status offender

plural status offenders

1. One who commits a status offense; especially a juvenile delinquent taken into state care for uncontrollable behavior at home.

   The Department concluded that if the State fully complied with the Federal requirement for deinstitutionalization of status offenders it would need substantially more group homes and child caring facilities.

   1978, Removing Status Offenders from Secure Facilities, United States: General Accounting Office, page 77

   1 more example

   In reality, many children who become status offenders come from neglectful or dysfunctional homes in which the parents or responsible adult has not cultivated the appropriate adult-child relationship and fundamental respect has broken down.

   1999, Preston Elrod, R. Scott Ryder, Juvenile Justice: A Social, Historical, and Legal Perspective, page 340