As the Nation moves into the 21st century, the reduction of juvenile crime, violence, and victimization constitutes one of the most crucial challenges of the new millennium. To meet that challenge, reliable information is essential. Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1999 National Report offers a comprehensive overview of these pervasive problems and the response of the juvenile justice system. The National Report brings together statistics from a variety of sources on a wide array of topics, presenting the information in clear, nontechnical text enhanced by more than 350 easy-to-read tables, graphs, and maps. This Bulletin series is designed to give readers quick, focused access to some of the most critical findings from the wealth of data in the National Report. Each Bulletin in the series highlights selected themes at the forefront of juvenile justice policymaking and extracts relevant National Report sections (including selected graphs and tables).

• Administrator's Message
  
  
• The rise in murders of juveniles between 1984 and 1993 was all firearm related, as was the subsequent decline
  
  
• All of the increase in homicides by juveniles between the mid-1980's and mid-1990's was firearm related
  
  
• 1 in 5 juvenile arrestees carried a gun all or most of the time
  
  
• A new survey of youth shows that handgun carrying is linked to other problem behavior
  
  
• For every two youth (ages 0–19) murdered in 1996, one youth committed suicide
  
  
• U.S. child homicide and suicide rates exceed rates for other industrialized countries
  
  
• Sources
  
  
• Resources
  
  
• Acknowledgments

Points of view or opinions expressed in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of OJJDP or the U.S. Department of Justice.

How To Get Your Free Copy Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1999 National Report is available online from the OJJDP Web site under the JJ Facts & Figures section and the Publications section or can be ordered from OJJDP抯 Juvenile Justice Clear-inghouse (hard copy NCJ 178257, CD朢OM NCJ 178991). Send an e-mail to puborder@ncjrs.org; call 800�8�36 (select option 2); or write to the Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse, P.O. Box 6000, Rockville, MD 20849�00.