O.Y.P.C. VS. J.C.P.
A-0334-14T1
We remanded this case to the trial court, based on the
Supreme Court's recent decision in H.S.P. v. J.K., __ N.J. __ (2015), and we
provided guidance for the trial court to follow on remand. The trial court had
dismissed the application for lack of jurisdiction, because it concerned an
immigrant who was over the age of eighteen. Following H.S.P., we held that in
addressing an application filed as a predicate step in seeking special
immigrant juvenile (SIJ) status for a person under age twenty-one, Family Part
judges must make the required SIJ findings regardless of whether other relief
can be granted. We also noted that the Family Court has some sources of
jurisdiction over persons between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one, and the
trial court's reliance on the definition of "juvenile" set forth in
the Code of Juvenile Justice was misplaced.
