uniform juvenile court act
Uniform Juvenile Court Act. A 1968 model statute designed to (1) provide for the care, protection, and moral, mental, and physical development of the children who come under its provisions, (2) provide juvenile delinquents with treatment, training, and rehabilitation rather than criminal punishment, (3) attempt to keep families together unless separation of parents and children is necessary for the children’s welfare or is in the public interest, (4) provide a judicial procedure for a fair hearing and protection of juvenile delinquents’ constitutional and other legal rights, and (5) provide simple interstate procedures to carry out cooperative measures among the juvenile courts of different states. — Abbr. UJCA.