups.

Incidence of juvenile delinquency by sex

In 1965, boys under 18 were arrested 5 times as often as girls, and 4 times as many boys as girls were referred to the juvenile court.

Boys and girls commit quite different types of offenses. Statistics from the Children's Bureau reveal that over half of the girls were referred to the juvenile courts for conduct which would not be considered criminal if committed by an adult. Boys were referred to the courts primarily for larceny, burglary and auto theft; girls for running away, ungovernable behavior, larceny and sex offenses.

SOCIAL AND POPULATION CHARACTERISTICS ASSOCIATED WITH DELINQUENCY

(a) Delinquents are concenterated disproportionately in cities, especially in large cities. Arrest rates are next highest in suburbs and lowest in rural

areas.

(b) Delinquency rates are high among children from broken homes where one or both parents are missing and similarly high among children who have numerous siblings.

(c) Delinquents tend to do badly in school: grades are below average and large numbers dropped one or more classes behind classmates or dropped out of school entirely.

(d) Delinquents tend to come from backgrounds of social or economic depriva tion, families tend to have lower than average incomes and social status,

JUVENILE COURTS

Rates of cases per child population

In 1964, urban juvenile courts handled 33.9 cases per 1,000 child population; semi-urban courts handled 23.6 cases; and, rural courts handled 10.6 cases.

Increase in the number of cases handled

Juvenile delinquency cases handled by the juvenile courts in 1965 increased by 2 percent over 1964, while the total child population aged 10-17 increased by only 1 percent. Juvenile courts in urban areas handled more than two-thirds of all delinquency cases.

Number of cases

About 697,000 juvenile delinquency cases, excluding traffic offenses, were handled by the juvenile courts in 1965. The estimated number of children involved is 601,000. These cases represented 2 percent of all children aged 10-17 in the country.

Incidence of referral

Approximately 11 percent of the total juvenile population aged 10-17 have been referred to the juvenile courts for delinquent behavior, excluding traffic offenses. When boys alone are considered, an estimated 16 percent-or one out of every 6-have been in court at one time or another. At any given point in time, there are approximately 2 million young men who are either currently or who have recently been delinquent. When young women are included, this figure surpasses the 2,500,000 mark.

Referral by sex

Boys are referred to the juvenile court 4 times as often as girls. Reasons for referral

Approximately 52 percent of the girls are referred to juvenile court for jr venile misbehavior not ordinarily considered a crime. About one-fifth of the boys are referred for such misbehavior. Approximately 47 percent of the Tare referred to the courts for acts against property in comparison to one-fift of the girls.

Boys are most commonly referred to the juvenile courts, in order of rate referral, for larceny, burglary and auto theft. Girls are most commonly referre for running away, ungovernable behavior, larceny and sex offenses.

Handling and disposition

Over half of the delinquency cases in 1965 were handled non-judicially. The proportion is higher in the urban and semi-urban than in the rural courts. Almost 3 out of every 10 cases referred to large city juvenile courts are di missed with warning or adjustment. Stability of the family accounts for th majority of these dispositions. Only about 9 percent of the cases are dismiss because the complaint is not substantiated.

In almost half of the cases handled judicially the youth is placed on pros tion. In approximately one-fifth of these cases, commitment is made to t care and custody of an agency or institution. Approximately one-fifth of t: cases handled non-judicially result in a dismissal with warning or adjustme

Other types of cases

In addition to the delinquency cases, the juvenile courts disposed of about 460,000 traffic cases involving 397,000 different children in 1965. Dependency and neglect cases totaled 157,000.

INSTITUTIONALIZATION

Number of public training schools, 1965

In 1965, there were 320 public training school institutions for delinquent children. This total included State and local training schools, camps, and receptiondiagnostic centers serving children committed by the courts in the 50 states, the U.S. Department of Justice, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

(The following information is based on a study conducted by the Children's Bureau: 245 institutions provided information, many of the tabulations, however, being based on information received from 233 of the institutions.)

Number of public institutions

In 1964, there were 274 public institutions for juvenile delinquents in the United States, including Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. This total includes 149 state training schools (including two Federal training schools), 49 local training schools, 63 forestry camps, and 13 reception and diagnostic centers.

Number of youth in institutions

As of June 30, 1964, approximately 44,100 children were living in public training schools for delinquent children, a rate of about 172 per 100,000 child population aged 10-17.

Sex of youth in institutions

Slightly over three-fourth of the children in public institutions in 1964 were boys, approximately the same proportion as appear in delinquency cases in juvenile courts, excluding traffic cases. The proportion of boys ranged from 74 to 86 percent in the various geographic divisions. Eighty-three percent of the youth in local training schools were boys, and all of the youth in forestry camps were male.

Average length of institutionalization

Average length of stay in public institutions is 9.3 months: 8.2 months for boys and 10.7 months for girls. The average length of stay in forestry camps is 7.2 months, in reception and diagnostic centers 5.0 months.

Capacity

Less than half (42 percent) of the public training schools had capacities of more than 150, the maximum size usually recommended. Slightly more than one-third (37 percent) were overcrowded in 1964. Generally, the larger the size of the institution, the larger its overload.

Returnee rate

In 1964, over one-fourth (28 percent) of the children committed by the courts to the training school or returned to them during the year for violation of aftercare regulations had previously been committed at some time. More than 7 out of 10 were returned for violation of aftercare regulations. The returnee rate tended to be higher among the larger institutions and to decrease as the size of the institution decreased.

Runaways

For every 100 children served during 1964, there were almost 12 occurences of runaways.

Expenditure

An estimated $134 million was spent during fiscal year 1964 by public institutions for delinquents. The average annual per capita operating expenditure per child was 33.020, with considerable variation existing among the individual institutions and among the different geographic divisions.

The average per capita cost for 9.3 months (the average length of institutionalization) is $2.341.