Connecticut General Statutes

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46b-121h (2026)

Goals of juvenile justice system

✓ current as of May 2026

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It is the intent of the General Assembly that the juvenile justice system provide individualized supervision, care, accountability and treatment in a manner consistent with public safety to those juveniles who violate the law. The juvenile justice system shall also promote prevention efforts through the support of programs and services designed to prevent re-offending. The goals of the juvenile justice system shall be to:

(1) Hold juveniles accountable for their unlawful behavior;

(2) Provide secure and therapeutic confinement to those juveniles who present a danger to the community;

(3) Adequately protect the community and juveniles;

(4) Provide programs and services that are community-based and in close proximity to the juvenile's community;

(5) Maintain and support juveniles within their homes whenever possible and appropriate;

(6) Base probation case planning upon individual risks and needs;

(7) Include the juvenile's family in case planning;

(8) Provide supervision and service coordination where appropriate and implement and monitor the case plan in order to discourage reoffending;

(9) Provide follow-up and community-based services to juveniles who are returned to their families or communities;

(10) Promote the development and implementation of community-based programs designed to prevent reoffending and to effectively minimize the depth and duration of the juvenile's involvement in the juvenile justice system; and

(11) Create and maintain programs for juveniles that (A) are developmentally appropriate, trauma informed and gender responsive, and (B) incorporate restorative principles and practices.

(P.A. 95-225, S. 1, 52; P.A. 01-181, S. 2; P.A. 18-31, S. 28.)

History: P.A. 95-225 effective July 1, 1996; P.A. 01-181 amended Subdiv. (10) by adding “including, but not limited to, mental health services” and added Subdiv. (11) re creation and maintenance of programs for juvenile offenders that are gender specific; P.A. 18-31 replaced provision re needs of juveniles charged with delinquent act with provision re preventing re-offending, amended Subdiv. (5) by replacing “retain” with “maintain”, amended Subdiv. (6) by replacing “treatment planning upon individual case management plans” with “case planning upon individual risks and needs”, amended Subdiv. (7) by replacing “case management plan” with “case planning”, amended Subdiv (8) by replacing “case management plan” with “case plan”, amended Subdiv. (9) by replacing “nonresidential postrelease” with “community-based”, amended Subdiv. (10) by deleting reference to mental health services and replacing “unlawful behavior” with “reoffending”, amended Subdiv. (11) by deleting provision re gender specific programs, adding Subpara. (A) re programs that are developmentally appropriate, trauma informed and gender responsive and adding Subpara. (B) re programs that incorporate restorative principles and practices, and made technical changes, effective July 1, 2018.

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Secs. 46b-121i and 46b-121j. Duties and responsibilities of the Judicial Department in providing programs and services to the juvenile justice system. Programs and probation treatment services for juvenile offenders. Sections 46b-121i and 46b-121j are repealed, effective July 1, 2018.

(P.A. 95-225, S. 2–4, 52; P.A. 02-132, S. 19; P.A. 18-31, S. 43.)

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Notes of Decisions

Cited in 7 cases, 2001–2020 · leading case: In re William D., 933 A.2d 1147 (Conn. 2007).

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In re William D., 933 A.2d 1147 (Conn. 2007). · cites it 3× “See generally General Statutes § 46b-121h (setting forth goals of juvenile justice system); General Statutes § 46b-121i (prescribing responsibilities of judicial department in providing programs and services to juvenile justice system); General Statutes § 46b-121Z (early…”

State v. JUAN L., 969 A.2d 698 (Conn. 2009). · cites it 8× “Finally, the application of § 54-56d (m) in juvenile matters proceedings is consistent with the public policy expressed by General Statutes § 46b-121h, 20 namely, *573 “that the juvenile justice system provide individualized supervision, care, accountability and treatment in a…”

In re Jason C., 767 A.2d 710 (Conn. 2001). · cites it 3× “General Statutes § 46b-121h provides: “It is the intent of the General Assembly that the juvenile justice system provide individualized supervision, care, accountability and treatment in a manner consistent with public safety to those juveniles who violate the law. The juvenile…”

State v. Vincent M., 43 A.3d 839 (Conn. Super. Ct. 2012). · cites it 8× “, 297 Conn. 16 , 24 n.13, 997 A.2d 471 (2010) (use of § 54-56d competency protocol for children is “consistent with the goals of the juvenile system as set forth in General Statutes § 46b-121h”), citing State v.”

Hartford Courant Co., LLC v. Carroll (D. Conn. 2020). · cites it 2× “§ 46b-121h; see also State v. Ledbetter, 263 Conn.”

In re Angel R. (Conn. App. Ct. 2015). · cites it 3× “As indicated in General Statutes § 46b-121h, the intention of the juvenile justice system is to ‘‘provide individualized supervision, care, account- ability and treatment in a manner consistent with public safety to those juveniles who violate the law.”

State v. Samuel M. (Conn. App. Ct. 2015). · cites it 2× “’’ General Statutes § 46b-133 (b). The process that ensues thereafter reflects the goal of the juvenile justice system, which is not criminal punishment, but rather, ‘‘individualized supervision, care, accountability and treatment .”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.