A judge’s and prosecutors’ legal assessment of a young offender’s rehabilitation potential according to his/her age, maturity, offense history, and previous therapeutic interventions. Because juvenile [..]

A juvenile court judge’s determination as to whether or not a youth committed a delinquent offense. A juvenile adjudication is like an adult criminal conviction, but generally does not subject the you [..]

In Pennsylvania, the finding that a juvenile court would need to make to provide child welfare services and/or placement in addition to court supervision of the case. Youth may be adjudicated dependen [..]

Legally taking into one’s family a youth whose biological parents have terminated their parental rights. A youth’s adopted parents have all the powers and privileges of a natural parent. One can be ad [..]

Services (including health, mental health, educational, vocational, family services, etc.) designed to help youth re-enter the community after placement in out-of-home facilities. Collaboration and pl [..]

The age at which an individual is subject to the jurisdiction of adult criminal court instead of juvenile court. In most states, the age of criminal responsibility is 17 or 18, though states also have [..]

Derived from the Latin phrase amicus curiae meaning “friend of the court,” the term refers to a person or an organization who, while not a disputing party in a particular lawsuit, writes a brief to th [..]

A disappointed or defeated party’s request to a higher court to reverse a lower court’s ruling. The appealing party must generally prove that the lower court committed a significant legal, factual, or [..]

When police take or hold an individual in custody in response to a delinquent or criminal charge. An arrest is lawful only when there is probable cause to believe the individual has committed a crime.

An evaluation of a youth’s risks and needs in various capacities, including, for example, psychological and psychiatric, educational, and familial. Several types of assessments may be ordered by the j [..]