Acronyms & Initialisms
Here is a list of commonly used acronyms and initialisms.
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AC
BCA CASA CJC DJO DYS FST FSTM GAL JCA JJC JOP MADE OTP PC PCH PH SOC TPR VAG |
Alternative Care
Buchanan County Academy Court Appointed Special Advocate Community Justice Committee Deputy Juvenile Officer Division of Youth Services Family Support Team Family Support Team Meetings Guardian Ad Litem Juvenile Court Awareness The Honorable Frank D. Connett Juvenile Justice Center Juvenile Orientation Program Marijuana Adolescence Diversion Education Orientation to Probation Protective Custody Protective Custody Hearing Permanency Hearing Systems of Care (SOC is an initialism; it is pronounced "S O C", not "sock".) Termination of Parental Rights Victim Awareness Group |
Glossary of Terms
Abuse: Any physical injury, sexual abuse, or emotional abuse inflicted on a child other than by accidental means by those responsible for the child’s care, custody, and control, except that discipline including spanking, administered in a reasonable manner, shall not be construed as abuse.
Admission: In a delinquency/status case, this is when the child tells the court that he or she committed the offense charged. This is called a guilty plea in the adult system. In a child abuse/neglect case, this is when the parents/guardians tell the court the allegations in the petition are true.
Informal Adjustment Conference: A voluntary conference at which the juvenile and family meet with an Intake Officer to discuss options. Informal adjustments are used for minor offenses instead of taking the child to court.
Alternative Care (AC): When a child has been placed into protective custody.
Action: A proceeding taken in a court of law. Term is synonymous with a case, suit, and lawsuit.
Affidavit: A written statement of fact prepared and signed by the DJO and Children’s Division investigative worker and sworn before a person having authority to administer an oath.
Adjudication: Decision by a juvenile court judge that the juvenile committed the delinquent/status offense.
Adjudication Hearing: For delinquency and status offenses, this is a hearing to determine whether there is evidence to support the allegations against the juvenile. For child abuse/neglect cases, this is a hearing to determine whether there is evidence to support the allegations against the parent/guardian of the child.
Aftercare: Supervision of a juvenile after release from an institution.
Allegation: A charge or claim made against someone for an act that they allegedly committed.
Alternatives to Detention: Services in the community that a youth receives instead of placement in a secure detention facility.
Answer: A written statement of the respondent’s case made in response to the plaintiff’s complaint.
Appeal: The process by which a case is brought from one court to a higher court for review for a reversal or modification of the judgment of the lower court.
Bailiff: A court officer who opens and closes the court and keeps peace in the courtroom.
Certification: The juvenile court may transfer to adult court the case of a child between 12 and 17 who is charged with committing an offense that would be a felony if committed by an adult. The juvenile court may also transfer to adult court the case of a child of any age who is charged with committing an extremely serious felony or a child who has committed two or more prior unrelated offenses that would have been felonies if committed by an adult.
Clerk of the Court: An officer of the court whose duty is to maintain court records.
Commitment: A judge’s order that a child be placed in confinement or a residential program.
Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA): A volunteer that is a trained citizen who is appointed by a judge to be a voice for abused and neglected children in court.
Court Summary: A document prepared by the Children’s Division or DJO and offered to the court for review.
Continuance: A delay or postponement of a court hearing.
Delinquent Act: An action committed by a juvenile that would have been a crime if committed by an adult.
Deposition: Testimony taken under oath outside the courtroom concerning the facts and circumstances surrounding an incident. It may be introduced as evidence in a court hearing at a later time.
Detention: Short-Term secure confinement of a juvenile for the purpose of ensuring the juvenile will appear for court and/or for the protection of the community.
Detention Center: A facility designed for short-term secure confinement of a juvenile prior to court disposition or execution of a court order.
Detention Hearing: The hearing to determine whether there is good reason to detain the youth until the adjudicatory hearing.
Discovery: A pre-trial procedure that allows each party to get written or oral information from the other party.
Disposition: The decision the juvenile court reaches concerning a youth's case.
Dismissal: Terminating the case.
DJO: Deputy Juvenile Officer
Docket: The order in which cases will be heard or tried on a given day. The list is often posted outside the courtroom with cases listed by the petitioner’s name. Juvenile dockets are not posted to the general public.
