Juvenile Defense Toolkit: Intake, Detention Hearings, Disposition, and Sealing

Summary. Scripts, letters, motions, and worksheets for every stage of a juvenile case.

Tool 1 — Invocation card and parent instruction sheet

Wallet card, for the child

IF POLICE OR A SCHOOL OFFICER WANTS TO TALK TO ME:

"I am not answering questions. I want a lawyer. I want to call my parent."

Then say nothing else. Not an explanation. Not "I wasn't there." Not "I can explain."

Do not consent to any search — phone, backpack, locker, room, car. Say: "I do not consent to a search."

Do not unlock my phone. Do not give a passcode.

Parent instruction sheet

1. Say once, out loud: "My child is not answering questions and we want a lawyer."
2. Do not explain, contextualize, or correct. Anything you say is available to the state.
3. Consent to nothing.
4. Go to where your child is. Ask to be present. Ask if the interview is being recorded.
5. Write down: officer names and badge numbers, times, location, everyone present, what was said.
6. Do not discuss the facts with your child in anyone's presence, or on a detention phone line (recorded).
7. Request appointed counsel immediately. Never waive it.
8. Do not sign anything before counsel reviews it.

Tool 2 — Records request letters

To the school

Re: [Student], DOB [ ] — Request for educational records

As the parent/guardian, I request a complete copy of my child's educational record, including: attendance records; grades and transcripts; standardized testing; all discipline records and incident reports; any IEP, 504 plan, evaluation, or eligibility determination; any referral for evaluation and the response; counselor and social worker notes maintained as part of the record; communications regarding school resource officer involvement; and any records shared with law enforcement or the court.

[If applicable:] I am also requesting an evaluation to determine eligibility for special education and related services, and I request written notice of the district's response and the applicable timelines.

To treatment providers

Re: [Child], DOB [ ] — Authorization and request for records

Enclosed is a signed authorization. Please provide the complete record, including intake and assessment documents, diagnoses, treatment plans, progress notes, medication history, and discharge summaries, for the period [ ] to present. Please also indicate current availability for services and whether an intake appointment can be scheduled within [ ] days.

To the court or probation

Re: [Case no.] — Request for records

Please provide: the petition and all filings; the detention risk assessment instrument and the scored inputs; the predisposition or social investigation report and all attachments; all prior referrals, informal adjustments, and diversion records; the terms of any prior supervision; and any evaluation in the court's file.

Tool 3 — Diversion agreement review sheet

Do not sign until every row is answered.

Tool 4 — Detention release plan

RELEASE PLAN — [Child], [Case no.]

1. Residence. [Address]. [Relationship of adult]. [Number of bedrooms; the child will sleep in ___]. 2. Supervising adult. [Name], [relationship], [employer and work schedule], [phone]. Present in the home: [hours]. This person is present in court today. 3. Alternate supervisor. [Name, relationship, phone], available [hours]. 4. School. [School], enrolled and attending; [counselor name and phone]; transportation by [method], departing [time]. 5. Curfew. [Time] school nights, [time] weekends, enforced by [name] who is present in the home at those hours. 6. Services already arranged. [Provider], intake scheduled [date/time], contact [name/phone] — appointment card attached. 7. Transportation to court and appointments. [Vehicle/bus route/who drives]. 8. Proposed conditions the family accepts. [Curfew; no contact with ___; school attendance reported weekly; electronic monitoring if the Court requires it]. 9. Documents attached. Proof of residence · school enrollment · appointment card · letter from [supervising adult] · [employer letter].

Tool 5 — Risk assessment instrument challenge

The detention recommendation rests on a risk score of [ ]. The following inputs are inaccurate or should be scored differently:

Item	Scored as	Correct value	Evidence
Prior adjudications			certified records
Prior failures to appear			docket; the absence was [reason]
Current supervision status
Offense severity classification			the petition alleges ___
Age at first referral

Corrected, the score is [ ], which under the instrument indicates [release / non-secure alternative]. Counsel further requests that the Court note any override and its stated basis, as the instrument requires.

