The Nation : Youths in Custody Up 10%, Study Says

Despite the shrinking size of the juvenile population, the number of youngsters confined to public juvenile facilities rose 10% between 1983 and 1987, the Justice Department reported. In its Children in Custody Census conducted for the Justice Department by the Census Bureau, the department said that 53,503 juveniles were held in publicly run facilities in 1987, the highest number since the first such census was taken in 1981. The study found that the number of youths held for the most serious, violent offenses--murder, robbery and aggravated assault--continued to decline, down 8% from 1985 and 11% from 1983. But the number of juveniles held in 1987 for alcohol or drug offenses increased by more than 50% since 1985, according to the survey.