Your child is in trouble. Here's what happens next.

The juvenile system's stated purpose is rehabilitation, and its toolbox reflects that: counseling, community service, restitution, probation, program placements. But it also includes real detention, and for serious charges, the possibility of transfer to adult court. The same complaint can end in a dismissed charge and a sealed file, or in a detention placement and a record that resurfaces for years, depending heavily on how the case is presented. Treat a delinquency complaint with the same seriousness as an adult charge.

If your child is taken into custody, things move fast. A juvenile held in detention must be brought before a judge promptly for a detention hearing, where the court decides whether continued detention is necessary or the child comes home to await the case, with detention reviewed again at short intervals afterward. Having counsel at that first hearing matters more than at almost any other moment in the case.

Waiver is the pivot point of a serious juvenile case. In Family Part, the endpoint is a rehabilitative disposition and a confidential record. In adult court, it's adult sentencing exposure and a public conviction. The waiver decision is made by a Family Part judge after a hearing where defense counsel can attack the State's showing and present everything that weighs against transfer: age, maturity, school record, mental health, treatment prospects, and the child's actual role in the alleged offense. Preparing that presentation thoroughly is the most valuable work a juvenile defense lawyer does, and it can't be improvised at the last minute.

Is my child going to have a criminal record now?

Not in the adult sense. A juvenile found to have committed an offense is "adjudicated delinquent," not convicted, and juvenile records are confidential. But they are not invisible: they can affect later sentencing, certain applications and immigration matters, and they do not erase themselves. New Jersey allows juvenile records to be sealed and expunged when statutory waiting periods and conditions are met, and building toward that clean ending should be part of the defense plan from the start.

Could they really try my child as an adult?

For the most serious charges, yes. Prosecutors can move to waive juveniles 15 or older into adult criminal court for enumerated offenses such as murder, first-degree robbery, aggravated sexual assault and certain gun crimes. A Family Part judge decides the waiver motion after a hearing. Fighting waiver is often the single most important battle in a serious juvenile case, because it decides whether the goal of the proceeding is rehabilitation or adult punishment.

Will there be a jury?

No. Juvenile delinquency cases are heard in the Family Part of Superior Court, where a judge alone hears the evidence and decides the facts. The State must still prove every element of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt, and juveniles have the right to counsel, to confront witnesses and to remain silent. Bench trials change strategy, not the burden of proof.

The police want to question my child. What do we do?

Politely decline until you have a lawyer. New Jersey law gives juveniles special protection during questioning: police are expected to involve a parent or guardian, and courts scrutinize whether a minor’s statement was truly voluntary and whether rights were validly waived. Do not let your child give any statement, written or recorded, before speaking with counsel. Nothing about asking for a lawyer can be held against your child; a confused statement given without one can define the whole case.

Juvenile cases span the same conduct as adult ones — theft and shoplifting, assault, drug offenses and more. When the case is over, see expungement for clearing the record.

If you're reading this because it just happened: call us before the first hearing, and before any police interview. We'll tell you exactly what's coming and what we'd do at each step. There's no charge for the conversation.