Abused minor
A child who has been hurt, or is at risk of being hurt, by physical violence, by someone responsible for caring for him or her.

Adjudicatory Hearing
 A trial to find out if your child is abused, neglected, or dependent.

Advocacy
To request and know how to access services and assistance.

Aid to Families with Dependent Children (A.F.D.C.)
This is a financial assistance program available through the state of Illinois. It is possible to obtain cash, food stamps, and a medical card for families with children where one parent is absent, dead, incapacitated, or financially limited.

Alcoholism
A disease of dependency on alcohol. It is a chronic, progressive, and potentially fatal disease.

Antidepressants
A medication, such as Prozak, used to prevent, cure, or alleviate depression.

Anxiety
As a mood, anxiety is a state of tension, inner unrest, apprehension, uneasiness, or a temporary psychological imbalance. It may be accompanied by physical signs such as rapid pulse, dilated pupils, heart pounding, flushed skin, irregular breathing, or cracking of the voice.
 

Appeal
Asking a higher court to review a case.

Arraignment                       
The first appearance in court, defendant is informed of his/her rights, the charges against him/her, the penalties for each charge, and an opportunity to enter a plea.

Art Therapy
Use of art techniques such as painting, crafts, and dolls to identify issues that a child may be unable to talk about.

Attention Deficit Disorder/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADD/ADHD)
Disorder characterized by inappropriate degrees of inattention, impulsiveness, or hyperactivity. These actions appear with varying degrees in most situations affecting the child’s life.

Behavioral/Conduct Disorders
A commonly used term to identify disruptive or aggressive behavior.

            
Case Manager
Person identified to provide case management services. This person “manages” the entire “case,” and coordinates all of the services and providers.

Case Management
Coordination of services to assure the effective use of resources that may include the assessment of needs; development of a plan based on needs and goals, identification of programs, services, financial options, coordination, and monitoring of services; and ongoing evaluation of current and future needs.

Chronic
Of long duration. A disease/problem that shows little change or has a slow progression is often referred to as chronic.

Citation          
A referral from a law enforcement officer to the Probation Department regarding a law violation by a minor in the community.

Concrete Thinking
The tendency to take words literally and to attach limited meaning to language. Thinking is very rigid, and jokes are often misinterpreted or not understood.

Continuance      
Request made by the State or defense to a judge, asking for a specific ruling or order.

Counseling
The provision of guidance, education, and advice by a mental health professional, usually called a counselor.
 

Crisis Intervention
Immediate response to a crisis through behavior therapy techniques, support, reassurance, direct advice, medication, or hospitalization. The emphasis will often depend on the nature of the crisis and the circumstances involved.

Custody
The youth is detained at Youth Guidance Center/Juvenile Hall during the court proceedings.

Day Treatment Program (Partial Hospitalization)
Non-residential program intended to increase the functional ability of the child through therapy and activities. Day treatment seeks to facilitate successful integration back into the home and
community.

Defendant
The person charged with a crime.

Delusion
A false belief firmly held despite obvious proof to the contrary, or thoughts that are bizarre, fragmented, and have no basis in reality.

Denial
Rejection of reality. Refusal or inability to admit, or acknowledge the presence or existence of something, usually used as a defense mechanism.

Dependent minor
A child who does not have parents or guardians, or whose parents or guardians cannot provide the necessary care for the child, or whose parents have given up their rights to the child.

Depression
Characterized by changed mood with such symptoms as feelings of worthlessness, loss of energy and motivation, eating and sleeping disturbances, a sense of hopelessness, recurrent thoughts of death, or suicidal thoughts or attempts.

Detention
The housing of your child in secure custody at Youth Guidance Center/Juvenile Hall.

Detention Hearing     
Determines whether or not your child is released, placed on Home Supervision in your home, or remains at Youth Guidance Center/Juvenile Hall.

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-R)
The American Psychiatric Association (APA) publishes this manual which describes all of the diagnostic criteria and the systematic descriptions of the various disorders.

Disability
Inability or limitation in performing tasks, activities, and roles in the manner or within the range considered normal for a person of the same age, gender, culture, and education. It may refer to a physical, mental, or sensory condition.

Disposition
The decision made by the judge about what is in a child’s best interests. This includes where a child should live, and what type of help a parent and child should receive.

Disposition Hearing      
The conclusion of the court hearings, in which a social report is submitted by the probation  officer detailing a specific plan for the youth.

Dispositional Hearing
A hearing at which the judge decides what is to be done if a child is determined to be abused, neglected, or dependent

Domestic Violence
A significant and intimate relationship in which one person abuses the other person.

