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<section article="gcj" article_name="Courts and Judicial Proceedings" number="3-8A-02" title_number="3" title_name="Courts of General Jurisdiction -- Jurisdiction/special Causes of Action" subtitle_number="8A" subtitle_name="Juvenile Causes -- Children Other Than Cinas and Adults">
  <level label="a">
    <text>The purposes of this subtitle are:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>To ensure that the Juvenile Justice System balances the following objectives for children who have committed delinquent acts:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>Public safety and the protection of the community;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>Accountability of the child to the victim and the community for offenses committed; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iii">
        <text>Competency and character development to assist children in becoming responsible and productive members of society;</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>To hold parents of children found to be delinquent responsible for the child’s behavior and accountable to the victim and the community;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>To hold parents of children found to be delinquent or in need of supervision responsible, where possible, for remedying the circumstances that required the court’s intervention;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="4">
      <text>To provide for the care, protection, and wholesome mental and physical development of children coming within the provisions of this subtitle; and to provide for a program of treatment, training, and rehabilitation consistent with the child’s best interests and the protection of the public interest;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="5">
      <text>To conserve and strengthen the child’s family ties and to separate a child from his parents only when necessary for his welfare or in the interest of public safety;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="6">
      <text>If necessary to remove a child from his home, to secure for him custody, care, and discipline as nearly as possible equivalent to that which should have been given by his parents;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="7">
      <text>To provide to children in State care and custody:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>A safe, humane, and caring environment; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>Access to required services; and</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="8">
      <text>To provide judicial procedures for carrying out the provisions of this subtitle.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="b">
    <text>This subtitle shall be liberally construed to effectuate these purposes.</text>
  </level>
</section>
