Part of Juvenile Probation Department Data Portal
Referrals in the youth justice system are the equivalent of arrests in the adult system. When a youth is referred to JPD, they can either be cited (e.g. given a written Notice to Appear) and released or detained in Juvenile Hall. After decreasing during the pandemic, the number of referrals to JPD in 2023 was equivalent to the number of referrals in 2019. Notably, the number of referrals in 2019 represented a historic low for San Francisco at the time, and a 79% decrease in referrals compared to two decades prior (from 4,872 referrals in 1999). The spike in arrests in July 2023 was due to 83 juvenile arrests at the Dolores Park hill bomb skateboarding event, 81 of which were counseled and closed.
Diversion is an alternative to the traditional juvenile justice system, defined more extensively in the “Data notes & sources” section below. Two of the most common diversion programs in San Francisco are CARC and Make it Right. The percentage of arrests that are diverted to these programs has increased from 16% in 2020 to 19% in 2023.
The percentage of referrals that result in admissions to Juvenile Hall has declined from 52% in 2020 to 37% in 2023. The percentage of referrals for 707(b) offenses, what the Welfare & Institutions code defines as serious and violent crimes, also decreased in that same time period from 27% to 17%, while the percentage of less serious offense types (e.g., other felonies, misdemeanors) has increased. This may reflect the police focusing their resources on the most serious behavior during the pandemic.
Referrals by Month
Data notes and sources
Data notes and sources
The lines on this chart reflect the number of referrals to JPD (i.e., arrests), the number of CARC intakes, and the number of Make it Right intakes per month. Arrests that are referred to CARC and Make it Right are both included in the total number of probation referrals. CARC and Make it Right data is unavailable prior to 2020.
Diversion refers to a wide range of interventions that may be used as an alternative to traditional justice system responses. At the point of arrest, police may divert a youth to a community-based organization for services (not currently available in San Francisco). Once an arrest is presented to the Juvenile Probation Department, excluding certain offenses, the probation officer may divert the youth to CARC or another program rather than presenting the case to the DA for charging. Once a case is presented to the DA, the DA may divert the youth to a pre-filing diversion program, such as Make it Right. Even after a petition is filed, the court may divert the youth to informal probation. If a youth successfully completes the diversion program, at whatever stage it occurs, the youth will not face subsequent court proceedings, avoiding either arrest, prosecution, or a disposition.
Referrals by Demographics
Data notes and sources
Data notes and sources
The bars on the bar & line chart reflect referrals (i.e., arrests) to JPD each year. The line reflects the percentage of referrals to JPD each year that girls accounted for.
The remaining charts reflect the demographic composition of referrals to JPD by Gender, Race/Ethnicity, and Age for the time period selected.
Demographic groups with sample sizes < 11 youth in a given year are grouped into larger categories (e.g., Other Race, < 15, 18+)
Referrals by Residence
Data notes and sources
Data notes and sources
The bars on the bar & line chart reflect referrals (i.e., arrests) to JPD each year. The line reflects the percentage of referrals to JPD each year that youth from out of county accounted for.
The remaining residence charts reflect where youth who were referred to JPD live. Cases missing residential information are excluded from all residence-related statistics.
The Residence chart reflects all referrals for which residential information is available. The Districts for SF Residence chart reflects only referrals for youth who live in San Francisco. Zip codes were grouped into approximate district or district groupings to prevent reidentification, particularly in zip codes with very few referrals. Zip codes were grouped as follows:
- Districts 1 – 3: 94104, 94105, 94108, 94109, 94111, 941115, 94118, 94121, 94123, 94129, 94133
- Districts 4, 7, 8, & 11: 94112, 94114, 94116, 94117, 94122, 94127, 94131, 94132
- Districts 5 & 6: 94102, 94103, 94130
- District 9: 94134, 94110
- District 10: 94124, 94107
As necessary, Districts were grouped into larger geographic regions in order to limit sample sizes smaller than 11 and enable comparisons over time.
The County for Out of County Residence chart reflects only referrals for youth who live out of county. Residence data is unavailable prior to 2020.
Referrals by Reason
Data notes and sources
Data notes and sources
The bars on the bar & line chart reflect referrals (i.e., arrests) to JPD each year. The line reflects the percentage of referrals to JPD each year that resulted in an admission to Juvenile Hall. This data is unavailable prior to 2020.
Referrals can include multiple charges of varying degrees of seriousness, warrants, and violations. For all analyses in this section, the referral reason refers to the most serious reason why a young person was referred to JPD. This data is unavailable prior to 2020.
Offense Level/Legal Status reflects whether the most serious reason for the referral was a new charge (felony or misdemeanor), a warrant, or a violation.
Referrals are also categorized by Offense Type/Legal Status, defined as follows:
- Person: offenses against a person including assault, robbery, rape, and homicide.
- Property: offenses against property including burglary, theft, motor vehicle theft, arson, vandalism, and trespassing.
- Drug: includes both drug sale and drug possession.
- Public order: mainly probation violations, weapons possession offenses, and miscellaneous traffic offenses.
- Other status: legal status details such as warrants, courtesy holds, home detention violations, and changes of placement due to unsuccessful placements.
Section 707(b) of the Welfare & Institutions Code outlines a range of serious and violent crimes, including but not limited to murder, attempted murder, arson, robbery, rape, and assault with great bodily injury, for which an arrest involving a youth age 14 or older mandates detention until a court hearing. 707(b) Offense reflects whether the most serious referral charge was for a 707(b) offense.
Offense refers to the most serious offense that a youth is referred to JPD for, such as robbery, assault, etc.
Referrals by Youth Referred
Data notes and sources
Data notes and sources
These charts reflect unique youth referred to JPD per year. This means that no matter how many times a youth is arrested during a calendar year (January 1 - December 31), they will only be counted once. In contrast, prior charts in this section are at the referral-level, meaning unique youth will be reflected multiple times in the statistics if they were arrested more than once.
The clustered bar chart compares the total number of referrals to the total number of unique youth referred each calendar year.
Remaining charts reflect the recurrence and frequency of youth being referred to JPD. Number of Referrals reflects the number of times a young person was referred to JPD during a calendar year. Number of Referrals data is unavailable prior to 2020. First Referral reflects whether their first arrest in San Francisco was during the selected calendar year, or if they had been arrested in San Francisco prior. First Referral data is unavailable prior to 2021.