What happens when your child is arrested

• If you have any questions about your child’s arrest, court hearing, or probation, please call the JPD Front Desk at (415) 753-7800.
• The court will appoint an attorney at or before the first court hearing. For more information, please contact the Public Defender’s Office at (415) 753-7601.

Back to top

Citation

Depending on the crime involved, the police may issue a citation (also known as a Notice to Appear or a ticket). The citation will say when and where the child will have to go to respond to the arrest.

The young person may have to go to one of the following:

• Juvenile Traffic Court: 375 Woodside Avenue, Room 101, San Francisco, CA 94127. Phone: 415-682-5100.
• Community Assessment and Resource Center (CARC): 44 Gough Street, Suite 104 San Francisco, CA 94103. The police may also cite and transport the youth to CARC. Phone: 415-437-2500.
• Juvenile Probation Department: 375 Woodside Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94127. Phone: (415) 753-7800.

It is important that the young person appear at the correct time and place to avoid additional consequences.

Back to top

Detention

If a young person is detained (or booked) at Juvenile Hall, they may stay there until they can go before a judge. The judge will then decide if the young person can go home to their parents or guardians. This happens during the “Detention Hearing” (please see below for more information).

Within one hour of admission to Juvenile Hall, children can call their parent, guardian, or a relative. They can also contact their defense attorney.

Parents and guardians can visit with their child while they are staying in Juvenile Hall. They can do this by phone, video, or in person.

Back to top

Diversion

Diversion is an alternative to the normal juvenile justice system. There are diversion opportunities at every stage of the juvenile justice process. Probation may divert a young person rather than investigating the case. The District Attorney may divert a case rather than filing a petition. The Court may divert a case rather than adjudicating the case. If a young person’s case is diverted, they will have the opportunity to complete a program. If successful, the young person may avoid going to court, or getting a petition or a disposition.  

Back to top

Investigation

The Juvenile Probation Department (JPD) looks at all juvenile arrests sent by the police/ law enforcement agencies. This includes citations and detentions. JPD then decides whether to divert the case from the court process or to investigate the case.

If JPD investigates the case, a Deputy Probation Officer will gather information. The Probation Officer will talk with the child’s parents, legal guardians, police officers, and school staff. They may also talk to community agencies and others.

After the investigation, the Probation Officer might place the young person on informal probation, which is a type of diversion. Or, the Probation Officer might submit a request for a petition to the District Attorney (DA). For some crimes and situations, JPD is required by law to investigate and submit a petition request to the DA.

Back to top

Petition

When JPD submits a petition request to the District Attorney (DA), the DA may decide to divert the case from the court process. Or, the DA may file a petition and begin the court process. A petition is a legal document the DA files with the court. The petition describes the crimes the young person may have committed.

If there is enough evidence, the DA will file a petition with the court and start the court process.

If there is not enough evidence, the DA will decline to file charges. There will be no court proceedings. If the DA declines to file charges and the young person is detained at Juvenile Hall, they will be released to their parents or guardians.

Back to top

Detention Hearing

If the young person has been detained and the DA decides to file a petition, they will stay at Juvenile Hall until they can go before a judge at the Detention Hearing.

The Detention Hearing will happen within three business days of admission to Juvenile Hall. During the Detention Hearing, the judge will decide on one of three options. The judge may decide that the young person can go home to their parents or guardians. Or, the judge may decide to send the young person to an out of home placement, such as a foster care placement. Or, the judge may decide that the young person is required to stay in Juvenile Hall until their next court date.

Back to top

Pretrial Conference

The pretrial conference (also called the “J-1 Hearing”) is a hearing where the young person’s defense attorney and the District Attorney (DA) discuss possible resolutions for the case. For youth who have citations, this is the first court hearing.

At the pretrial conference, several things may occur:

• The charges may change or be amended. For example, a felony may be reduced to a misdemeanor.
• A young person may or may not admit responsibility for the charges.
• The charges may be sustained or found to be true. The terms “guilty,” “not guilty,” and “innocent” are not used in juvenile court proceedings.
• The court may set aside the charges and place the young person on court-supervised informal probation, a type of diversion
• The charges may be dismissed, in which case, there will be no more court proceedings.

Back to top

Jurisdictional Hearing

If there is no resolution at the pretrial conference, then the case will go to trial, known as the Jurisdictional Hearing (also called the “J-2 Hearing”). There are no juries in juvenile delinquency court. At the hearing, the judge will decide whether it is true that the young person committed the crimes listed in the petition.

The District Attorney (DA) will present evidence and witnesses. The defense attorney may object to the evidence and ask the witnesses questions. The defense attorney can also present their own evidence and witnesses.

The judge may find that the charges are true and sustain the charges. Next, the judge will set a date for the Disposition Hearing. If the young person is a resident of another county, the judge may transfer the case to that county.

If the judge finds that the young person did not commit the crime, then the judge will dismiss the petition, and there will be no more court proceedings.

Back to top

Disposition Hearing & Disposition Types

If the charges against a young person are sustained (the judge finds it to be true that the young person committed those crimes), then the court will hold another hearing, known as a Disposition Hearing. This Disposition Hearing is to determine the consequences for the young person’s conduct.

There are several types of dispositions. They all involve different levels of supervision by the court and the Juvenile Probation Department (JPD).

The court might decide that the young person is a "ward of the court." This means that the court can make decisions about the care, treatment, living situation, and guidance of the young person, and the parents of the young person no longer have the authority to make those decisions.

If the young person becomes a ward of the court, the court will place the young person on wardship probation with supervision by JPD. The court will order the young person to complete the conditions of their probation in one of the following settings:

• Home, with their parents/guardians.
• Relative’s home, with the relative acting as a kinship resource family (foster care placement).
• Non-relative resource family (foster care placement).
• Short-Term Residential Therapeutic Program (institutional foster care placement, or a group home).
• Juvenile Hall (secure commitment)
• Secure Youth Treatment Facility (county-based secure commitment for serious crimes, due to the closure of the Division of Juvenile Justice)

The court may also place the young person on non-wardship probation. This means that they will be under the supervision of the probation department, but they will not be a ward of the court.

Back to top