Virginia Juvenile Justice Process In 1800's the juvenile justice system was created to reform U.S.A. policies regarding youth offenders. United state's original intent of juvenile justice system has shifted due to a number of reforms aimed at both protecting the "due process of law" rights of youth, and creating an aversion towards jail among the young, these reforms has made the system more comparable to the adult system

History of Juvenile Competency Services in Virginia:

After a year long study conducted by the Virginia commission on youth the juvenile competency statutes were enacted. there were individuals from different groups that participated in the study, these individuals were from the Office of the Attorney General, juvenile court judges, prosecutors, public defenders, children's advocates, faculty from the University of Virginia and the University of Richmond, and senior administrative personnel from the state department of mental health, the state department of juvenile justice, local mental health agencies (community services boards), and private providers. After wards they reviewed all extant law pertaining to adjudicative competence in juveniles nationwide and drafted model language for consideration by the General Assembly during the 1999 General Assembly session. This...

There is no minimum age in Virginia for juvenile court jurisdiction, but juveniles must be at least 11 years old before they may be committed to the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice.
Steps in the Virginia's juvenile justice process:

A juvenile will be introduced into the system an offence committed by a juvenile is reported by the parents, police, and citizen or agency complaint.

The intake or arrest stage comes into action automatically if the offender is reported by a parent, citizen or agency, but if the report is done by the police consultations must be done and decisions made before the arrest or otherwise the juvenile is released back into the community.

In case of an arrest, the next action will totally rely on the decision made by the intake officer at the court. He may take an informal action such as crisis-shelter care, detention outreach, or counseling, take no action or to file a petition. If the decision made is not satisfactory, the police officer…