Good Practices and Innovations in Public Governance 2003-2011

2008 Category 1: United States
Europe and North America
United States
2008 Category 1 Winner
Juvenile Delinquency Domestic Violence and Family
Violence Court, State of California Superior Court for the
County of Santa Clara, San Jose, California, United States
Description
Providing a comprehensive “youth-specific” criminal justice intervention uniting
different divisions in a common effort to combat youth violence, rehabilitate
abusive youth and deliver specialized services to victims through the Juvenile
Delinquency Domestic Violence and Family Violence Court.
Summary
The Juvenile and Domestic Violence and Family Violence Court, the first program in
the nation to specifically intervene in issues of juvenile domestic and family violence,
was created in 1999, under the leadership of Superior Court Judge Eugene M.
Hyman, to provide a comprehensive, “youth-specific” criminal justice intervention
that focused on uniting different divisions in a common effort to combat youth violence.
The new program represented a broad collaboration between the court, law
enforcement, the District Attorney, the Public Defender, Probation, and community
service providers. This unique, court-based program focuses on reducing the number
of juvenile domestic and family violence cases in Santa Clara County; providing rehabilitation
services to abusive youth; and delivering specialized services to victims.
The Problem
Domestic violence and child maltreatment have devastating effects on children who
are exposed either as direct victims or as witnesses to the abuse of their parent. The
“cycle of violence” can be a generational phenomenon, where violent behavior is
passed down from parent to child and learned as a way of interacting with others.
Many studies have shown children who come from abusive homes are at greater risk
of becoming adults unable to have healthy relationships. Like the parent whose abuse
they endured or witnessed, these adults now perpetrate violence on intimates or family
members.
The criminal justice system’s response has historically focused on these adult perpetrators
of domestic violence, from arrest and prosecution to probation and batterer’s intervention
programs. But justice systems were not specifically addressing the unique problems
of juvenile domestic violence, when youth are violent towards their dating partners,
and juvenile family violence, when youth are violent towards parents or siblings.
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