Out-of-Home Placement

When a juvenile in trouble has a questionable family life, the family is contributing to the juvenile's delinquency, or there are undesirable associates at the home, the youth may be temporarily removed to some facility until the home problems are resolved. Such cases are referred to as out-of-home placements.

Out-of-home placement is one of the many options available to probation officers. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (1996) indicated that 65,300 juveniles were in out-of-home placement by court commitment in February 1995. Additionally, 67 percent of the offenders were in public facilities—those owned and operated by state or local government agencies—and 33 percent were in private facilities. The average length of stay for a youth committed to a public facility and released in 1994 was 147 days, while a youth in a private facility stayed an average of 109 days. The number of placements between 1987 and 1996 increased across all racial groups. However, between 1987 and 1996, the number of cases resulting in placement increased the least for Caucasian youth (43 percent) compared with African American youth (58 percent) and all other races (128 percent). Males made up the vast majority of offenders in placements at 86.5 percent (Gallagher, 1997).

Although the court orders an offender into placement, the probation officer is required to arrange appropriate placement in a group home, ranch, camp, or institution. The probation officer works directly with treatment facilities on the implementation of the youth's rehabilitation plan. While the juvenile is in a placement, the probation officer is responsible for monitoring the quality of services the offender receives as well as supplying supplemental casework services as needed. These placements often offer a different environment for the offender away from the atmosphere and associations that may have aided in his or her delinquency.