The juvenile court is moving toward a model more nearly reflecting the goals of adult courts, while still retaining certain unique features. Just desert has become the major norm for adult sentencing during the past decade, and the juvenile court has been assimilating the due process requirements of adult courts. Although the juvenile court may not come to be based on the retributive model, such a court would not seriously contradict the values of the juvenile court as it currently operates. The four elements of this justice model are wrongdoing, the responsibility of the individual for his/her behavior, the establishment of blame, and the use of punishment by the court. In such a model, the intake, investigation, and supervision functions of juvenile probation work would be characterized by the limiting, controlling, and monitoring of discretion. However, the juvenile court's larger mandate is also crucial, because the protection-of-youth role is also important. In this broader context, probation officers would seek out systemic and organizational situations which are directly or indirectly harmful to entire groups of children. The court would serve as the last-resort advocate on behalf of children, so they can obtain the resources to which they are entitled. Data tables and a list of 72 references are supplied.