• OCFS Placements - JD Placements [view data]

The NYS Office of Children and Family Services has responsibility for providing residential and aftercare services to youth adjudicated in either the family or adult court. A placement refers to a court order placing a youth in the custody of OCFS. All youth placed with OCFS are either adjudicated as juvenile delinquents by the Family Court system or juvenile offenders (designated felons sentenced through the criminal courts). Juvenile delinquents (JD) are defined in Section 301.2 of the Family Court Act as persons over the age of 7, but under the age of 16, who have committed what would be crimes against persons (e.g., assault, robbery and sexual offenses) and against property (e.g., arson). Juvenile Offenders (between the age of 13 and 15 years) and Restrictive Juvenile Delinquents (JDs committing specific designated felony acts) have committed a serious crime that, if committed by an adult, would be a "designated felony." The list of designated felonies is similar to the Penal Law list of violent felonies (e.g., assault in the first degree, manslaughter in the first degree, and rape in the first degree).

OCFS placements is calculated as the number of youth placed with OCFS during a given calendar year divided by the estimate of youth, ages 10 to 17 years, in the general population. This is multiplied by 1,000.

Placement data are presented by age group and gender to identify trends and patterns, including developmental needs and disproportional representation among groups. Similar to other states in the nation, minorities are disproportionately represented in New York State’s juvenile justice system. The issue of disproportionality raises many serious policy and practice concerns within the juvenile justice system. While females remain a relatively small number of placement, the rise in the proportion of females entering the juvenile justice system is also a recent concern for the juvenile justice system.

Unlike the 1980s and 1990s when juvenile offenders were increasingly treated as criminals, states have been attempting to strike a balance in their juvenile justice systems among system and offender accountability, offender competency development, and community protection (Snyder & Sickmund, 2006). Juvenile code purpose clauses also incorporate restorative justice language (offenders repair the harm done to victims and communities and accept responsibility for their actions). The decline in the number of youth in juvenile justice facilities in New York State reflects the refocus of resources to support youth and their families within their communities (OCFS, 2006).

For county admissions data, the county reflects the "Responsible County" because this is both the county where the youth was adjudicated and the county that assumes part of the financial responsibility while the youth is with OCFS.

Ethnicity is treated as a characteristic separate from race. Therefore, Hispanic youth can include any race. The race categories for placements, however, include both Hispanic and non-Hispanic youth.

New York State Office of Children and Family Services. 2006. 2005 Annual Report, Division of Rehabilitative Services. Rensselaer, NY: OCFS.

Snyder, Howard N. and Melissa Sickmund. 2006. Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.