KINGSTON, Jamaica—Of the total of 1,194 juveniles who appeared before the courts last year, 653 or 54.7 per cent were female and 541 or 45.3 per cent were male.

The top two reasons for their appearance were ‘care and protection’ at 55.5 per cent; and ‘uncontrollable’ juveniles numbering 20.0 per cent. A further 6.0 per cent appeared on charges related to ‘assault occasioning bodily harm’ while 18.4 per cent represented ‘all other’ cases.

The statistics are contained in the 2025 edition of the Economic and Social Survey Jamaica, a publication of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ).

The PIOJ said that in 2025 the juvenile correctional centres held 178 juveniles (individuals under the age of 18 years) relative to 177 recorded in the previous year.

The South Camp Juvenile Correctional and Remand Centre, a maximum security institution housed the largest number of juveniles (73) and remained the only facility for females.

The Rio Cobre Juvenile Correction Centre, a maximum and medium facility for males had 33 inmates while the Metcalfe Street Secure Juvenile Remand Centre, a maximum male institution held 72 inmates in 2025.

-Lynford Simpson