Council For Court Excellence Releases Guide To The D.C. Juvenile Justice System

The Council for Court Excellence (CCE) was awarded a SJI grant in FY 2007 for the Guide to the D.C. Juvenile Justice System (SJI-07-N-191). The Guide was released on June 29, 2009, and is the first written roadmap for the general public on how the District of Columbia’s juvenile justice system operates. The Guide explains how a case moves from arrest to discharge, what roles various government and non-governmental agencies and individuals play, and what rights victims of juvenile crime have.

The D.C. Juvenile Justice System is complex in that it involves several different government agencies. By statute the system is also confidential; which supports the mission of rehabilitating youth whose actions have brought them into the juvenile justice system. However, the nature of this confidentiality has also hindered the community’s understanding and confidence in the system as a whole. The purpose of this Guide is to provide the community with the information they need in order to understand how juvenile justice works in D.C. The Guide will also enable the community to hold the D.C. juvenile justice system accountable.

Whether the user is a parent, victim, witness, interested resident, or a juvenile involved with the juvenile justice system, the Guide is designed to help them understand how that system works. While it is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney, it provides useful information on the process from when a youth is first taken into custody until there is a final decision on a case.

The Guide includes sections that deal with an attorney’s responsibility to a juvenile client; provide special information for victims and witnesses; and list Q&As to common questions.

Copies of the Guide in English and Spanish are available on CCE’s website:

http://www.courtexcellence.org/PublicationsNew/Final Community Ed Books.htm