Juvenile Justice

Who We Are

The Juvenile Department serves a vital role in providing accountability, interventions, and positive skill development for youth and families to mitigate community risk and increase public safety. The Department builds on the prevention and intervention efforts of other child serving systems in an effort to address high-risk youth behaviors, victim and community impact, and redirect youth from further penetrating the juvenile or adult criminal justice systems.

All police reports involving youth are directed to the Juvenile Department. The Juvenile Department forwards those reports to the District Attorney’s (DA) Office to determine whether the case will be handled through a formal petition in juvenile court, informally through an agreement with the Juvenile Department, or dismissed. If the DA’s Office files a petition, the youth is appointed an attorney. The attorney will help the youth determine if they want to plea to the charges or go to trial. The case will either be dismissed, the youth will be placed on probation, or the youth will be placed in a youth correctional facility. If youth are held in detention prior to their case being adjudicated, a judge will review whether they can be released every 10 days.

Interventions we provide

Juvenile Detention

Youth can only be held in secure custody if they have a qualifying offense, and it is the least restrictive option to ensure community safety and/or that the youth will appear in court. All youth held in secure custody in the tri-county area are held at the Donald E Long Detention Facility in Portland.

Juvenile Probation

Youth placed on probation by a juvenile court judge are given conditions of probation to comply with and are supervised by the Juvenile Department

Juvenile Prevention, Diversion & Treatment Programs

Prevention and diversion efforts redirect youth charged with delinquent offenses from the justice system through programming and supports. Treatment programs connect youth with services that can address the underlying drivers of youth’s criminal behavior.

How to coordinate with us

If you want to know if a youth is involved with the Juvenile Department, call the main phone lines listed below. If the youth is on probation they will have a Juvenile Court Counselor (a.k.a. Probation Officer), that is the best person with whom to do case coordination.

Locations:

Multnomah County Juvenile Services Division

1401 NE 68th Ave, Portland OR 97213

503.988.3460 M-F 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

503.988.3475 After hours

Washington County Juvenile Department

222 N First Avenue, Hillsboro, OR 97124

503.846.8861 M-F 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

503.846.8805 After hours

Clackamas County Juvenile Department

2121 Kaen Road Oregon City, OR 97045

503.655.8342 M-TH 7:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

503.650.3180 24-hour Intake & Assessment