Do I need to disclose my juvenile record when applying to different educational programs?

Maybe. Technically, a juvenile “adjudication” is not a criminal conviction. If your case was heard in a juvenile court, and you received a juvenile adjudication, then you were not “convicted” of a crime. So, if the application asks if you were “convicted of a crime” or if you have any “criminal convictions,” and you only have a juvenile adjudication, you can truthfully answer “no.” You do not have to disclose your juvenile adjudication.[2735] However, some applications ask if you have ever been “arrested” or “adjudicated guilty,”[2736] in which case, your juvenile arrest and adjudication count, and need to be reported. Remember, if you were tried as an adult, even if you were under 18, and you pleaded or were found guilty, then you do have a criminal conviction.

IMPORTANT: Even if you are not directly asked to disclose your juvenile record on an application, you may want to anyway. There is always a chance that the admissions committee will find out about a juvenile arrest or adjudication somehow, and think you were being dishonest in not reporting it.[2737] HOWEVER, when you get your juvenile record sealed in California, it’s as if it never existed.[2738] So, if you got your juvenile record sealed, you do not need to disclose anything in it. (For information on sealing your juvenile record, see the UNDERSTANDING & CLEANING UP YOUR CRIMINAL RECORD CHAPTER, PG. 991.)

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  1. 2735

    See also East Bay Comty Law Ctr: Starting Over Strong, Applying to College with a Juvenile Record (2012), www.ebclc.org/documents/sos/Applying_to_College.pdf. ↑

  2. 2736

    The Common Application specifically asks about adjudications. See Ctr for Cmty. Alts., Criminal History Screening in College Admissions: A Guide for Attorneys Representing College Applicants and Students During and After Criminal Proceedings (Jan. 2013). ↑

  3. 2737

    See also East Bay Comty Law Ctr: Starting Over Strong, Applying to College with a Juvenile Record (2012), www.ebclc.org/documents/sos/Applying_to_College.pdf. ↑

  4. 2738

    Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 781. ↑