Publication: The Juvenile Court

• Behrman, Richard E.

This issue of the journal focuses on the juvenile court
because it is an institution that plays a vital direct and
indirect role in the lives of many children and youths and
their families. Violence, homelessness, poverty, substance
abuse, mental and physical illness, and changes in the
structure and stability of families are manifest before the
court as discrete instances of child abuse or neglect,
delinquency, and status offenses such as truancy, running
away, and ungovernable behavior. The court's legal
decisions about children's lives are extremely important
because of their profound lifelong consequences for the
individual child or youth and because of the reverberating
impact for social good or evil these still-maturing
individuals will have on our communities as they become
adults.

A number of problems in the policies and practices of the
court have become apparent as this institution has
struggled to address the significant social changes
occurring in our nation in a way that will benefit the
children and youths who come before it and fulfill its
other responsibilities to parents and the community. Every
one of these problems is solvable if we have the political
will to make the changes that experience and understanding
suggest are most reasonable and if we provide a sensible
level of resources. A number of important recommendations
about the court are outlined in this journal. Three issues
that relate to these recommendations deserve emphasis.
First, sustained community leadership from judges with
knowledge and understanding of child development as well as
the appropriate law is needed. Second, more adequate and
coordinated data about these children and youths and their
families should be available to the court from social
service agencies, law enforcement, and penal and judicial
systems to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions.
Third, prosecutors, defense lawyers, and the legal
profession, in general, need more education about the
intertwined legal and social services that are necessary
for the courts to address the problems of children and
youths appropriately.

The articles presented here summarize knowledge and
experience in selected areas that we believe are relevant
to improving public policies in the United States that have
an impact on the juvenile court system. We hope the
information and analyses these articles contain will
further understanding of the important issues and thus
contribute to reasonable changes in policies which will
benefit children.