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 [..]

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 [..]

A standard used to decide what actions or arrangements would most benefit a child, and one on which juvenile court judges may base a disposition, or sentence. Notably, juvenile defense attorneys, unli [..]

The care and treatment of an individual’s mental health and substance-abuse issues.

A youth’s ability to stand trial, measured by his or her capacity to understand juvenile court proceedings, to consult meaningfully with a lawyer, and to assist in his or her own defense. Evaluation o [..]

A lawyer or team of lawyers who represent a client. Counsel for a juvenile may be privately retained or appointed by the court.

A provision in the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution describing a type of penalty a court may not impose on an individual convicted of a crime. The phrase “cruel and unusual punishmen [..]