§ 9-27-302 — Purposes - Construction

This subchapter shall be liberally construed to the end that its purposes may be carried out: (1) To assure that all juveniles brought to the attention of the courts receive the guidance, care, and control, preferably in each juvenile's own home when the juvenile's health and safety are not at risk, that will best serve the emotional, mental, and physical welfare of the juvenile and the best interest of the state; (2) (A) To preserve and strengthen the juvenile's family ties when it is in the best interest of the juvenile; (B) To protect a juvenile by considering the juvenile's health and safety as the paramount concerns in determining whether or not to remove the juvenile from the custody of his or her parents or custodians, removing the juvenile only when the safety and protection of the public cannot adequately be safeguarded without such removal; (C) When a juvenile is removed from his or her own family, to secure for him or her custody, care, and discipline with primary emphasis on ensuring the health and safety of the juvenile while in the out-of-home placement; and (D) To assure, in all cases in which a juvenile must be permanently removed from the custody of his or her parents, that the juvenile be placed in an approved family home and be made a member of the family by adoption; (3) To protect society more effectively by substituting for retributive punishment, whenever possible, methods of offender rehabilitation and rehabilitative restitution, recognizing that the application of sanctions that are consistent with the seriousness of the offense is appropriate in all cases; and (4) To provide means through which the provisions of this subchapter are executed and enforced and in which the parties are assured a fair hearing and their constitutional and other legal rights recognized and enforced.

Legislative History

Acts 1989, No. 273, § 2; 1999, No. 401, § 1; 2007, No. 587, § 2