Juvenile Intakes
The average rate of juvenile intakes in the Hampton Roads region is higher than Virginia's overall juvenile intake rate. However, juvenile intakes, representing incidents in which a juvenile is alleged to have broken the law, reflect local differences in policies and types of behavior.
Why is This Important?
Juvenile intakes provide a measure of adolescent behavior problems occurring in a community, but intakes should not be interpreted as the amount or seriousness of juvenile crime.
Intake data includes all offenses for which a child is brought to the Court Service Unit. It further includes not only the cases in which the police officer brings the child to the Court Service Unit, but also the complaints that are brought by parents, neighbors or others who do not call the police for an arrest.
How is Hampton Roads Doing?
The juvenile intake rate in the Hampton Roads region increased slightly in 2009 after a large drop the year before. In 2009, the rate in the Hampton Roads region was the fourth highest in Virginia at 81.4 intakes per 1,000 youth age 10 to 17. The state average intake rate was 72.4 in 2009 and has been trending downwards. The West Central region had the highest rate at 90.9 and the Northern region had the lowest rate at 53.8.
What Influences Juvenile Intakes?
A major influence on juvenile intakes is local justice system policy. Some police departments have very strong community policing programs. If an officer witnesses a juvenile committing a minor offense, the officer may counsel the youth involved, take the youth home and/or meet with the parents or guardians rather than formally arresting the youth. In other localities, the policy may be to take formal action on every alleged criminal activity. In localities where serious juvenile crime is prevalent, resources may not permit acting upon the most minor offenses.
Data Definitions and Sources
Intakes: Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice, Research and Evaluation Unit, by special request from the Juvenile Tracking System on 2/17/2010 (updated annually).
Population data for calculating rates are from: Puzzanchera, C., Finnegan, T. and Kang, W. (2006). "Easy Access to Juvenile Populations"See the Data Sources and Updates Calendar for a detailed list of the data resources used for indicator measures on Hampton Roads Performs.
