Youth with disabilities are overrepresented in the juvenile justice system, but few studies have investigated the mechanisms by which this occurs. In this study, we considered how juvenile court adjudication and length of commitment in secure facilities contributed to disproportionality in court involvement and detention, addressing an important gap in the intersection of disability and juvenile justice literature. Using linked educational and juvenile justice records of 41,812 youth, we sought to ascertain whether, among juvenile offenders, youth with disabilities had higher likelihood of adjudication as delinquent or placement in secure facilities for longer periods of time compared to youth without disabilities. Results indicated that youth with and without disabilities were adjudicated and placed similarly, suggesting that disparities contributing to overrepresentation of youth with disabilities in detained populations may manifest earlier in youths’ involvement in the justice system. We conclude with implications for research, policy, and practice.

中文翻译：

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平价还是差异？有和没有残疾的青少年参与法庭的结果

残疾青年在少年司法系统中的比例过高，但很少有研究调查发生这种情况的机制。在这项研究中，我们考虑了少年法庭的裁决和在安全设施中的承诺时间如何导致法庭参与和拘留的不成比例，解决残疾和少年司法文献交叉点中的一个重要差距。我们使用 41,812 名青少年的相关教育和青少年司法记录，试图确定在青少年罪犯中，与非残疾青少年相比，残疾青少年是否更有可能被判定为违法或被安置在安全设施中的时间更长。结果表明，有残疾和没有残疾的青年的裁决和排名相似，表明导致被拘留人群中残疾青年人数过多的差异可能在青年参与司法系统的早期表现出来。我们总结了对研究、政策和实践的影响。