Strategic Innovations

The Juvenile Indigent Defense Action Network (JIDAN) seeks to develop and implement new solutions and strategies to improve the delivery of legal services to youth in the juvenile justice system while strengthening and enhancing juvenile indigent defense systems nationwide. The Network also serves as a vehicle through which information about juvenile indigent defense issues and challenges can be disseminated to the field through the work of two Strategic Innovations Groups (SIGs): (1) Meaningful Access to Counsel and (2) Resource Centers.

The JIDAN envisions a model juvenile indigent defense system that ensures that the due process rights of youth are upheld throughout the duration of the juvenile court process. In this system, youth have early and timely access to competent, well-trained and well-resourced counsel, and juvenile defenders have the ability and capacity to provide comprehensive and thorough legal representation to the children they serve.

The SIG work will focus on:

Meaningful Access to Counsel

Meaningful access to counsel for youth in the justice system is a guaranteed constitutional right, not a privilege afforded to some. Without competent counsel at every stage of the legal process, youth may be deprived of the legal protections to which they are entitled. The stakes associated with these due process denials can be high; tragic and lifelong consequences can and do occur as a result of juvenile adjudications. The Meaningful Access to Counsel SIG will target three main areas of work:

1. Early Appointment of Counsel
   Early appointment of counsel is critically important for ensuring that youth make informed choices from the outset of a case, when some of the most important decisions are made. Counsel is responsible for providing youth with sound legal advice, including an explanation of their rights and options at each stage of a case. Unless defenders are appointed early, they will be hampered in their ability to effectively advocate at detention hearings, thoroughly investigate cases, and aggressively pursue the best possible defense strategies. Strategic innovations in this area will seek to decrease the number of youth who waive their right to counsel and plead guilty, as well as the number of days youth spend in detention.
2. Post-Disposition
   Disposition does not signal the end of a young person’s need for counsel. In fact, probation or commitment to a facility or agency are crucial times when youth require the monitoring and advice of counsel in order to address issues such as conditions of confinement and to facilitate the youth’s seamless transition back into society. In addition, goals include increasing appellate or habeas filings and expungements, seeking appropriate early release, improving educational outcomes, and decreasing gaps in re-entry plans.
3. Ensuring Competent Counsel
   Juvenile indigent defense is a complex, specialized area of practice. Training and oversight of indigent defense systems are needed to ensure that youth receive adequate legal services provided by competent, well-trained and well-resourced defense counsel. The Meaningful Access to Counsel SIG seeks to improve competency of counsel by providing juvenile defenders with the training and skills necessary to undertake and excel at the specialized representation of youth, as well as promulgating and implementing performance-based standards, practice guidelines and other tools that ensure effective legal advocacy. With improved oversight and strict adherence to performance standards, juvenile defenders will be better situated to meet their ethical responsibilities, and youth and family satisfaction with defense counsel will increase.

Resource Centers

The creation of state, local or regional juvenile defender Resource Centers presents an opportunity to provide leadership, support and mentorship opportunities to juvenile defenders, and advocate for a holistic, zealous approach to juvenile defense. The centers will create an infrastructure offering resources, advocacy, policy development, and technical support to improve the quality of juvenile defense. The centers can also develop and provide training curricula, motion banks, listservs, data and case management innovations and a variety of supportive services that will enhance and strengthen juvenile indigent defense systems.

Resource Centers will support the work of defenders by reaching attorneys not connected to defender agencies. In addition, the centers will partner with the community and community-based organizations to foster a better understanding of the role of the juvenile defender, especially in smaller and more rural communities where access to counsel tends to be more limited. Resource Centers will utilize law schools, universities, and law firms to build a database of experts to engage in the juvenile justice system. The centers can highlight barriers to quality defense representation, such as the urban/rural disparity in indigent defense, high caseloads and other problems that contribute to inconsistent representation across jurisdictions. In addition, the centers can disseminate information about best practices and promising new approaches and innovations in juvenile indigent defense.