Let’s follow the steps for a juvenile shoplifter:

• When the juvenile is arrested, the police have the power to decide what to do with him/her. The juvenile may be returned to the parents, or the case may be given to a social services agency. If the offender has a prior record, he/she may be sent to a county detention home or to juvenile hall.

• If the offender is not sent home, he/she then goes through an informal process called “intake” to decide if the case should be sent to juvenile court. A social worker reviews the case and questions the juvenile. Most cases are dismissed during this process. But if the juvenile has a bad record, the case will then proceed to juvenile court.

• There is an initial hearing in which the judge must be convinced that a crime has been committed. If he is convinced, the juvenile is sent back to juvenile hall or the county detention home to await trial. Juveniles cannot be set free on bail because it is thought that they might run away.

• The next step is the adjudicatory hearing (a meeting in which a judgment is made), which takes place privately. There is no jury. The juvenile may have an attorney, however. The judge hears the case and makes a decision.

• Next is the dispositional hearing, when the judge decides on the sentence. The juvenile may be placed in a state institution for juveniles, in a group home, a community treatment program, or on probation. When a person is put on probation, he/she is under the supervision of a court official or probation officer. He/she does not actually live with the probation officer, but has regularly scheduled meetings with the officer. Often the juvenile is required to take part in both individual and family counseling.