Did You Know?

  • In 2022, more complaints for more juveniles were received compared to 2021 (14,804 juveniles and 35,894 complaints in 2022 compared to 11,296 juveniles and 29,001 complaints in 2021).
  • The statewide delinquency rate for the juvenile justice system in 2022 was 22.09, up from 18.08 in 2020, the baseline year for a delinquency rate that includes “Raise the Age” youth. When comparing the pre-“Raise the Age” age group of 6 to 15-year-olds, the juvenile delinquency rate increased from 12.05 in 2020 to 15.02 in 2022.
  • In 2022, 34% of complaints received were for school-based offenses. The percentage of total complaints that are school based is typically 42-45%. 
  • Detention admissions have increased 17% since 2020; however, length of stay has increased 32% since 2020 due to transfer to superior court length of stay being longer than juvenile justice system youth stays in detention. For the third year in a row, detention average daily population exceeds the youth development center average daily population.
  • 99.3% of juveniles committed to a youth development center have at least 1 mental health diagnosis. Youth committed to YDCs had an average of three (3.2) distinct mental health and/or substance use disorder diagnoses, and in some cases as many as eleven. 
  • The number of youth age 16 or older served by Juvenile Crime Prevention Council programs increased 56% from fiscal year 2020 to 2022 (from 3,869 to 6,042).
  • The total number of juvenile complaints in North Carolina increased 12% in the ten-year period between 2013 and 2022 (from 32,091 to 35,894).
  • The top three delinquent offenses in 2022 for which complaints were received were simple assault, break or enter a motor vehicle, and disorderly conduct at school.
  • The majority (56 percent) of juvenile offenses in 2022 were for non-serious offenses, class 1-3 misdemeanors. Offenses in this class include, but are not limited to, simple assault, disorderly conduct, simple affray, larceny (items worth less than $1,000), shoplifting, etc.
  • A large proportion of juvenile delinquent offenses (23%) occur between noon and 4 p.m. during the weekdays.
  • In 2022, there were 2,591 admissions to detention, 24 percent fewer than ten years prior, in 2013.
  • YDC commitments have dropped by 30 percent since 2013, from 219 in 2013 to 154 in 2022.
  • On any given day in 2022, you could find 155 juveniles who had been committed to a YDC, and the average length of time a youth is in commitment status is 12.6 months.
  • Juveniles are charged with simple assault more than any other crime. Simple assault is defined by North Carolina General Statute 14-33 as "any person who commits a simply assault or a simple assault and battery or participates in a simple affray is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor."
  • In 2022, 7.9 percent of all juveniles assessed were identified as having gang involvement, association or membership.