Juvenile detention can include anything from community service to educational classes. It can also include substance abuse counseling. The difference in juvenile court is that there’s juvenile detention, which is essentially a juvenile corrections facility.

There is a difference between the two. Detention is essentially where a person is in custody in softer environment aimed at rehabilitating the juvenile. The individual is still in custody and is not able to be with their family.

The corrections facility is more severe and for more serious juvenile offenders. Juveniles who usually have multiple prior convictions are sent there and the facility is essentially a version of a juvenile prison facility.

Juveniles that are awaiting a court trial hearing are not typically sent to a juvenile correctional facility unless they were actually convicted of the crime.

Different Arrest Procedures For Different Ages

Those that are younger in age, such as seven years old and below, are typically not going to be found in handcuffs. It is possible, but usually what happens is when someone that young is arrested is that their parents are notified and they come and pick them up out of custody. In some cases, the judge may require those that young to be held in custody until their initial appearance.

From that point, the police submit charges to the State, and the State decides whether or not to charge the juvenile with a crime. Seven years old is usually the line where the State decides if they are going to charge the crime or not against this person.

Sometimes the state will use their discretion and some that are ten or younger find that they are not charged with a crime.

Obviously, the more serious the crime, the more likely they are to charge. Unfortunately, the have been cases around the country where very young minors or juveniles have committed very serious offenses like murder, rape, or sexual abuse.