Welcome to the Juvenile Court Division
The Juvenile Division of the San Diego District Attorney's Office promotes family focused interventions for youth under 18, who become involved in the criminal justice system. While keeping our community safe, we are using new and diverse approaches to help our justice-involved youth succeed in life.
Working with law enforcement, the Courts, Probation. Health and Human Services and multiple community-based organizations, we use evidence-based practices to ensure the most successful outcome for all. Diversion programs are offered through local law enforcement agencies and the Probation Department. for example, ensure youth are obtaining the necessary services within their own communities rather than in custody. These diversion programs work with the justice-involved youth and their family to educate the youth and prevent future law violations. We have also enlisted organizations trained in restorative circles to correct the juvenile's behavior through discussion, mentoring and education, while also making reparations to the victims for their losses.
In addition, we have increased our prevention work by educating San Diego youth through school presentations on the law and the pitfalls or dangers of cyberbullying, teen relationship violence, social media, commercial sexual exploitation of children, human trafficking, and many other topics of interest. These presentations also help parents, teachers, school administrators, and mentoring organizations, to identify and respond to issues facing our youth.
In cases where diversion and restorative circles are not appropriate or have not been effective, after traditional prosecution, we use one of the many specialty courts we helped create. They include Juvenile Behavioral Health Court and RISE Court. Each of these court programs increases support and services for the high-risk/high-needs youthful offenders. The Juvenile Division is broken down into specialty units, allowing our prosecutors to become subject matter experts and creative problem solvers.
If You Feel Your Child Is At Risk
As much as we want to prepare you for what to expect in the juvenile justice system, we would rather not see your child get caught up in it at all. Please consider using these available resources to help towards that goal.
Navigating the Juvenile Court System
The District Attorney's Office has a division dedicated to handling matters involving juvenile suspects. This division interacts with the Juvenile Court and various other agencies involved in Juvenile Justice. The following pages provides details on these interactions.
Resources for Victims
Are you the victim in a juvenile proceeding? The following page provides helpful information for you.