Ohio does not have a statute or Supreme Court mandate setting competency standards for juveniles in delinquency proceedings, as it does for adults charged criminally. However, the Juvenile Court in Cuyahoga County (Cleveland) has joined with several state appellate districts to provide a judicial standard. The requirements of due process, say the lower courts in Ohio, require that juveniles must be competent to stand trial. Further competency is to be determined by the same standard applied to adults—with one twist. The Court must assess minors utilizing "juvenile norms."

The threshold for a determination that an adult is competent to stand trial in Ohio is whether the accused is presently able to consult with his attorney with "a reasonable degree of rational understanding," and whether the accused understands rationally and factually the proceedings.

The delinquency petition being decided was brought alleging the underlying crime of robbery. At pretrial, D.G. was found to be incompetent by the application of the Court's test. As a result, the case was continued for D.G. to obtain treatment.

The test applied by this court for juveniles is the adult standard modified by an assessment of "juvenile norms." This standard, as the Court explained, "consider(s) diminished expectations of a juvenile's ability to appreciate and understand legal strategy; that juveniles are often at earlier stages of emotional growth," and generally less mature. The court thus determines if this juvenile functions at a level comparable with juveniles of similar age. In practice this lowers the threshold for finding competence.