What types of acts are prohibited for juveniles (i.e., status offenses), and how do these acts differ from acts prohibited for adults?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Juvenile acts that trigger court intervention are of three types: juvenile delinquency cases, conduct in need of supervision (CINS), and juveniles as victims. About 6 in 10 of all juvenile justice cases are delinquency proceedings, which center on criminal actions committed by juveniles that would also be considered criminal if committed by adults. Another 2 in 10 are for CINS, which are otherwise known as status offenses and would not be illegal if committed by an adult. The remaining 20% are cases where children are victims of abuse (Roberts, 2004). Each state, by law, determines what acts come under each category. In general, juvenile delinquents are those who commit acts that are punishable under the state's penal code. Examples are murder, robbery, burglary, and any act considered criminal in that state. Every year, juvenile courts in the United States handle an estimated 1.7 million juvenile delinquency cases (Sickmund, 2009). Most delinquency cases (82%) were referred by law enforcement agencies to the court. Sanctions imposed for juvenile delinquents are often more severe than those for CINS. Juvenile delinquents can be confined in a state institution, whereas CINS merely results in probation or referral to juvenile programs in the community. Nothing prevents a state, however, from imposing severe penalties even on juveniles who commit lesser offenses, as long as the penalty is not greatly disproportionate to the offense.
In contrast, CINS, also known in some jurisdictions as CHINS (children in need of supervision), MINS (minors in need of supervision), or JINS (juveniles in need of supervision), are juveniles who commit acts that would not be punishable if committed by adults. These are usually status offenses (meaning they are punished because of their status, in this case, their age) and include such categories as truancy, ungovernability, running away from home, tobacco use, inhalant abuse, curfew violation, and underage drinking (Snyder and Sickmund, 2006). Law enforcement agencies refer fewer CINS cases to court than delinquency cases—just over half of all CINS cases were referred to juvenile courts by police. The rest reached the courts through reports from social services agencies, victims, probation officers, county attorneys, schools, or parents (Snyder and Sickmund, 2006).