Understanding Juvenile Cases

JUVENILE DEPARTMENT

LOCATION:  South Tower, 3rd Floor, Rm 3580

HOURS:  Monday-Friday, 8:30am - 4:30pm

PHONE: 240-777-9530

Not understanding all this terminology? Visit the glossary.

Differentiated Case Management (DCM) Guidelines for Juvenile Cases

DCM is characterized by the early differentiation of cases entering the justice system in terms of the nature and extent of judicial/justice system resources they will require. Each case is assigned to the appropriate case track that allows for the performance of pretrial tasks and allocates the appropriate level of judicial and other system resources, minimizing processing delays. Established mechanisms avoid multiple court appearances and assure the timely provision of resources for the expeditious processing and resolution of cases on each track.

There are 8 tracks in juvenile cases, including Track 0. Tracks are numeric categories assigned to each case that drive how dates are scheduled and time standards are met. Deadlines in juvenile cases are the most stringent of all case types since the end result is a decision on where a child shall live. Many of these cases also require a high degree of judicial oversight by the Court over a long-term basis.

For more information, visit the What are DCM Tracks? page.

Download the Juvenile DCM Plan (PDF)

Who Watches Over My Case?

Case managers in Family Division Services monitor the progress of juvenile cases to ensure that cases are receiving the appropriate resources, filings are in a proper posture for scheduled hearings, and unresolved issues that might prevent a case from moving forward are identified. They act as liaisons between the judges, attorneys, and service providers. Each case is permanently assigned to a case manager to ensure continuity from initial case filing through post-judgment actions.

The case managers and their contact information are listed below:

Postponing a Juvenile Case

If a party wishes to postpone an adjudicatory hearing beyond a statutory deadline, the Administrative Judge or the Family Judge in Charge may extend the deadline for extraordinary cause (extraordinary cause is that which is not foreseeable, usual, or predictable). As a matter of policy, the Administrative Judge will also hear motions for postponements of other events that require a finding of good cause.

All requests to postpone a hearing must be filed in writing with the juvenile clerk. Requests to postpone a hearing filed after 2:30 pm on the day before the hearing will not be processed and will be addressed in the courtroom on the original scheduled date. If the request is filed before 2:30 pm on the day before the scheduled hearing, the case manager will handle the request as a rush. To expedite the rush process, the filing party should deliver a courtesy copy of the postponement request (motion) to the assigned case manager and notify him/her that it has been filed. Positions of the other parties must be included in the motion. If positions cannot be gathered, the motion will be addressed in court by the Administrative Judge or Family Judge in Charge on the original scheduled date.