Fast Facts

• 250,000 youths are tried as adults in the U.S. every year. More than half are tried for non-violent property and drug offenses.
  
  
• Between 1994 and 2000, the youth arrest rate in the U.S. for Violent Crime Index offenses fell 41%.
  
  
• Connecticut has an estimated minority youth population of 26%. However, in 1997, minority youth comprised 77% of detention placements and 83% of commitments to public facilities.
  
  
• Connecticut is one of only three states that considers kids as young as 16 to be adults in its justice system.
  
  
• Connecticut ranks 42nd in the nation in per capita criminal justice dollars spent on rehabilitation.
  
  
• Connecticut's custody rate for black juveniles is the third highest in the country (2,143 black juveniles in custody per 100,000).
  
  
• Connecticut's custody rate for Latino juveniles is the second highest in the country (1,243 Latino juveniles in custody per 100,000).
  
  
• Connecticut's juvenile custody rate is the fourth highest in the nation (513 juveniles in custody per 100,000).
  
  
• Juvenile referrals to court in Connecticut have risen 79% since 1989 even though juvenile crime has been decreasing.
  
  
• Nearly 60% of the children admitted to detention in Connecticut have mental health problems and are in need of treatment.
  
  
• Over 10,000 16- and 17-year-olds in Connecticut are automatically tried as adults every year. Connecticut is one of only three states that considers all 16 and 17 year olds "adults" in its courts - no matter how minor the offense.
  
  
• The average length of incarceration for juveniles is over 8 months.
  
  
• The juvenile arrest rate in Fairfield County, Connecticut has fallen 49% since 1994. The juvenile violent crime index has fallen 34%.
  
  
• The juvenile arrest rate in Hartford County, Connecticut has fallen 35% since 1994. The juvenile violent crime index has fallen by over 60%.
  
  
• The juvenile arrest rate in New Haven County, Connecticut has fallen 38% since 1994. The juvenile violent crime index has fallen 48%.
  
  
• The U.S. juvenile violent crime arrest rate in 2003 reached its lowest level since 1980. The rate, which grew substantially during the late 1980s and peaked in 1994, has decreased for 9 consecutive years. In 2003, it was nearly half its 1994 peak level.
  
  
• The youth murder arrest rate fell 74% from its peak in 1993 to 2000, when it reached its lowest level since the 1960s.