The new juvenile laws in California have reshaped how the state handles young people accused of crimes: state-run youth prisons are closed, children under 12 generally cannot be prosecuted at all, truancy no longer sends kids to court, every youth 17 or younger must talk to a lawyer before any custodial interrogation, and it is now considerably harder for a prosecutor to move a case into adult court. Together, these changes push the system toward county-level rehabilitation and away from long-term confinement.
State Youth Prisons Are Closed
Senate Bill 823, signed by Governor Newsom on September 30, 2020, started the shutdown of California’s Division of Juvenile Justice. DJJ stopped accepting new youth in June 2021, and the last facilities ceased operations on June 30, 2023.1California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. CDCR Ceases Division of Juvenile Justice Operations
Responsibility for every youth under juvenile court jurisdiction now sits with counties. For the most serious offenders who would previously have been sent to DJJ, counties operate their own Secure Youth Treatment Facilities. Everyone else moves through community-based programs funded by the Juvenile Justice Realignment Block Grant.2Board of State and Community Corrections. Senate Bill 823 – DJJ Realignment Implementation The practical effect for families is that a young person stays closer to home, which keeps parents involved in treatment and shortens the distance between confinement and reentry. Programs are built around education, mental health treatment, substance abuse services, and vocational training rather than long stints in a distant state institution.
Children Under 12 Generally Cannot Be Prosecuted
Since January 1, 2020, Senate Bill 439 has set 12 as the minimum age for juvenile court jurisdiction in California.3California Legislative Information. Bill Text – SB-439 Jurisdiction of the Juvenile Court A child younger than 12 cannot be prosecuted or made a ward of the court. Narrow exceptions exist for the most serious violent offenses, including murder and certain sexual offenses.4California Legislative Information. SB-439 Jurisdiction of the Juvenile Court
When police encounter a child under 12 outside those exceptions, the county has to release the child to a parent, guardian, or caregiver instead of pushing the case through court.
Truancy No Longer Sends a Child to Court
Assembly Bill 901, signed in September 2020 and effective in 2021, removed truancy as a basis for juvenile court jurisdiction.5California Legislative Information. California AB-901 – Juveniles Schools had previously been able to send habitually truant or disruptive students directly to probation. Now, a peace officer must first refer the young person to community-based services, the probation department, a health agency, or a local educational agency before issuing a notice to appear.
Any services offered to a youth who is not already on probation are voluntary. There are no probation conditions attached, and no consequences for turning them down.
A Lawyer Must Be Consulted Before Any Interrogation
This is the change families feel most directly. Before any custodial interrogation, and before waiving Miranda rights, every youth age 17 or younger must consult with a lawyer in person, by phone, or by video.6California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code 625.6
The consultation cannot be waived. The only exception is when an officer reasonably believes someone’s life or property is in immediate danger, and even then, questions must stay limited to what is necessary to address that threat. If police fail to comply, the court weighs that failure when deciding whether anything the youth said can be used as evidence.
Two related rights fill out this protection. A youth in custody has the right to remain silent and must be told that anything they say can be used against them. And if a young person appears in court without a lawyer, the court must appoint one automatically, regardless of the family’s finances, unless the youth makes a knowing and intelligent waiver.7California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code 634 When a parent’s interests conflict with the child’s, the court appoints separate attorneys for each.
Adult Court Is Now Much Harder to Reach
Proposition 57, passed by voters in 2016, ended the practice of prosecutors filing charges against minors directly in adult court. Only a juvenile court judge can send a case to adult court, and only after a transfer hearing.8California Courts. WIC 707(A) Transfer Cases (Prop 57)
The prosecutor has to file a motion to transfer, and the court must find by clear and convincing evidence that the youth cannot be rehabilitated within the juvenile system. The judge weighs five factors:
- The degree of criminal sophistication the youth showed
- Whether the youth can be rehabilitated before juvenile court jurisdiction expires
- The youth’s prior delinquency history
- How well previous rehabilitation efforts worked
- The seriousness of the offense
Transfer motions are limited to youth who were 16 or older at the time of the offense for any felony, or 14 or 15 at the time of specific violent offenses listed in Welfare and Institutions Code Section 707(b), including murder, robbery, arson, kidnapping, and certain sexual offenses.9California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code WIC 707 The burden has also shifted. Under prior law, the youth was presumed unfit for juvenile court and the defense had to prove otherwise. Now there is no such presumption, and the prosecution carries the burden.
Records Get Sealed Automatically After Success
California’s record-sealing rules are among the strongest in the country. When a youth satisfactorily completes diversion, non-wardship probation, or any term of probation, the court must dismiss the petition and order every related record sealed, including records held by the court, law enforcement, the probation department, and the Department of Justice.10California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code 786
This happens automatically. No petition, no lawyer, no filing fee required. Once records are sealed, the arrest and proceedings are legally deemed never to have occurred, and the young person can truthfully tell employers, schools, and anyone else that the case never happened.
Satisfactory completion means no new felony conviction or misdemeanor involving moral turpitude during supervision, and substantial compliance with probation conditions within the youth’s ability to perform them. An unpaid restitution balance alone does not count as unsatisfactory completion and cannot block sealing.
Youth whose records were not sealed automatically have a second path. Five or more years after juvenile court jurisdiction ends, or at any time after turning 18, a person can petition the court to seal their records.11California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code WIC 781 The court holds a hearing and grants the petition if the person has not been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor involving moral turpitude since jurisdiction ended and rehabilitation has been achieved.
Diversion Before a Case Ever Reaches Court
The probation officer can redirect a youth away from court entirely. With the consent of the young person and their parent or guardian, the officer can refer them to a health agency, community organization, educational program, or probation-supervised plan lasting up to six months.12California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code WIC 654
If the youth does not engage within 60 days, the probation officer can still file a petition. But when the program is completed successfully, the court dismisses the petition and automatically seals every record tied to the case.10California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code 786
Parents Can Still Be on the Hook Financially
None of these reforms shield parents from civil liability for what their child does. Under Civil Code Section 1714.1, a parent with custody and control of a minor is jointly liable for damages caused by the child’s willful misconduct.13California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1714.1 The base statutory cap is $25,000 per incident for property damage and $25,000 for medical, dental, and hospital expenses when a person is injured. The Judicial Council adjusts these amounts every two years for cost-of-living increases, so the current cap may be higher.
Civil liability sits on top of anything the juvenile court orders. If the court orders victim restitution as part of the youth’s disposition, parents can be required to contribute. Insurance offers only limited relief: the statute caps an insurer’s exposure at $10,000 for conduct imputed to a parent this way, so most of the financial burden falls on the family directly rather than on a homeowner’s or renter’s policy.
Restitution itself is not discretionary in juvenile cases. When a youth is found to have committed an offense, the court must order restitution to the victim for all economic losses, and the youth’s inability to pay is explicitly not a valid reason to reduce the amount.14California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code WIC 730.6 Unpaid restitution can be converted into a civil judgment, so the obligation survives the end of juvenile court jurisdiction.