NCJ Number
163651
Journal
Juvenile Justice Update Volume: 2 Issue: 4 Dated: (August/September 1996) Pages: 3-4,11-12
Date Published
1996
Length
4 pages
Annotation
The author believes that the existing structure and jurisdiction of the juvenile court should be retained but that its workload should be blended with a range of domestic relations cases to create a family court.
Abstract
The juvenile court is a more appropriate setting for young offenders than the adult court, and the most significant movement to alter the juvenile court's jurisdiction should be away from stigmatizing young people as delinquents. The effective use of discretionary intake procedures can significantly reduce the number of minor cases appearing before the juvenile court. Moreover, the juvenile court is not a primary agency; children also need family, school, health care, and social and recreational opportunities. A two-tier approach to juvenile delinquency is evolving. The smaller, top tier consists of cases that will be handled once or twice in a juvenile court, in a criminal court, or with blended sentences. For these cases, the juvenile court's tasks are to minimize the criminalization of juveniles, to obtain appropriate community programming, and to seek care for young people in specialized juvenile facilities when they are sentenced as adults. The larger, lower tier consists primarily of currently typical juvenile court cases. Shortcomings of retaining the juvenile court separate from the family court system are noted. The transfer of juveniles to adult courts and juvenile detention alternatives are discussed, along with caseflow management, factors in the trend toward more family courts, and the need to improve services for abused and neglected children. 6 references