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.