Juvenile Delinquency

If your child was arrested in Ventura County, he or she will go to the juvenile facility on Vineyard Avenue in Oxnard. There, probation will determine if your child should remain in custody, be released on electronic monitoring, or simply be released to you. If your child remains at the juvenile facility or on electronic monitoring, the DA has only 48 hours (excluding holidays and weekends) to decide whether or not to file the case. If they file, your child must appear in court the next court day.

If police release your child with a citation, the case will typically be forwarded to the probation department to determine how it should be handled. Sometimes the police department will handle the matter informally through a diversion program they have developed for juveniles. If they forward the case to probation, the probation department will determine if the case can be informally handled through community service or other sanctions, or if they need to forward the case to the DA. Once the DA has the case, they will either file the case, reject the case, or refer it back to probation or another program for informal handling.

If your child is in custody or on electronic monitoring, they will have a detention hearing. Rarely, the probation department will recommend detention when your child is not in custody. In this situation, probation has to have prepared a detention report. Otherwise, the judge cannot detain your child (meaning take him or her into the juvenile facility or place him or her on electronic monitoring).

To prepare for the detention hearing, you should gather documentation of positive activities your child is involved in and his or her accomplishments like good grades, sports, faith-based programs, clubs, or community service. Also bring evidence of why detention will harm your child, for example, records showing that they have fragile mental or physical health. Advise your child’s attorney of all of these issues and provide the documentation as early as possible. If the judge denies your child’s request for release, your child’s attorney can request a Dennis H. hearing, particularly if the evidence in the case is weak. Your child can also request release again later based on changed circumstances.

At your child’s first court appearance, if the case is a misdemeanor, it is most common to refer the case to probation to screen for potential diversion programs, discussed in the next section. If your child’s attorney refers the case to probation for a screening, your child will get a new court date one month away if they are out of custody and two weeks away if they are detained. Before the next court date, probation will interview you and your child separately to determine what level of case handling is most appropriate. It is best for your child’s attorney to be present when probation interviews your child.

Sometimes it makes sense to continue the case at the first court appearance. If it is a serious case, for example, your child’s attorney may ask you to gather character letters and other information. Other times, setting the case for contest (trial) right away is the best strategy. Unfortunately, your child will not have the right to a jury trial, only a court trial where one judge decides innocence or guilt. On rare occasions, it makes sense for your child to admit the charges on the first court date, typically where police reports contain evidence of more serious crimes than those the DA has charged.

The probation department will often handle low-level misdemeanors informally without involving the court. The child will typically complete community service, write an essay, or engage in guided discussions with the alleged victim as terms of the program. Police departments and the DA’s office also sometimes offer informal handling programs. The end result of these programs is a clean record for your child and no further consequences, unless they fail to complete program requirements.

This program is available for almost all first-time offenses in juvenile court. The court has discretion to allow youth to participate in 654.2 informal probation multiple times, but usually the court will only grant this once, unless subsequent offenses are very minor. 654.2 probation typically lasts for 6 months and can be extended up to a year if your child needs more time to complete requirements. Youth are often required to perform community service, complete an online or in-person course related to their offense, like anger management or substance abuse prevention classes, and sometimes pay restitution. Search terms are not permitted by law, but in Ventura and other counties, judges accept a waiver of this rule where they might otherwise deny 654.2 supervision.

If your child successfully completes 654.2 probation, his or her case will be dismissed and sealed for all purposes, without any admission of guilt. 654.2 can be granted even for serious felonies, but this is less common and requires significant advocacy and mitigation. If your child receives and successfully completes 654.2 even for a serious felony, the case is dismissed and sealed as if it never occurred, per WIC 786(a).