Evidence: Any form of proof legally presented at an adjudication proceeding through witnesses, records, documents, or other material.
Family Support Team (FST): A team that ensures the necessary services and support are provided to all parties of an abuse/neglect case. The team may include the mother/father, DJO, Children’s Division, CASA, guardian ad litem, parent’s attorney, and any other individuals working toward the goal of reunifying the child back into the parental home.
Family Support Team (FST) Meetings: These meetings are held for child abuse/neglect cases. The initial meeting is scheduled 72 hours after the child is taken into alternative care, as well as 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, and 120 days later. Monthly meetings are held in the Fifth Circuit. Additional meetings can be scheduled as needed or at the request of the team. Many decisions and recommendations are made by this team.
Finding: The court’s decision on issues of fact. In almost all court orders, the findings of facts precede the actual order of the court.
Guardian ad Litem (GAL): An attorney appointed by the court to represent the interests of a child in a civil or criminal proceeding involving that child. A GAL must be appointed if there is an allegation that the child has been neglected or abused. The GAL is charged with promoting the best interests of the child in that proceeding.
Hearing : A court proceeding to decide on a course of action, or to determine a child’s involvement or non-involvement in an offense. The order of the hearings in juvenile proceedings for delinquency and status offenses are: (1) detention hearing, (2) adjudicatory hearing, and (3) dispositional hearing. For a child abuse/neglect case, the order of the hearings is: (1) protective custody hearing or preliminary child welfare hearing, (2) adjudicatory hearing, and (3) dispositional hearing. It is common for the juvenile court judge to conduct the adjudication hearing and dispositional hearing on the same date provided the allegations are found to be true.
Interlocutory: Provisional; temporary; not final; refers to an order of the court.
Interrogatories: Written questions developed by one party’s attorney for the adversary in a case who must respond in writing and under oath.
Judgment: A determination by a court of the rights and claims of the parties in an action.
Judicial Notice: An act in which a judge conducting a trial or framing a decision recognizes the existence and truth of certain facts having a bearing on the controversy without the production of evidence. Taking judicial notice is the awareness of certain facts that judges may act upon without proof or argument, because they already know them to be true.
Jurisdiction: The extent or range of authority of the court or law enforcement.
Juvenile Court : A court with authority over cases involving children under the age of eighteen. Some of Missouri’s larger metropolitan areas have a family court rather than a juvenile court, and the family court hears and decides delinquency cases.
Minor: Any person under the age of 18.
Mediation: A non-binding process involving a neutral mediator who acts as a facilitator to assist the parties in crafting a mutually acceptable resolution.
Motion: An oral or written request for an action made by a party before, during, or after a trial, upon which a court issues a ruling or order.
Neglect: Failure to provide, by those responsible for the care, custody, and control of the child, the proper or necessary support, education as required by law, nutrition, medical, surgical, or any other care necessary for the child’s well-being.
Notice: A written order to appear in court at a certain time and place.
Parties: The persons who take part in the performance of any act, or who are directly interested in any affair, or who are actively concerned in the prosecution and defense of any legal proceeding; commonly referred to as the petitioner and respondent.
Permanency Hearing (PH): This hearing occurs within one year after the child came into care. The court is required by federal law to have a hearing to determine what the permanent plan is for the child. Types of permanency include: reunification with the parent, guardianship with a third party, independent living, termination of parental rights – adoption, and another planned permanent living arrangement (long-term foster care).
Petition - A legal paper, filed by a state authority, that says what your child is accused of having done. For child abuse/neglect cases, this is the pleading that sets forth the allegations of abuse/neglect against the parent/guardian.
Petitioner: A person who brings an action seeking relief; the party who complains or sues in a personal action; also referred to as the plaintiff.
Pleading: The formal written allegations by the parties in a lawsuit of their respective claims and defense presented for the judgment of the court.
Pre-Disposition: The period after the filing of a petition alleging the juvenile committed a delinquency offense but before the hearing.
Social Investigative Summary: The investigation into the child’s background and character after the court decides that the child has committed a delinquent offense. The investigation collects information that will help the court determine the most appropriate disposition.
Pro Bono: When an attorney agrees to represent the party for free.
Formal Probation: Where a child is found to have committed a delinquent or status offense, and the child is placed on court-ordered supervision.