Eating Disorders
Anorexia, bulimia, and compulsive overeating.


Electroencephalogram (EEG)
A computerized type of brain wave test which maps electrical responses of the brain in response to different forms of stimulation.

Emotional Disorders
Emotions are not felt or expressed in the same way as in “healthy” persons.

Finding
The decision made by the judge.

Found Guilty  
Defendant found guilty of charge by a judge or jury.

Found Not-Guilty   
Defendant found innocent of charge by a judge or jury.

Grandiosity
Unrealistic feelings of exaggerated importance or power, either negative or positive.

Guardian ad litem (GAL)
An adult, usually an attorney, who is appointed to look after a child’s best interests at a court hearing.

Hallucination
A false perception having no relation to reality and not accounted for by any outside stimulus. These are false perceptions by the senses, i.e., hearing, seeing, tasting, smelling, and touching. The person experiencing these sensations believes that they are real, and sometimes they may act on the basis of these false perceptions of reality.

Hallucinogens
Drugs that produce hallucinations.

Home Supervision 
The supervision of your child in your home under strict guidelines provided by the judge, i.e., house arrest.

Hyperactivity
Increased or excessive activity. See Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Individual Care Grant (I.C.G.)
A grant to assist parents and other private guardians in paying the costs of residential treatment for mentally ill children under the age of 18.

Individualized Disability Education Act (I.D.E.A.)
The federal law that guarantees all disabled children the right to a free, appropriate, public education. It is Public Law 94-142.

Individualized Education Plan (IEP)
The written plan that describes what services the local education agency has promised to provide to your child. This is also a legally binding document.

Individualized Treatment Plan (I.T.P.)
This multi disciplinary plan of treatment must be written in the medical record, which is a legal document.

Illusions
Inaccurate perception, misinterpretation of sensory impressions.

Inhalants
Compounds inhaled to produce a “high” effect.

Inpatient
Patient who is hospitalized for treatment.

Intervention
Taking action to bring about change.

Irritability
An inner feeling or tension often communicated to others as annoyance, anger, or frustration.
 

Jury Status Call 
Final appearance before trial, trial date is set on court calendar.

Learning Disability
Inability or defect in ability to learn basic skills such as writing, reading, and mathematics.


Magical Thinking
The feeling that thoughts or actions have the ability to cause actions or effects which would defy the normal laws of cause and effect. Example: “If I step on the cracks on the sidewalk, something terrible will happen.”

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
A technique involving exact measurements of brain structures based on the effects of a magnetic field on various substances in the brain. Occasionally this technique is referred to as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR).

Mania
A mood characterized by such symptoms as rapid or unpredictable emotional changes, high energy level, feelings of grandiosity, extreme irritability, and excessive involvement in activities that have high potential for painful consequences.

Marijuana
The dried plant, cannabis sativa, smoked to produce a “high” effect.

Medicaid
A government program which pays medical costs for people with a low income.

Mental Disorders
A general term used to describe behavioral and psychological impairments.


Motion 
Request made by the State or defense to a judge, asking for a specific ruling or order.

Multi-Disciplinary Team
A team of persons representing each discipline (field of study) who, with the family and child (if appropriate), set goals for evaluating and treating the child.

Music Therapy
Use of music and singing to express feelings, improve body image, develop language, and movement skills.
 

Neglected minor
A child who has been hurt, or is at risk of being hurt, because the person responsible for him or her does not provide the necessary care for the child.

Night Terrors
Similar to nightmares, except the child seems more frightened, and there is no recollection of the “dream” in the morning.

Nolle/Dismissal
A decision by prosecuting attorney or judge to drop a case for legal or other reasons.

Obsessions
Ideas or thoughts that persistently intrude into consciousness.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
The performance of certain rituals repetitively in order to relieve anxiety, such as opening and closing a door or washing hands over and over.

Occupational Therapy
The therapeutic use of self-care, work, and play activities to increase independent function, enhance development, and minimize disability.

Order of protection
An order of the court requiring certain rules to be observed by the parent or others involved in the hearing, for a specified period of time.

Organic
Psychological disorders which are the result of brain dysfunction, such as a chemical imbalance.

Outpatient
One who receives treatment at a hospital or clinic but is not hospitalized.

Panic Attacks
Sudden, irrational bouts of anxiety which can produce extreme distress or feelings of doom and panic. The attacks are accompanied by the physiological signs of anxiety.

