Juvenile justice.The rapid case processing of nondetained youths is important for disrupting the potential development of habitual delinquent behavior. Research cited in Importance of Timely Case Processing in Nondetained Juvenile Delinquency juvenile delinquency, legal term for behavior of children and adolescents that in adults would be judged criminal under law. In the United States, definitions and age limits of juveniles vary, the maximum age being set at 14 years in some states and as high as 21 Cases, presented by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (or OJJDP) is an office of the United States Department of Justice and a component of the Office of Justice Programs. , revealed that many subsequent referrals of juveniles for delinquent behavior occur before the juvenile justice system has dealt with the initial or preceding referral. This suggests the need to reduce key case processing time frames. Using relevant baseline information, a court can set strategic planning Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy, including its capital and people. targets, case processing time goals, and other performance criteria that can increase the speed of case handling and improve outcomes. The Juvenile Delinquency Guidelines (JDG JDG Journal of Differential Geometry JDG Jugulodigastric ), recently prepared by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, emphasize timely response at all stages of case processing, including those stages that precede or do not include formal court involvement. The guidelines address the stages of arrest/referral, intake screening, informal processing, formal processing, and disposition. Based on the JDG recommendations, this bulletin discusses how to handle caseload case·load n. The number of cases handled in a given period, as by an attorney or by a clinic or social services agency. caseload Noun backlogs and how to define "timely" case processing and identify and obtain the data required to measure it. A model for setting case processing time standards is presented, followed by descriptions of some realistic and affordable options for juvenile courts to consider in expediting the processing of nondetained juveniles. The options pertain to pertain to verb relate to, concern, refer to, regard, be part of, belong to, apply to, bear on, befit, be relevant to, be appropriate to, appertain to youth courts; accountability boards, community justice committees, and community courts; timely intervention for status offenders; school-based intake probation officers; fast-track diversion; juvenile assessment centers; mental health system liaisons; and expedited dockets. The bulletin concludes with descriptions of seven basic steps for improving timely court processing of nondetained delinquency cases. This report is available by contacting the National Criminal Justice Reference Service The National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) is a program that disseminates publications from the United States Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs (OJP) agencies, as well as the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), Office on Violence Against at 800-851-3420. |
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