Informal Probation: Placing the child on voluntary probation under the juvenile office’s supervision. Successful completion of the informal probation period may result in charges not being filed in juvenile court.
Pro Se: A person who represents himself in court, without the aid of an attorney.
Formal Processing: Cases that are filed with the Court and appear on the official court calendar.
Protective Custody (PC): Removal from the youth's home and placement in foster care. The youth is in the legal care and custody of Missouri Children's Division when in protective custody.
Protective Custody Hearing (PCH): The primary purpose of this hearing is for the court to decide whether or not the child can safely be returned home. This hearing must be held within 3 business days of the date the child was placed in protective custody.
Recidivism: The act of committing another delinquent act.
Referral: A complaint or report that law enforcement, a school, or a citizen files with the juvenile court alleging a violation of the law.
Remand : To send an accused person back into custody to await further proceedings.
Restitution: Court-ordered payments made to the victim by the child or child’s parents for losses.
Record: A copy of the pleadings, exhibits, orders, or decrees filed in a case in the trial court and a transcript of the testimony taken in the case.
Respondent: The person defending or denying an action; the person against whom the relief or recovery is sought.
Reunification: The court gives the child back to the parents based on substantial compliance with the court-ordered treatment plan.
Service: Notification of an action or of some proceeding given to the person affected in person, or by sending it to him or her in the mail, or by publication in the newspaper; the delivery or communication of a legal document in a suit to the opposite party.
Statute: State law as enacted by the Missouri General Assembly.
Status Offense: Behavior that is considered an offense only if committed by a child under seventeen. Status offenses are handled only by the juvenile court. Missouri law recognizes only five status offenses: (1) truancy, (2) beyond parental control, (3) running away from home, (4) maintaining behavior or associations that are harmful to a child, and (5) offenses that are not classified as criminal or that apply only to children, e.g., underage drinking, curfew. Status offenders will not be held in juvenile detention.
Subpoena: A written order issued by the court to require a witness to appear and given testimony or produce documentary evidence in a legal proceeding.
Taken into Custody: The act on the part of a police officer to obtain custody of a juvenile who is accused of committing a delinquent act.
Termination of Parental Rights (TPR) Hearing: Sometimes referred to as TPR. The court may find that it is in the best interest of the child for parental rights to be terminated and for the child to be adopted by a third party. The third party may be the foster parents, another family member, or a relative.
Testimony: Any statement made by a witness under oath in a legal proceeding.
Witness: Any person called to testify under oath in a criminal or civil proceeding regarding what that person has seen, heard or otherwise observed. This might include the victim, eyewitnesses, and police officers, medical or other professionals.
Admission: In a delinquency/status case, this is when the child tells the court that he or she committed the offense charged. This is called a guilty plea in the adult system. In a child abuse/neglect case, this is when the parents/guardians tell the court the allegations in the petition are true.
Informal Adjustment Conference: A voluntary conference at which the juvenile and family meet with an Intake Officer to discuss options. Informal adjustments are used for minor offenses instead of taking the child to court.
Alternative Care (AC): When a child has been placed into protective custody.
Action: A proceeding taken in a court of law. Term is synonymous with a case, suit, and lawsuit.
Affidavit: A written statement of fact prepared and signed by the DJO and Children’s Division investigative worker and sworn before a person having authority to administer an oath.
Adjudication: Decision by a juvenile court judge that the juvenile committed the delinquent/status offense.
Adjudication Hearing: For delinquency and status offenses, this is a hearing to determine whether there is evidence to support the allegations against the juvenile. For child abuse/neglect cases, this is a hearing to determine whether there is evidence to support the allegations against the parent/guardian of the child.
Aftercare: Supervision of a juvenile after release from an institution.
Allegation: A charge or claim made against someone for an act that they allegedly committed.
Alternatives to Detention: Services in the community that a youth receives instead of placement in a secure detention facility.
Answer: A written statement of the respondent’s case made in response to the plaintiff’s complaint.
Appeal: The process by which a case is brought from one court to a higher court for review for a reversal or modification of the judgment of the lower court.
Bailiff: A court officer who opens and closes the court and keeps peace in the courtroom.