725 probation is usually a child’s last chance before being made a ward of the court, unless they are eligible for 790 deferred entry of judgment, discussed next. 725 probation is often granted where a child has violated or run out of time on 654.2 probation, or where an offense is somewhat serious, but the court is willing to give your child a chance on a lower level of supervision. The eligibility criteria and requirements for 725 probation are almost identical to 654.2 informal probation. The significant differences are:

1. Your child must admit guilt
2. Your child is subject to full restitution requirements
3. Search terms may be imposed
4. 725 probation cannot be extended beyond 6 months

Your child will receive probation conditions similar if not identical to those typical for 654.2 informal probation. If your child violates 725 probation, little can be done to prevent the Court from making the child a ward, because your child has already admitted guilt and waived his or her right to fight the charges. If your child successfully completes 725 probation, the case is dismissed and sealed per WIC 786(a), unless the offense was a serious felony listed in WIC 707(b). For “707(b)” offenses, the case may be sealed pursuant to section 781 when your child becomes eligible.

This program, often referred to as “DEJ,” is only available for felony offenses not listed in section 707(b) of the Welfare and Institutions Code, which lists serious felonies. The level of supervision is fairly intensive, with frequent check-ins with probation, home searches, ongoing drug testing, 40 hours of community services, completion of multiple classes, and more. Importantly, your child cannot serve time in custody as a condition of participating in DEJ. If they are in custody pending the court’s decision on DEJ, they will be released the day they are granted DEJ. DEJ can last for up to 3 years but probation will normally recommend termination at 18 months if your child has fulfilled all requirements. If your child successfully completes DEJ, the case is dismissed and sealed.

If the court sustains the petition alleging your child committed a crime and will not let your child participate in 725 or 790 supervision (discussed above), the court will declare your child a ward of the court.  Wardship probation allows the Court to remove your child from your custody and commit them to the juvenile facility or even place them in foster care.

Some parents are shocked when they hear the orders the court makes when declaring the child a ward.  The court typically recites code sections stating that:

(1) the parents have failed to provide proper maintenance, training, or education for the child,

(2) the minor has failed to reform on probation, and

(3) the welfare of the minor requires removing custody from the parents. 

While the court need only find one of these things has occurred, the court often recites all three.  These findings sound serious, but most of the time, your child will remain in your custody and will not be removed from you or placed in foster care after completing their commitment (juvenile sentence) at the juvenile facility.

Wardship probation can last until your child is 21 years old, or 23 or 25, depending on the nature of the offense and the disposition (juvenile “sentence”) your child received. Probation conditions are intensive and the same as the conditions listed above for DEJ.  If your child violates probation, they can serve additional time at the juvenile facility. In Ventura County, probation is typically terminated successfully after one year if the child has complied with all probation terms. If the offense is not listed in section 707(b), the case will be dismissed and sealed automatically upon successful completion of probation per section 786(a). If the case was a 707(b) offense, the case may be sealed pursuant to section 781 when your child becomes eligible.

SYTF is the most serious disposition available in juvenile court. It is reserved for the most serious juvenile offenses, listed in section 707(b) of the Welfare and Institutions Code. SYTF replaced the former “kid prison” system, DJJ. Youth can be committed to SYTF for 2 to 7 years, based on the category of their offense. The number of years the youth receives is called the “baseline term.” When youth are committed to SYTF, the probation department must develop an Individual Rehabilitation Plan (IRP) that sets forth the youth’s specific needs, goals, and the programs probation will provide to meet those needs and goals while the youth is in SYTF. Your child’s attorney can provide input on the IRP and request additional programs and services.

SYTF-committed youth have review hearings every 6 months where they can earn reductions of their baseline term through good conduct. Youth can also be placed in a “less restrictive program,” often called a “step-down program,” outside of the juvenile facility. Pine Grove is the gold standard for SYTF step-down programs, but it is restrictive and not a good fit for all youth. Other programs are available locally. Youth may also be placed in outpatient programs while living at home.

Youth are discharged from SYTF after completing their SYTF baseline term or when the juvenile court loses jurisdiction, whichever occurs first. The juvenile court has jurisdiction over SYTF-committed youth until they are 23 years old, unless the maximum sentence for the offense or offenses in adult court would exceed 7 years. In that case, the juvenile court retains jurisdiction until the youth is 25 years old. Also, if a juvenile offense is discovered late, after the court would otherwise not have jurisdiction, the person can be committed to SYTF for up to two years.

After a youth committed to SYTF has completed their baseline term and probation, they can petition for sealing of their case pursuant to section 781 when they become eligible.