The Los Angeles Juvenile Court is made up of three distinct types of proceedings: the Dependency, Delinquency, and Informal Juvenile and Traffic Courts, and is headed by the Presiding Judge of the Juvenile Court.

Dependency proceedings involve the protection of children who have been or are at risk of being seriously abused, neglected or abandoned. The Department of Children and Family Services investigates allegations and is the petitioner on cases filed in the Dependency Court. Unlike the other two courts, Dependency Court is almost entirely centralized at the Edmund D. Edelman Children’s Court in Monterey Park.  Twenty courts are located there, plus one additional Dependency Court satellite at the Alfred J. McCourtney Juvenile Justice Center in Lancaster.

Delinquency proceedings involve children under the age of 18 alleged to have committed a delinquent act (would be criminal if committed by an adult) or who are habitually disobedient, truant or beyond the control of a parent. Delinquency proceedings are held in 27 courts at 10 locations throughout the County, either in stand-alone Delinquency facilities or in local Court districts.

Informal Juvenile and Traffic Courts hear traffic offenses and other status offenses such as loitering, curfew, evading fares, defacing property, etc. The latter offenses, not traffic, make up 79% of the court’s filings. Informal Juvenile and Traffic proceedings are also decentralized throughout the County either at 12 locations staffed by Referees in the downtown Metropolitan Courthouse or other local court districts, including the island of Catalina.

The 60 Juvenile courtrooms represent slightly more than 10% of all assigned departments within the Los Angeles Superior Court.