Certification: The juvenile court may transfer to adult court the case of a child between 12 and 17 who is charged with committing an offense that would be a felony if committed by an adult. The juvenile court may also transfer to adult court the case of a child of any age who is charged with committing an extremely serious felony or a child who has committed two or more prior unrelated offenses that would have been felonies if committed by an adult.
Clerk of the Court: An officer of the court whose duty is to maintain court records.
Commitment: A judge’s order that a child be placed in confinement or a residential program.
Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA): A volunteer that is a trained citizen who is appointed by a judge to be a voice for abused and neglected children in court.
Court Summary: A document prepared by the Children’s Division or DJO and offered to the court for review.
Continuance: A delay or postponement of a court hearing.
Delinquent Act: An action committed by a juvenile that would have been a crime if committed by an adult.
Deposition: Testimony taken under oath outside the courtroom concerning the facts and circumstances surrounding an incident. It may be introduced as evidence in a court hearing at a later time.
Detention: Short-Term secure confinement of a juvenile for the purpose of ensuring the juvenile will appear for court and/or for the protection of the community.
Detention Center: A facility designed for short-term secure confinement of a juvenile prior to court disposition or execution of a court order.
Detention Hearing: The hearing to determine whether there is good reason to detain the youth until the adjudicatory hearing.
Discovery: A pre-trial procedure that allows each party to get written or oral information from the other party.
Disposition: The decision the juvenile court reaches concerning a youth's case.
Dismissal: Terminating the case.
DJO: Deputy Juvenile Officer
Docket: The order in which cases will be heard or tried on a given day. The list is often posted outside the courtroom with cases listed by the petitioner’s name. Juvenile dockets are not posted to the general public.
Evidence: Any form of proof legally presented at an adjudication proceeding through witnesses, records, documents, or other material.
Family Support Team (FST): A team that ensures the necessary services and support are provided to all parties of an abuse/neglect case. The team may include the mother/father, DJO, Children’s Division, CASA, guardian ad litem, parent’s attorney, and any other individuals working toward the goal of reunifying the child back into the parental home.
Family Support Team (FST) Meetings: These meetings are held for child abuse/neglect cases. The initial meeting is scheduled 72 hours after the child is taken into alternative care, as well as 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, and 120 days later. Monthly meetings are held in the Fifth Circuit. Additional meetings can be scheduled as needed or at the request of the team. Many decisions and recommendations are made by this team.
Finding: The court’s decision on issues of fact. In almost all court orders, the findings of facts precede the actual order of the court.
Guardian ad Litem (GAL): An attorney appointed by the court to represent the interests of a child in a civil or criminal proceeding involving that child. A GAL must be appointed if there is an allegation that the child has been neglected or abused. The GAL is charged with promoting the best interests of the child in that proceeding.
Hearing : A court proceeding to decide on a course of action, or to determine a child’s involvement or non-involvement in an offense. The order of the hearings in juvenile proceedings for delinquency and status offenses are: (1) detention hearing, (2) adjudicatory hearing, and (3) dispositional hearing. For a child abuse/neglect case, the order of the hearings is: (1) protective custody hearing or preliminary child welfare hearing, (2) adjudicatory hearing, and (3) dispositional hearing. It is common for the juvenile court judge to conduct the adjudication hearing and dispositional hearing on the same date provided the allegations are found to be true.
Interlocutory: Provisional; temporary; not final; refers to an order of the court.
Interrogatories: Written questions developed by one party’s attorney for the adversary in a case who must respond in writing and under oath.
Judgment: A determination by a court of the rights and claims of the parties in an action.
Judicial Notice: An act in which a judge conducting a trial or framing a decision recognizes the existence and truth of certain facts having a bearing on the controversy without the production of evidence. Taking judicial notice is the awareness of certain facts that judges may act upon without proof or argument, because they already know them to be true.
Jurisdiction: The extent or range of authority of the court or law enforcement.
Juvenile Court : A court with authority over cases involving children under the age of eighteen. Some of Missouri’s larger metropolitan areas have a family court rather than a juvenile court, and the family court hears and decides delinquency cases.
Minor: Any person under the age of 18.
Mediation: A non-binding process involving a neutral mediator who acts as a facilitator to assist the parties in crafting a mutually acceptable resolution.
Motion: An oral or written request for an action made by a party before, during, or after a trial, upon which a court issues a ruling or order.
