The US Juvenile System

The juvenile system includes all U.S. states and local court-based systems responsible for dealing with young people accused of breaking the law. It is a section of the legal system where juvenile courts hear their cases and decide whether a young person has broken the law. Suppose they have, the court decides on the next step.  

Several states in the United States work together with local juvenile corrections agencies to develop rehabilitative programs and sanctions to stop future delinquency in young people.  

This article sheds light into the US juvenile system. Keep reading. 

Who Qualifies for the Juvenile System In The U.S.? 

The U.S. Department of Justice archives describes a juvenile as a young individual yet to reach their eighteenth birthday. When a person of such an age commits a delinquency act, they are likely to be arrested and their identification details updated in the U.S. juvenile system.  

Also, a person older than 18 but still under 21 can still be sentenced under U.S. juvenile law. However, this is only possible when the act of delinquency they are accused of was committed before they reached their 18th birthday.  

Goal of the Juvenile System 

The main goal of the U.S. juvenile justice system is to ensure public safety, habilitate and rehabilitate the youths that have committed crimes and ensure their reintegration into the community is a success. The system is also tasked with ensuring their skills are developed during rehabilitation. 

Once a young individual below 18 has been accused of a crime, they must go through the juvenile justice system. Like an adult criminal justice, the youth will be arrested and detained for further questioning or investigation. Afterwards, they may have to go to court, where a final prosecution will be made, and the youth will be put under some placement or through probation.  

Even with some similarities between the juvenile justice system and adult criminal justice, the youths are treated differently from adults. In most cases, the juvenile system avoids jail time as much as possible.  

Therefore, the system believes more in the rehabilitation process in that the youth can lead a responsible constructive life if given a chance without being separated from the rest of the community and deemed irreclaimable.  

Steps through the US Juvenile System 

For a youth to be in the juvenile system, they must have undergone the stages discussed below.  

1. Delinquency  

Minor delinquency acts are bound to happen in every young person’s life; however, in some states, they are more than in others. Delinquency may not be observed in estates or schools where the police rarely exist or could still exist but be ignored, especially when an officer of the law decides to give a warning instead of an arrest.  

Also, delinquency may be assumed not to exist when those in charge, for instance, teachers or parents, decide to handle disorderly behaviour without seeking justice from the law.  

In states, neighbourhoods, and schools where police are extensively available, the delinquent behaviour of young people is likely to be criminalized. Most of the time, schools with black kids often have a large presence of police officers compared to schools with white kids. This has contributed to the high number of black kids being involved in delinquency in the U.S. juvenile system.  

2. Arrest  

A young person involved in delinquent behaviour enters the juvenile system through an arrest. In most cases, an officer of the law will be involved in their arrest and collecting their identification details to feed them into the system.  

Also, apart from the police officers, other people like the youth’s parents, teachers, members of the community, or alleged victims of the crime committed by the young person can also report them and take them to face the law. 

3. Intake, Diverted, or Dismissed 

The third stage involves deciding whether the case the young person was arrested for is worth being taken to court, diverted, or dismissed. In most cases, those involved in such a decision include the juvenile court, probation agency, or prosecutor’s office.  

At this stage, the accused young person may also be transferred to stand trial as an adult if accused of very serious crimes. In most states, the decision as to whether a young person should stand trial as an adult is made by the juvenile judge in response to recommendations made by a prosecutor or intake worker.  

Furthermore, certain delinquencies automatically transfer the accused young person to be tried as an adult depending on the state’s statutory provisions. However, in such situations, with the help of a lawyer, there are provisions where the youth can go back to be tried in the juvenile court.  

4. Pre Adjudication Period  

For the cases in which the judge has decided to be tried in the juvenile court, a decision will be made on whether the young person will be detained until their adjudication hearing or they will be allowed to stay with their parents or guardians.  

It is rare for the judge to declare that they are detained unless they are a danger to themselves and the surroundings or a flight risk.  

5. Adjudication Period  

During the Adjudication period, there are two possible outcomes. The young person is declared innocent, or the case is dismissed or delinquent/guilty. Most juvenile cases are solved in plea agreements where the accused pleads guilty to a much lesser charge and adheres to specific conditions.  

In occasions where the accused does not agree to a plea agreement, the case is tried in a court where an adjudication hearing will take place and the judge will rule based on the evidence brought before them. No jury trials are allowed in juvenile court.  

6. Disposition or Sentencing Hearing  

A disposition hearing occurs when the young person is found guilty. This is where a probation officer comes in and reviews the case, talks to the young person involved, and develops an intervention plan.  

During the hearing, the plan is reviewed by the judge, who also listens to additional input from the prosecution, the defence attorney, the accused, and their family before sentencing. 

7. Probation or Residential Custody  

The judge may decide to place the young offender on probation, also known as community supervision. Under probation, the individual will remain under the watchful eye of the probation officer, and there are specific rules and regulations for them to follow.  

The youth may also be required to perform certain community services, resulting in a probation violation that can lead to placement into a residential facility.  

Over the years, only a small percentage of the youths have been placed in residential facilities. Some of these facilities are operated by the states, local governments, or nonprofit organizations. They may also have similarities to adult correctional facilities. 

For instance, they are either fenced or locked, and the staff secures them. However, most are designed as treatment centres to improve the youth’s welfare and mental health.  

