The juvenile justice system is a separate and distinct system of law within the United States’ justice system. It is grounded in adolescent development and an understanding that young people are different from adults and require different responses. The following information is intended to provide an overview of juvenile justice and its distinct features and history. 

• The majority of young people who come before a judge are tried in state courts in a separate and distinct justice system created solely to address the behaviors of minors. Roughly 1% of youth are sent to the adult court.^[1]  
• The juvenile justice system is not part of the criminal justice system. In most jurisdictions, it includes separate judges and separate courtrooms from the adult system. In larger jurisdictions, separate prosecutors and public defenders may also be assigned to handle juvenile court specifically.  
• Juvenile courts are sometimes referred to as Juvenile and Family Relations Courts. In some jurisdictions, these courts handle delinquency proceedings, as well as divorces, domestic orders, child abuse, and status offense cases. These courts have separate rules from the adult system (frequently referred to as Circuit Court) that may permit some hearings to be closed to the public or hold some information (such as a minor’s name) in confidence.   
• Juvenile court involves its own, terminology, and potential sanctions, all of which can vary from state to state. Local court rules can also vary by jurisdiction.  
• The primary federal legislation on youth justice was passed by Congress in 1974, and reauthorized in 1980, 1988, 1992, 2002, and 2018. Known as the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, the legislation establishes four core protections for young people who are involved in the youth justice system:

1. Ensuring that young people are not housed in adult jails and lockups;
2. Ensuring that if they are, under rare exception, placed in an adult jail or lock up, that they do not have sight (can’t see) or sound (can’t hear) adult inmates;
3. Ensuring that young people are not detained for “status offenses,” behaviors such as running away from home or skipping school that are illegal only because the young person has not yet reached the age of majority;
4. Requiring states to address racial and ethnic disparities within the youth justice system.^[2] 

• The juvenile justice system was founded long before this though. The first youth court was established in 1899 in Chicago on the premise of rehabilitation instead of punishment. Similar courts began to emerge across the country to address the unique challenges that led to a young person’s behavior.^[3]  
• In these early days, juvenile courts were typically informal and lacked the procedural and due process assurances that were afforded to adults. The Supreme Court’s 1967 ruling in In re Gault, changed this though, requiring juvenile courts to provide due process protections to youth including the right to notice of charges, right to an attorney, right to cross-examine witnesses and right to avoid self-incrimination.  
• Supreme Court rulings in the early 2000s and since have solidified that young people are not merely mini adults, including the elimination the juvenile death penalty in Roper v. Simmons (2005) and holding that mandatory sentences of life without parole in juvenile cases were unconstitutional in Miller v. Alabama (2012).  
• The juvenile justice system’s structure is based on the belief that young people are more amenable to rehabilitation than adults. Young people’s brains are still developing and the ongoing plasticity results in increased capability for change. Research shows that a majority of young people will age out of delinquent behavior without any court intervention.^[4] This is due to adolescent brain development, which makes teenagers more likely to engage in risky and thrill-seeking behavior.^[5]
• Over the past 20 years, states have experienced falling crime rates and have focused youth rehabilitative efforts on effective, evidence-based programs that emphasize community-based services and supports over incarceration; strategies that have helped drive the reduction in youth crime.^[6] 
• Unlike in adult court, where a trial can result in a finding of “guilt” or “innocence”, young people’s cases end in adjudication where their behavior can be found to be delinquent. Juvenile court cases can also be dismissed or referred to diversion.  
• A majority of states set upper jurisdiction (or the court’s upper age boundary) for juvenile court at 18. Vermont continues to permit young people to be tried in juvenile court until they turn 19. Three states - Georgia, Texas and Wisconsin - have set their upper age of jurisdiction at 17.   
• There is no minimum age at which a young person can be brought before the court in a majority of states. Among states that do set a minimum age, 10 is the most common with some states setting the minimum age as young as 6 and 7 years old.^[7]  
• In 28 states, the juvenile justice system is based on Balanced and Restorative Justice (BARJ). Balanced and Restorative Justice advocates that juvenile justice systems provide balanced attention to three primary interests: (1) public safety; (2) development of skills to help youth live law-abiding and productive lives; and (3) individual accountability to victims and the community for harm caused.^[8]   
• Young people can be detained or committed. A young person is said to be detained when they are held while awaiting adjudication. Young people are referred to as committed after their hearing has been adjudicated and there has been a disposition from the judge. Youth are held in a variety of settings, ranging from group homes and residential treatment centers to detention facilities. Secure detention facilities, feature a range of features such as gates and locked doors to keep young people inside, guards that are placed in living units and common areas, locked sleeping rooms, and in some instances even razor wire.^[9]   
• Most juvenile justice placements are run by the state or local government, while others are operated by private companies. They range in size from small (1-20 youth) to large facilities that can house as many as 200 young people, with the most common size being 50-100 beds.^[10]  
• Probation is the most commonly used response in juvenile court.^[11] The measure aims to help hold young people accountable for their behaviors, while providing space to rehabilitate youth in their own community.^[12] It can include restorative practices, counseling, skill building programs and others.^[13] Probation typically involves a number of rules that youth must follow, however, and noncompliance with those rules can result in detention.^[14]   
• Young people can find themselves in more than one system, including both the adult and juvenile justice systems, or the juvenile justice and child welfare systems. “Dual status”, “dual jurisdiction”, or “cross over youth” are all terms that refer to young people who are in both the juvenile justice and child welfare systems. While it has proven difficult to calculate exactly how many children are dual status, studies have shown that the prevalence of dual status youth is high, reaching 45 percent of petitioned juveniles in Cook County, IL; 69 percent in Cuyahoga County, OH; and 70 percent in New York, NY.^[15]  
• Some young people also come under what is known as “extended jurisdiction.” Extended jurisdiction allows courts to implement sanctions that extend beyond the age at which the state’s original jurisdiction in juvenile court has ended. For example, this could permit a young person to be placed on probation or in detention until the age of 21.^[16]  
• Blended sentencing is also permitted in some states, allowing the juvenile court to impose adult correctional sanctions and extend the term of confinement beyond the upper age of juvenile court jurisdiction.^[17]