Juvenile Competency in Criminal Court Trials

1. Do you think most juveniles are competent to stand trial in criminal court?

To answer this question we must first look at what would make a juvenile incompetent to stand trial in a criminal court. When a youth's competence is questioned the court will order a forensic mental health evaluation of the youth by a qualified professional, often a psychologist or psychiatrist and the evaluation assesses the youth's mental health and intellectual capacities ("Overview | Collaborative For Change," n.d.) Most importantly, it includes a detailed inquiry into the specific abilities associated with competence to stand trial-what the youth understands, knows, believes, and can do that is relevant for participating in a defense ("Overview | Collaborative

So the answer to the question is yes they should be part of the juvenile's rehabilitation process. There can be some obstacles making the process of getting a parent or guardian involved difficult or sometimes just impossible. Some of these obstacles include but not limited to the parents work schedule conflicting with rehabilitation appointments, inability to take time off without being fired, financial strain of taking work off, lack of transportation, the lacking of any good parenting skills or they just don't have any interest in dealing with their children. Getting parents and guardians involved throughout the whole process and not just the rehabilitation often leads to positive outcomes for youth, including those with behavioral health needs ("Family Involvement in the Juvenile Justice System | Collaborative For Change," n.d.). It should also be the responsibility of the juvenile justice system to get these parents, custodians or guardians involved. This could be done by supplying the parents with information on how the process works, what is expected of them and the best approach to helping with the rehabilitation. Some parent lack the education or knowledge and by supplying them with the needed information not only builds a better team relationship with the juvenile justice system but gives the youth the best chances of rehabilitation. I strongly believe that those parents, custodians or guardians that can be involved in their youth's rehabilitation are a key factor in increasing the odds of the youth successfully being rehabilitated. I also believe that the courts should whenever possible get the parents involved in the process and offer any necessary training, education or support if needed by the parents or