ile programs, they believed that the adult model would work. To a degree, it does; the two court systems share some common goals and characteristics, as do the offenders who come before them. However, the juvenile drug court population presents challenges that are in many ways more complex than those arising in the adult arena, as their needs are different and often more difficult to address. In a short time, these issues will become easier to address. There is a lot of research and money going into these “pilot” drug courts. There are a lot of positive things coming out of them. As noted in the drug court from Washington, so far, none of the juveniles who have participated in the program have failed. With this juvenile drug court movement, it has been found that “the populations and caseloads of most juvenile courts have changed dramatically during the past decade. Delinquency and dependency have become far more complex, involving more serious and violent criminal activity and escalating degrees of substance abuse. During the past 2 years several jurisdictions have tried to determine how juvenile courts can adapt the experiences of adult drug courts to deal more effectively with the increasing number of substance-abusing juvenile offenders. Juvenile drug courts, however, face unique challenges not encountered in the adult drug court environment, such as the need to: counteract the negative influences of peers, gangs, and family members; address the needs of the family, especially families with substance abuse problems; comply with confidentiality requirements for juvenile proceedings while obtaining information necessary to address the juvenile's problems and progress. We must motivate juvenile offenders to change, especially given their sense of invulnerability and lack of maturity. Accordingly, the development of juvenile drug courts has required special strategies. The following characteristics are common to ...
