Juvenile Division

The Juvenile Courts handle cases of children under 18 years of age who violate any law, or any children who are abused or neglected.

The Superior Court of Santa Clara County provides detailed information for both these kinds of cases on our Self-Help pages:

• If a child is accused of a crime, the case goes to Juvenile Justice, which is the Juvenile Justice Courthouse on Guadalupe Parkway in San Jose.
• If a parent or guardian is accused of abusing or neglecting a child, the case goes to Juvenile Dependency, which is in the Family Justice Center Courthouse on N.First Street in San Jose.

Juvenile Justice Reports

• Click to open the 2017 Juvenile Justice System Annual Report
• Click to open the 2018 Juvenile Justice System Annual Report
• Click to open the 2019 Juvenile Justice System Annual Report

  Working collaboratively with project contributors, under the Juvenile Justice Model Court grant, this report will be used as a tool to evaluate performance, facilitate information sharing and manage operational information within Santa Clara County. Contributors to this report include: Juvenile Justice Court; Probation Department, Juvenile Services and Institutions Divisions; District Attorney’s Office; Offices of the Public Defender and Alternate Defender; Social Services Agency, Department of Family and Children Services; Mental Health Department; and W. Haywood Burns Institute.

  This report seeks to contribute to the Juvenile Justice data compiled by other Model Courts throughout the nation in an effort to better understand how Santa Clara County can improve outcomes for our youth.

• Click to open the 2018 Juvenile Justice Judges

  The Judges of the Juvenile Court would like to acknowledge at the outset that this report and the many accomplishments reflected would not have been possible without the tireless efforts of all of our juvenile justice partners. As in previous years, the accomplishments documented here are a result of the extensive collaboration and many meetings necessitated by the goals that we set for ourselves.

  Although this report addresses the activities of the Juvenile Court, the Court would once again like to acknowledge at the outset the many noteworthy achievements of the Santa Clara County Probation Department. These achievements continue to reflect the adoption of best practices that not only provide additional tools, perspectives, and programs, but help move us forward on issues and projects the Court is addressing.

Juvenile Truancy Amnesty Project

Click to read the Order re: Truancy Amnesty Project

Juvenile Justice Protocol

Click to read the Dually Involved Youth Protocol for Santa Clara County

Juvenile Competency

Click to read the Juvenile Competency Manual and Protocol

Inspection Reports

Click to read the 2023 Juvenile Hall Inspection Report

Guardian ad Litem RFP

The Court is seeking applications for Guardian Ad Litem (GAL), to provide assistance to a parent who is mentally ill or incompetent in Juvenile Dependency Court. For more information see our RFP page.

Other Types of Cases Involving Children

Children involved in name changes, guardianships, or adoptions (where there is no Dependency case) are served in Probate Court, which is addressed on our Probate Self-Help pages.

Children involved in divorce cases, or child custody or child support issues are served in Family Court, which is addressed on our Family Self-Help pages.