Tool 6 — Suppression motion outline (statement)

1. The encounter. On [date] at [time], [officer] [removed the child from class / approached at ___]. The child was [age]. The interview occurred in [closed office], lasted [duration], with [number] officers present, and the child was [not] told he was free to leave. 2. Custody. Under J.D.B. v. North Carolina, the child's age is part of the objective custody analysis where known or apparent to the officer. A reasonable [age]-year-old, removed from class by officers, taken to a closed room, and questioned by adults in authority, would not have felt free to terminate the encounter. 3. Warnings. [No warnings were given / warnings were given at ___, after ___ minutes of questioning]. 4. Waiver. Any waiver was not knowing, intelligent, and voluntary given the child's age ([ ]), grade level ([ ]), [special education status], [cognitive testing showing ___], absence of prior experience with law enforcement, and the circumstances of the interrogation. 5. State statutory protections. [State] requires [parental or attorney consultation before waiver / recording of custodial interrogation of a minor / prohibits waiver below age ___]. That requirement was not met because [ ]. 6. Voluntariness. [Length; time of day; food, water, bathroom; promises or minimization; absence of a parent despite request]. 7. Relief. Suppression of the statement and all fruits.

Tool 7 — Competency motion outline (developmental immaturity)

1. Counsel has a good faith doubt as to the child's competency to proceed. 2. Basis. The child is [age], in grade [ ], with [reading level / cognitive testing / IEP eligibility under ___]. Counsel has observed [inability to describe the roles of the participants; inability to recall or apply advice; inability to weigh options; belief that ___]. 3. Standard. [State] recognizes that incompetency may arise from developmental immaturity independent of mental illness or intellectual disability. 4. Request. Appointment of a qualified evaluator with expertise in adolescent development and juvenile competency, specifically addressing: factual and rational understanding of the proceedings; ability to assist counsel; capacity to make decisions including whether to admit; and, if incompetent, whether attainment services are likely to remediate and within what period. 5. Proceedings should be stayed pending the evaluation.

Tool 8 — Transfer hearing outline (Kent factors)

THE JUVENILE SYSTEM CAN STILL DO THIS. THE ADULT SYSTEM CANNOT UNDO IT.

Kent factor	Our evidence
Seriousness of the offense and protection of the community	[context; no injury / injury addressed by treatment plan; community support]
Whether committed in an aggressive, violent, premeditated, or willful manner	[role; spontaneity; peer presence — with the developmental evidence]
Whether against persons or property
Prosecutive merit	[weaknesses in the state's case]
Desirability of trying associated adults together	[the child's role was ___; separate treatment is appropriate]
Sophistication and maturity — home, environment, emotional attitude, pattern of living	[developmental evaluation]; trauma and dependency history; school records
Record and prior history	[first referral / prior matters resolved by diversion; no prior services offered]
Prospects for protection of the public and reasonable rehabilitation within the juvenile system	[accepted placement; program description and outcomes; time remaining before jurisdictional age limit]

Request a written statement of reasons, as Kent requires.

Tool 9 — Developmental evaluation engagement letter

You are engaged to evaluate [child], age [ ], and to address:

1. Developmental maturity relative to age peers, including decision-making, impulse regulation, future orientation, and susceptibility to peer influence — and how these operate under emotional arousal, time pressure, and in the presence of peers.
2. Cognitive and academic functioning, including any learning disability or intellectual limitation.
3. Trauma exposure and mental health, with diagnoses and their relationship to the alleged conduct.
4. Substance use, if any, and its role.
5. Amenability to treatment, and the specific interventions indicated, with named available programs.
6. [For competency:] factual and rational understanding, and ability to assist counsel.
7. [For interrogation:] capacity to understand and waive rights at the time of the statement.

Please state the basis for each opinion and the instruments used, and advise promptly if any opinion would be unfavorable. Do not render an opinion that a brain scan or group-level research determines what this individual could or could not control at a particular moment.

Tool 10 — Disposition memorandum

1. Recommendation. [Specific: probation with the plan below, no out-of-home placement.] 2. The child. [Age, grade, school, living situation, work, activities — two paragraphs of who this person is.] 3. What happened, and what has already changed. [Brief, accountable, and specific about steps taken since.] 4. What is actually driving the conduct. [The evaluation's findings — untreated condition, trauma, learning disability, substance use.] 5. The plan. a. Treatment: [program], intake completed [date], sessions [frequency], contact [name/phone]. (Attach the acceptance letter.) b. School: [enrollment; credits; IEP or 504 status; supports; counselor contact]. c. Supervision: [adult, hours, curfew, reporting]. d. Restitution: [amount; proposed schedule based on ability to pay; community service credit]. e. Positive structure: [job, sports, program, mentor]. 6. Why placement is unnecessary and counterproductive. [Disruption to school and treatment; the plan addresses the identified risk; the evaluation's amenability findings.] 7. Attachments. Evaluation · treatment acceptance · school records and plan · letters · supervision statement.

Tool 11 — Character letter request

Would you be willing to write a short letter to the judge about [child]?

What helps most is one or two specific things you have actually seen — not general praise. For example: how they behave in your class or on your team; a time they were responsible, or helped someone; how they have handled a setback; changes you have observed in the last few months; and whether you will continue working with them.

