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Buncombe data show sharp drop in juvenile complaints but racial disparities persist
Summary
State data presented to the Buncombe County JCPC show FY25 juvenile complaints fell from 650 to 277, detention placements and institutional commitments remained very small, but Black youth remain overrepresented relative to the county population.
Crystal Lynn Lewis, racial and ethnic disparities coordinator for juvenile justice, presented FY25 racial and ethnic disparities (RED) data to the Buncombe County Juvenile Crime Prevention Council planning committee, saying, “The good news is for FY25, Buncombe County only had 277 complaints filed.”
The presentation, given at a hybrid JCPC planning meeting, showed both a marked year-over-year decline in complaints and a continuing imbalance between the racial composition of Buncombe youth and youth entering the juvenile system. Lewis told the committee that Buncombe County’s youth population (ages 6–17) is about 33,606 and is 73% white, 9% Black and 16% Hispanic. In FY25, county complaints were 49% Black, 14% Hispanic and 29% white, she said, and only 132 individual juveniles accounted for the 277 complaints.
Why this matters: the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) and its RED compliance requirement direct states to track…
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