After the young person has completed their time in a correctional facility, they are granted some supervised help and support to help them transition back into the community.  

Categories of Children or Youths in the US Juvenile System 

Different types of children are subject to juvenile court restrictions in the U.S. The categories are well illustrated below.  

• Delinquent or Justice-Involved Youth 

Children under the delinquent children category in the juvenile system are termed violent and unruly. Such children are often associated with serious crimes that can be described as criminal acts.  

If they were to be tried as adults, the word criminal would be used to describe them. A delinquent child is a term put in place to protect these children from stigmas associated with the type of crime they committed.  

• Status Offender  

These are also known as persons in need of supervision (PINS), depending on the state you are coming from in the U.S.  

These youths only break laws that are only meant for them. For instance, they would buy alcohol or cigarettes.  

Running away from home, truancy, vagrancy, and incorrigibility are among the Status offences that a minor should not commit. Some of these laws do not apply to adults because no law needs adults to remain under the supervision of their parents. 

• Undisciplined 

Undisciplined youths or children are those that have proven incapable of obeying authority. They do not respect their parents, teachers or school officials; therefore, they are beyond parental control. Such young people need protection from the juvenile justice system.  

• Dependents  

Dependents are children who have no adult figure in their lives to take care of them. Their situation could be due to abandonment by their parents, their parents died or they were placed for adoption.  

Those whose parents cannot take care of them also fall under this category; therefore, the U.S. juvenile system comes in to support such young people.  

• Neglected  

Young people that do not receive proper care from their parents or guardians are considered neglected. For instance, they may suffer from malnutrition and lack a place to sleep or clothes to wear. Some of them are even put up for adoption in violation of the law.  

Such kids lack both physical and psychological care; therefore, the U.S. juvenile system has to do something about it.  

• Abused 

Abused youths or children are those facing physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, and those forced into delinquency. Often, this kind of abuse is from the people they trust the most like their parents, foster parents or guardians.  

Diversion in the US Juvenile System 

Diversion in the juvenile system are approaches that the juvenile court opts for to hold a young person accountable for their actions without having to go through legal sanctions. Instead, the juvenile court may opt for an authoritative person, like a school principal, to deal with a student accused of breaking certain laws rather than the juvenile justice system. 

Diversion aims to protect the youths from the negative impact they may face when exposed to the justice system. Among the negative impact is the availability of criminal records that may hinder the youth from future beneficial opportunities like higher education or a chance to be employed for a certain job.  

Diversion has proven more effective for the youths than formal court processing. According to peer research, there is a 45% less chance that youths who undergo diversion go against the law and be arrested again, unlike those who face the formal court process.  

Therefore, it is advised that juvenile courts and probation agencies accept and use diversion more often since most young people eventually age out of delinquency and become mature, responsible adults. 

In a different study, youth reoffending was reduced by 10% when the accused were approached through counselling and skill building. On the other hand, when the youths are placed under probation supervision, 1% of reoffending is reduced.  

Therefore, diversion should be widely accepted in the U.S. unless the youth has been involved in a serious criminal act or they have a history of chronic offending.  

When Does Diversion Take Place? 

There are three levels where diversion can take place in the juvenile system. The levels are explained below: 

• Before an arrest- A diversion can take place before a police officer arrests the suspect. The officer may assess a situation and decide it is just a minor law-breaking act, and therefore, they decide to let go of a minor with a warning. Diversion may also happen when a person in authority, like a school principal, decides to deal with a minor law-breaking incident instead of involving the authorities.  
• During prosecution- During prosecution, the prosecutor may decide that the minor who committed the crime is no danger to themselves or those around them. Therefore, there is no justified reason why the case should undergo formal processing in a juvenile court.  
• At the juvenile court- The judge may decide that formal processing of the minor due to the accusations made against them as stated by the prosecutors and the intake officers will not benefit the young person. Also, formal processing of the case will not even improve the public’s safety. Therefore, diversion becomes a better option compared to formal prosecution.  

Benefits of the US Juvenile System 

1. The U.S. juvenile system has ensured safety among communities in different states of America by protecting the people from crimes committed by the youths.  
2. The system ensures accountability by teaching the youths to take responsibility for their actions. From an early age, children know the importance of the law, following the law and the consequences of breaking it.  
3. The system has contributed a great deal to the rehabilitation of delinquent youths. This is made possible through the development of programs that enable individualized assessment of delinquent youths, rehabilitation and prevention of future delinquent reoccurrence.  
4. The U.S. juvenile system has ensured that all youths have an opportunity for a fair hearing for themselves and all those involved for fair justice.  

Conclusion 

The U.S juvenile system contains all U.S. states and local court-based juvenile systems. The system deals with young people who violate the law. Most of them are below 18, and some are below 21. Those below the age of 21 and above 18 but convicted through the juvenile system must have committed a crime before they reached 18.  

The juvenile system has several steps that young persons accused of a crime may or may not go through: Delinquency, Arrest, Intake, diverted or dismissed, Pre adjudication period, Adjudication period, Disposition or sentencing hearing, and Probation or residential custody. 

Most young individuals do not go through all the above steps because the U.S. juvenile system tries as much as possible to avoid jail time and opts for rehabilitation, believing that the youths will outgrow their delinquency and become responsible constructive adults.