Petitions Filed and Outcomes

The bars on the bar & line chart reflect the number of petitions filed each year. The line reflects the percentage of petitions filed each year that girls accounted for.

The remaining charts reflect the demographic composition of petitions filed by Gender, Race/Ethnicity, and Age for the time period selected. Demographic data is unavailable prior to 2020.

Demographic groups with sample sizes < 11 youth in a given year are grouped into larger categories (e.g., Other Race, < 15, 18+).

The bars on the bar & line chart reflect the number of petitions filed each year. The line reflects the percentage of petitions filed each year that youth from out of county accounted for.

The remaining residence charts reflect where youth with petitions filed live. Cases missing residential information are excluded from all residence-related statistics.

Residence reflects all petitions filed for which residential information is available. The Districts for SF Residence chart reflects only petitions filed 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 petitions filed. 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. 

County for Out of County Residence reflects only petitions filed on youth who live out of county. Residence data is unavailable prior to 2020.

The bars on the bar & line chart reflect petitions filed each year. The line reflects the percentage of referrals to JPD each year that resulted in a petition filed.

Petitions can include multiple charges of varying degrees of seriousness and/or violations. All analyses in this section reflect the most serious reason why a petition was filed. This data is unavailable prior to 2020.

Offense Level reflects whether the most serious reason for the petition was a new charge (felony or misdemeanor) or a violation of probation conditions.

Petitions are also categorized by Offense Type, 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.

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 petition charge was for a 707(b) offense.

Offense refers to the most serious petition offense, such as robbery, assault, etc.

The bars on the bar chart reflect the number of sustained petitions each year.

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 sustained petition charge was for a 707(b) offense.

Offense Level reflects whether the most serious sustained petition charge was a felony, misdemeanor, or a violation of probation conditions. It is important to note that charges are frequently reduced through the adjudication process, for example, many felony petitions are reduced to misdemeanors by the time a case resolves.

One case can have multiple petition dispositions. In prior years, petition dispositions were calculated by the most recent petition disposition for a given case. This metric has been updated to reflect the first disposition, since it is the most representative of court decision-making based on the case rather than subsequent factors.

Petition dispositions are defined as follows:

• Secure Youth Treatment Facility (SYTF) Commitment: The court has ordered a youth to be placed on wardship probation and held within the county’s Secure Youth Treatment Facility (SYTF). The SYTF is a locked facility for the confinement of youth who would have been eligible for the California Division of Juvenile Justice (state youth prison), prior to its closure in 2021. This includes youth with a sustained petition for a 707(b) offense or a registerable sex offense. The SYTF in San Francisco is currently operated in the Juvenile Justice Center, which also houses Juvenile Hall.
• Juvenile Hall (JH) Commitment: The court has ordered a youth to be placed on wardship probation and held within the county’s Juvenile Hall facility.
• Out of Home Placement (OOHP) Commitment: The court has ordered a youth to be placed on wardship probation and placed in the foster care system. A common out of home placement type is a Resource Family (RFA). An RFA is a home-based foster care placement. Another common placement option is a Short-Term Residential Therapeutic Program (STRTP), also known as a Group Home. An STRTP is a residential facility that provides support, services, treatment, and 24-hour care and supervision for youth.
• Wardship Probation: The court has placed the young person under the guardianship of probation, either in the community, in a secure facility, or in an out of home placement. This means the court can make decisions about the care, treatment, living situation, and guidance of the young person. Youth who have been committed to SYTF, Juvenile Hall, or an OOHP are also on wardship probation.
• Non-Wardship Probation: The court has placed the young person under the supervision of probation in the community. The court has not declared the young person to be a ward of the court and will not remove them from their home.
• Informal Probation: Before determining whether the charges are true, the court may allow a youth to participate in a program. If the young person completes the program within the allotted time, then the petition will be dismissed.
• Transfer Out: After a court has found the charges to be true, the case may be transferred to the county where the young person resides. The court in the youth’s home county will then determine the disposition.
• Petition Dismissed: The case is dismissed and the charges are dropped, ending the court case.

Petitions Sustained and Petition Dispositions are two distinct datasets and not a 1:1 relationship. Each dataset reflects all events that occurred during the calendar year (January 1 – December 31).

Probation history refers to the amount of time a young person is under the supervision of the Juvenile Probation Department. Probation supervision begins once the young person's case is adjudicated and the court issues a disposition placing them on either non-wardship probation or wardship probation. Young people who are placed on informal probation are excluded.

Probation supervision ends when a young person’s probation is terminated by the court, either successfully or unsuccessfully. Youth can be ordered to probation multiple times before their probation is officially terminated, for example, if they are arrested and prosecuted for subsequent conduct. For young people who have consecutive probation terms that occur less than one week apart, it is considered continuous probation supervision.