When that obligation is completed, the youth is released. If the youth does not abide by the agreement, he or she may be returned to court for a more formal disposition. Juveniles under formal community supervision are placed on probation and supervised by a probation officer. Some youth, particularly those who are serious, violent, or chronic offenders, are placed in residential facilities. This confinement may be considered necessary for public safety or for the treatment of youth.
Residential programs are responsible for the youth's total care, treatment, and well-being.
As youth proceed through the system, fewer and fewer cases remain in the system. Although there may be some variation among formally adjudicated, nonadjudicated, and nonpetitioned cases, these represent the cases usually referred to juvenile corrections programs. It is the relatively small group of youth who enter juvenile corrections programs and the juvenile corrections programs that serve them that are the focus of this manual. Juvenile corrections programs work with youth for longer periods and more comprehensively than other parts of the system. Because of this, they also require a disproportionate amount of resources, especially residential corrections.