Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 33, § 5101

(1) The juvenile judicial proceedings chapters shall be construed in accordance with the following purposes: to provide for the care, protection, education, and healthy mental, physical, and social development of children coming within the provisions of the juvenile judicial proceedings chapters;

(2) to remove from children committing delinquent acts the taint of criminality and the consequences of criminal behavior and to provide supervision, care, and rehabilitation that ensure: balanced attention to the protection of the community;

(3) accountability to victims and the community for offenses; and

(4) the development of competencies to enable children to become responsible and productive members of the community;

(5) to preserve the family and to separate a child from his or her parents only when necessary to protect the child from serious harm or in the interests of public safety;

(6) to ensure that safety and timely permanency for children are the paramount concerns in the administration and conduct of proceedings under the juvenile judicial proceedings chapters;

(7) to achieve the foregoing purposes, whenever possible, in a family environment, recognizing the importance of positive parent-child relationships to the well-being and development of children;

(8) to provide judicial proceedings through which the provisions of the juvenile judicial proceedings chapters are executed and enforced and in which the parties are ensured a fair hearing, and that their constitutional and other legal rights are recognized and enforced.