A youth detention center, also known as Juvenile Hall is a prison for people under the age of 18. An offender residing in a center is coloquially referred to as a Juvie, and the center is often referred to coloquially by the same name by the general public.

Its intended purpose is to protect the public from the criminal actions of minors by granting those minors secure detention and temporary care.

While Juvenile Hall is technically a prison, it is different from a penal institution, however, because education is usually provided to compensate for the offender's removal from a public school, and the center is designed to be like an offender's home as much as possible.