Primary source materials like statutes, court rules, and caselaw should also be consulted; see the PA Law guides for how to access primary source materials.
Juvenile delinquency can overlap with criminal law. For resources on criminal law, see the Pennsylvania Criminal Law guide.
Juvenile Matters are codified in the Pennsylvania statutes at 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 6301 et seq.
The Pennsylvania legislature passed the Juvenile Act as part of the Judiciary Act of 1976 (1976, July 9, P.L. 586, No. 142, Ch. 63 / legislative history), and it is codified at 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 6301-6375. Additional acts have amended the original 1976 act. The Juvenile Act is based upon the Uniform Juvenile Court Act (approved by the Uniform Law Commission, also known as the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, and the American Bar Association in 1968 and officially changed to a Model Act in 1985). Full text of the Model Juvenile Court Act is found in Uniform Laws Annotated (available in print and on the library's Westlaw computers). HeinOnline's National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws Collection includes drafts of the Juvenile Court Act.
The Pennsylvania statutes are also available on member databases like Fastcase, on the library's Lexis, Westlaw, and Bloomberg Law computers, and in print in the library. Historical statues are also available. Contact the Jenkins' Reference Librarians for more information.