White paper on crime 2013 Part3/Chapter2/Section1/3
In principle, a juvenile placed under probation receives instruction, supervision, guidance, and assistance necessary for reformation/rehabilitation from a probation officer or volunteer probation officer until turning 20 or being discharged from probation (See Section 2, Chapter 5, Part 2 for an overview of the probation process).
If a family court decides to place a juvenile on probation, it can recommend either short-term probation or short-term probation for traffic offenses as appropriate for those who do not have strong delinquent tendencies and thus can be expected to be reformed/rehabilitated if placed on probation for a short-term period. Probation is then carried out based on that recommendation.
Juveniles committed to children’s self-reliance support facilities/foster homes are accommodated in these facilities/homes, which are open facilities for children requiring aid that were established in accordance with the Child Welfare Act.
A juvenile training school mainly accommodates juveniles committed to it by a family court and provides them with correctional education. As of April 1, 2013, there were 52 juvenile training schools (including one branch school) nationwide.
The term of confinement in a juvenile training school can, in principle, last until the juvenile reaches 20 years of age, but it can last beyond that for a period not exceeding one year from the date of the commitment order. A juvenile in a juvenile training school typically gets discharged upon completion of his/her term of confinement but a family court can decide to extend his/her confinement if requested to do so by the director of the juvenile training school, with a term of extension that does not exceed the date on which the juvenile will turn 23 in certain situations. In addition, a family court can also decide to continue to confine a juvenile in a medical juvenile training school if requested to do so by the director of the juvenile training school, with a term of extension that does not exceed the date on which the juvenile will turn 26.
Conversely, however, a juvenile in a juvenile training school can also be discharged on parole before completion of his/her term of confinement by a decision made by the Regional Parole Board, in which case the juvenile is placed under parole supervision after the discharge until his/her term of confinement is complete or until his/her discharge is granted by the Board.