Neglect: Failure to provide, by those responsible for the care, custody, and control of the child, the proper or necessary support, education as required by law, nutrition, medical, surgical, or any other care necessary for the child’s well-being.
Notice: A written order to appear in court at a certain time and place.
Parties: The persons who take part in the performance of any act, or who are directly interested in any affair, or who are actively concerned in the prosecution and defense of any legal proceeding; commonly referred to as the petitioner and respondent.
Permanency Hearing (PH): This hearing occurs within one year after the child came into care. The court is required by federal law to have a hearing to determine what the permanent plan is for the child. Types of permanency include: reunification with the parent, guardianship with a third party, independent living, termination of parental rights – adoption, and another planned permanent living arrangement (long-term foster care).
Petition - A legal paper, filed by a state authority, that says what your child is accused of having done. For child abuse/neglect cases, this is the pleading that sets forth the allegations of abuse/neglect against the parent/guardian.
Petitioner: A person who brings an action seeking relief; the party who complains or sues in a personal action; also referred to as the plaintiff.
Pleading: The formal written allegations by the parties in a lawsuit of their respective claims and defense presented for the judgment of the court.
Pre-Disposition: The period after the filing of a petition alleging the juvenile committed a delinquency offense but before the hearing.
Social Investigative Summary: The investigation into the child’s background and character after the court decides that the child has committed a delinquent offense. The investigation collects information that will help the court determine the most appropriate disposition.
Pro Bono: When an attorney agrees to represent the party for free.
Formal Probation: Where a child is found to have committed a delinquent or status offense, and the child is placed on court-ordered supervision.
Informal Probation: Placing the child on voluntary probation under the juvenile office’s supervision. Successful completion of the informal probation period may result in charges not being filed in juvenile court.
Pro Se: A person who represents himself in court, without the aid of an attorney.
Formal Processing: Cases that are filed with the Court and appear on the official court calendar.
Protective Custody (PC): Removal from the youth's home and placement in foster care. The youth is in the legal care and custody of Missouri Children's Division when in protective custody.
Protective Custody Hearing (PCH): The primary purpose of this hearing is for the court to decide whether or not the child can safely be returned home. This hearing must be held within 3 business days of the date the child was placed in protective custody.
Recidivism: The act of committing another delinquent act.
Referral: A complaint or report that law enforcement, a school, or a citizen files with the juvenile court alleging a violation of the law.
Remand : To send an accused person back into custody to await further proceedings.
Restitution: Court-ordered payments made to the victim by the child or child’s parents for losses.
Record: A copy of the pleadings, exhibits, orders, or decrees filed in a case in the trial court and a transcript of the testimony taken in the case.
Respondent: The person defending or denying an action; the person against whom the relief or recovery is sought.
Reunification: The court gives the child back to the parents based on substantial compliance with the court-ordered treatment plan.
Service: Notification of an action or of some proceeding given to the person affected in person, or by sending it to him or her in the mail, or by publication in the newspaper; the delivery or communication of a legal document in a suit to the opposite party.
Statute: State law as enacted by the Missouri General Assembly.
Status Offense: Behavior that is considered an offense only if committed by a child under seventeen. Status offenses are handled only by the juvenile court. Missouri law recognizes only five status offenses: (1) truancy, (2) beyond parental control, (3) running away from home, (4) maintaining behavior or associations that are harmful to a child, and (5) offenses that are not classified as criminal or that apply only to children, e.g., underage drinking, curfew. Status offenders will not be held in juvenile detention.
Subpoena: A written order issued by the court to require a witness to appear and given testimony or produce documentary evidence in a legal proceeding.
Taken into Custody: The act on the part of a police officer to obtain custody of a juvenile who is accused of committing a delinquent act.
Termination of Parental Rights (TPR) Hearing: Sometimes referred to as TPR. The court may find that it is in the best interest of the child for parental rights to be terminated and for the child to be adopted by a third party. The third party may be the foster parents, another family member, or a relative.
Testimony: Any statement made by a witness under oath in a legal proceeding.
Witness: Any person called to testify under oath in a criminal or civil proceeding regarding what that person has seen, heard or otherwise observed. This might include the victim, eyewitnesses, and police officers, medical or other professionals.
