In some juvenile justice courts, all petitions found legally sufficient are formally filed, and then the decision is made whether to divert the case to the informal system. If the case is diverted to the informal system, the formal filing is held in abeyance until the youth successfully complies with the diversion intervention, and then the formal petition is dismissed. In other juvenile justice courts, after the affidavit has been found legally sufficient and the decision is made to handle the case informally, a petition is not filed. If the youth does not comply with the informal intervention, the petition is then filed. Regardless of which system is used, this section begins at the point that the decision is made to process the allegation formally. If the petition has not yet been filed, it should be filed at this point.
As discussed at the beginning of the chapter, there are three different situations that may exist when the formal process is engaged:

• A petition is filed with a request to summon the youth to juvenile justice court.
• The arrested youth is brought to detention, the affidavit is filed, and the police request the youth be detained until the juvenile justice court hearing.
• The petition is filed and a warrant issued for the youth’s arrest.

At this point, the decisions of legal sufficiency and whether to proceed informally or formally have been made and the decision is to proceed formally. Depending on individual case circumstances, these decisions are made between day 2 and day 5 from the date the affidavit is filed. The juvenile justice court’s next steps in the process are:

• Immediately set a date for the initial hearing. The hearing date should be set as soon as notice can be completed, but not more than three weeks from the filing of the petition or within the timelines provided by state statute. Based on the hearing timeline parameters built into the juvenile justice court’s management information system, the system should generate the earliest appropriate date and specific time for the initial juvenile justice court hearing on the appropriate judge’s docket.
• Initiate service of the summons to appear before the juvenile justice court.
  The juvenile justice court’s management information system should be able to generate the documents for hearing notification immediately after selecting the court date. When the summons is served, information should also be provided to the youth and family that describes the juvenile justice court process, legal rights, the choices that need to be made at the initial hearing, why counsel for youth is important, and options to obtain legal representation for the youth prior to the hearing.
  The process steps of setting the initial hearing and initiating hearing notification should both occur no later than the end of the business day following the decision to proceed formally (Day 3 to Day 6).
• Ensure that legal representation is assigned in advance. The JUVENILE JUSTICE GUIDELINES recommends that the youth, parent, and counsel for the youth meet prior to the initial hearing to determine the position they will take at the hearing. This enables counsel to contact the prosecutor prior to the hearing if desired. The better the preparation prior to the hearing, the more timely and efficient the process will be
• Consolidate all appropriate information, forward the information to the prosecutor, and place it into the juvenile justice court’s legal file. This includes the affidavit and petition and any other appropriate information that has been provided to the juvenile justice court, including reports from failed diversion interventions.