The Juvenile Justice Guidelines provide the essential elements of effective practice for the court processes that are involved in the handling of juvenile delinquency cases — from the determination of whether a case should enter the formal juvenile delinquency court system, to determination as to whether juvenile delinquency court jurisdiction should be waived and the youth transferred to criminal court, as well as post-disposition review of the reentry process for youth returning to the community from out-of-home placement.
Juvenile justice courts have three main purposes – to hold youthful offenders accountable, to protect public safety, and to provide youthful offenders with the tools necessary to flourish in crime free lives. The Guidelines provide courts with a roadmap for how to achieve all three of these goals.