Please: write in your own words, on letterhead if you have it; state how long and in what capacity you have known them; say that you are aware of the pending case and what you understand it to concern; and date and sign it.

Please avoid: arguing about the facts of the case; criticizing the police, the victim, or the court; or saying the child would never do such a thing. A specific letter from someone who knows the child is worth ten general ones.

Tool 12 — Condition modification and violation response

Modification motion

Condition [ ] requires [ ]. It cannot be complied with because [no transportation to ___, which is ___ miles away and not on a bus route / testing hours conflict with school / the no-contact provision includes a sibling in the same household / the curfew conflicts with employment ending at ___].

The child proposes instead: [telephonic reporting / testing at school through the nurse / a provider at ___ on the ___ bus line / a curfew of ___ on nights he works]. [Provider/employer letter attached.]

Violation response checklist

• Do not admit at the first hearing
• Obtain the alleged basis in writing
• Gather: schedules, transportation records, provider attendance sheets, advance notices sent, medical documentation
• Identify whether the condition was objectively achievable
• If non-payment is alleged: demand the inquiry into reasons and alternatives before revocation
• Propose a modification rather than a placement
• Address what has changed since

Tool 13 — Ability to pay and fee waiver

Fee waiver request. The family's monthly income is $[ ] for a household of [ ]. Monthly expenses: housing $[ ], utilities $[ ], food $[ ], transportation $[ ], medical $[ ], other $[ ]. The child is [in school / employed at $___ per month]. Counsel requests waiver of [filing / counsel / evaluation / testing / monitoring / supervision / treatment / detention] fees on the ground of indigency. [Note whether [state] has repealed juvenile fees.]

Restitution. Counsel requests an ability-to-pay determination before any restitution schedule is set; a schedule not exceeding $[ ] per month; credit for community service at [rate] where permitted; and that any remaining balance convert to a civil judgment at case closure rather than extending court supervision solely for collection.

Before any revocation for non-payment, counsel requests the inquiry required by Bearden v. Georgia into the reasons for non-payment and the adequacy of alternatives.

Tool 14 — Placement grievance and release plan

Grievance

To: [Facility administrator], Re: [Child], [ID no.] — Formal grievance

Issue: [denial of prescribed medication since ___ / no education services since ___ / IEP not implemented / isolation exceeding ___ hours / safety concern regarding ___ / denial of family contact]. Dates and details: [ ] Requested resolution: [ ] Copies to: placing agency caseworker · child's counsel · [state juvenile ombudsman / oversight body].

Please respond in writing within [ ] days per the facility's grievance policy.

Release planning (start 60 days out)

• School: reenrollment, credit transfer, transcript, IEP continuation, start date
• Treatment: provider identified, intake scheduled for within [7] days of release
• Medication: prescription continuity and a first appointment
• Housing: address confirmed and appropriate
• Supervising adult identified and available
• Transportation arranged
• Identification documents (birth certificate, state ID, Social Security card)
• Benefits and insurance reinstated
• Employment or program placement, if age-appropriate
• Conditions of aftercare reviewed for achievability before release

Tool 15 — Sealing petition outline

1. Petitioner [name], DOB [ ], adjudicated on [date] in [court], case no. [ ], for [offense], disposition [ ], terminated [date]. 2. Eligibility. [State] permits sealing [automatically / on petition] [ ] years after [termination of jurisdiction / attaining age ___]. That period expired on [date]. The offense is eligible because [ ]. 3. Compliance. All terms of disposition were completed on [date], including restitution paid in full [receipt attached]. 4. Subsequent record. No subsequent adjudications or convictions [certified records attached]. 5. Rehabilitation. [Education, employment, treatment, community involvement — with documentation.] 6. Relief requested. An order sealing all records of this matter held by the court, law enforcement, the prosecuting authority, and any state repository; directing that the records not be disclosed; and stating expressly that Petitioner may lawfully [deny / respond that no record exists] to inquiries, to the extent [state] law permits. 7. Notice to the prosecuting authority as required.

After entry: serve certified copies on the state criminal history repository, the arresting agency, the court clerk, and each commercial background check company identified through a consumer report request. See Recovering from Identity Theft and Fixing a Credit Report.

Related documents

• Juvenile Justice
• Representing a Child in Juvenile Court
• Juvenile Court and Delinquency Response Checklist
• Expungement and Record Relief Toolkit
• Special Education Advocacy Toolkit
• Search and Seizure Toolkit

Templates are starting points, not filings. Juvenile procedure, terminology, and records rules vary substantially by state. Consult counsel licensed where the case is pending.