Juvenile Court Process

The purpose of this web-based training is to assist county welfare department staff with knowledge and understanding of the juvenile court process as it pertains to Title IV-E eligibility requirements. The juvenile court exercises jurisdiction in dependency proceedings under Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC) Section 300 and delinquency proceedings under WIC 601 or 602. In a dependency proceeding, the juvenile court is asked to adjudge a child to be a dependent of the court on one or more of the grounds specified in WIC 300. These grounds encompass various forms of child abuse and neglect. In delinquency proceedings, the juvenile court is asked to declare a child to be a ward of the court because the child is habitually disobedient and uncontrollable, violates a curfew ordinance, is habitually truant,or violates any criminal law or ordinance.