Paranoia
A mental disorder in which the person feels suspicious or persecuted. Often the person also has delusions of grandeur or may feel that “the world is out to get him/her.”
 

Permanency Goal
A goal set by the judge concerning plans for where the child should live from here on in.

Permanency Hearing
A hearing at which the judge or a hearing officer decides the permanency goal for the child, and whether the parent and child is receiving the correct services.

Personality Disorder
Persistent, characteristic, maladaptive ways of behaving.

Petition
The legal document describing the law violations your child is alleged to have committed.

Phobia
Unrealistic and irrational anxiety that is felt for an object or place, such as the fear of flying to the extent that the person does not fly.

Physical Abuse
Violent action/victimization of another.

Physical Therapy
Rehabilitation to restore function and prevent disability.

Plea
A defendants answer in court to the charge. Can be guilty or not-guilty and requests a trial.

Plea of Guilty
Admission of guilt by the defendant, can happen at any stage of the process, even up to the trial day.

Preliminary Hearing 
Determines whether there is probable cause (enough evidence) to charge suspect with a crime.

Pre-Trial 
Can be ordered by the judge to review the petition and negotiate the charges based on the evidence.

Pre-Trial Conference  
Appearance before a judge, allows the State or defense to ask for motions or continuances

Probation Officer (P.O.) 
The person assigned to investigate the law violation and develop a  plan to assist you and your child and serve the community.

Psychiatric Hospitalization
Hospitalization which specializes in evaluation and treatment of mental illness/disorder.

Psychiatrist
A physician who specializes in the study, treatment, and prevention of mental disorders, and who can prescribe medication.

Psychologist
One who is trained in methods of psychological analysis, therapy, and research, but who cannot prescribe medication.

Psychosis
This term usually means that a person is out of touch with reality and cannot tell the difference between fact and fantasy.

Psychotropic Drug
A drug that has an effect on psychic function, behavior, or experience.

Public Defender   
The lawyer appointed to represent your child throughout the court  process.

Rehabilitation
The process of treatment and education provided to assist a person to return to or reach their highest level of functioning.

Respite Care
“Relief” or “a break” provided by a substitute caretaker, to relieve the primary caretaker of a child or adult with physical or mental/emotional disabilities. Respite may be provided for a period of an hour to as long as a weekend, and may be provided either in-home or out-of-home.

Restitution
Condition of sentence to restore property, or the cash equivalent, or to cover medial expenses of victim(s).

Ritalin
One of the medications used to relieve the symptoms of ADD/ADHD.

Sedatives/Hypnotics
Medications which provide a tranquilizing effect.

Self-Abusing Behavior
Self-inflicted, harmful behavior, which includes, but is not limited to cutting self or pulling hair.

Sexual Abuse
Sexual victimization of a person, child or adult.
 

Shelter care / temporary custody or TC
Placement in a home such as a foster home, a group home, or other child care facility.

Social Report
Presented at dispositional hearing summarizing the incident, law violation, court proceedings, family history and probation officer’s recommendations regarding future plan for the youth.

Social Worker
A person educated to work with individuals and families to identify problems through the study of family/social histories, identify needs, and make referrals. Master’s level social workers provide therapy.

Speech Therapist
A person trained to provide treatment of speech delays and impairments.
 

State’s attorney
The lawyer who presents the case for the people of the state of Illinois. This person may be called the prosecutor.

Substance Abuse
Maladaptive use of legal and illegal substances, resulting in disruption of school, employment, relationships, health, etc.

Substance Abuse Program
A program designed to evaluate and treat persons with substance abuse problems.

Suicidal Behaviors/Tendencies
Threats or actions taken to kill oneself.

Support Group
A group of “peers,” non-professionals, with a common goal to live a productive life, drug/alcohol free, to recover from an eating disorder, etc They provide one another with support and wisdom through their own experience, struggles and recovery.

Termination of Parental Rights Hearing
A hearing at which a judge decides if a parent is unfit and whether a parent’s rights to a child should be terminated and the child placed for adoption.

Therapist
A person skilled in providing therapy.

Therapy
The treatment of a condition.

Twelve-Step Program
These are support groups designed around a structured program to support the recovery of those with addictions/disorders. AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) and NA (Narcotics Anonymous) are two examples of Twelve Step Programs.
 

Ward of the court
A child who is under the control of the Juvenile Court.

Withdrawal
The physical and psychological effects resulting when an addicted person discontinues taking a drug or drinking alcohol. These symptoms are painful, can be dangerous, and should be monitored and treated in an appropriate environment, i.e., hospital.