Publications
ROLE OF JUVENILE DEFENSE COUNSEL
Ten Core Principles For Providing Quality Delinquency Representation Through Public Defense Delivery Systems (National Juvenile Defender Center, 2008) Created through a collaboration between the National Juvenile Defender Center and the American Council of Chief Defenders.
FAQs on the Role of Juvenile Defense Counsel (National Juvenile Defender Center, 2016)
National Juvenile Defense Standards (National Juvenile Defender Center, 2012) Rooted in the law, science, and professional codes of responsibility, these standards are intended to provide guidance, support, and direction to juvenile defense attorneys and other juvenile court stakeholders.
Defund Children: A Blueprint for Effective Juvenile Defender Services(National Juvenile Defender Center, 2016) A path toward a comprehensive, adequately-resourced juvenile defender system that ensures the fundamental right to counsel for children, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, geography, or ability to pay.
New Juvenile Defense Career Resource Center (NJDC) has published this guide to help law students prepare for a career in juvenile defense or juvenile justice policy reform.
GENERAL JUVENILE JUSTICE MATERIALS
Enhanced Juvenile Justice Guidelines(NCJFCJ) Since 2005, with the original publication of Juvenile Delinquency Guidelines: Improving Court Practice in Juvenile Delinquency Cases (JDG), the NCJFCJ has worked with juvenile justice courts to promulgate best practices in juvenile delinquency proceedings.
Washington Judicial Colloquies Project: A Guide for Improving Communication and Understanding in Juvenile Court (Team Child and the MacArthur Juvenile Indigent Defense Action Network) Standard colloquies between the court and youth, including conditions of probation, are often in language far beyond the child’s comprehension. These developmentally-appropriate colloquies dramatically improved comprehension and compliance.
Defending Clients Who Have Been Searched and Interrogated at School: A Guide for Juvenile Defenders(National Juvenile Defender Center, Barton Juvenile Defender Clinic - Emory Law, Youth Advocacy Project)
Audio-Video Appearances in Juvenile Court (Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission, 2015) Report recommending against audio-video appearances for Illinois’ detained youth in lieu of transportation to court.
ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT & MENTAL HEALTH
Reforming Juvenile Justice: A Develpmental Approach (National Research Council, 2013)
What Juvenile Defenders Should Know About the DSM-5 (National Juvenile Defender Center, 2014) A useful overview of the 2013 changes to the DSM and how a client’s diagnosis might affect the case.
Stemming the Tide: Diverting Youth with Mental Health Conditions from the Illinois Juvenile Justice System (2018) This legislatively-mandated report from the Illinois Mental Health Opportunities for Youth Diversion Task Force recommends 14 action steps to deliver needed services and help keep youth with mental-health-conditions-out-of-jails-and-prisons.
Tips on Youth Trauma (National Juvenile Defender Center, 2017) This issue briefly highlights the importance of defenders considering how trauma and mental illness might have affected their client’s behavior and culpability
YOUTH WHO SEXUALLY OFFEND
Improving Illinois Response to Sexual Offenses Committed by Youth (Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission, 2014)
An Examination of Juvenile Arrested, Detained, and Admitted to Corrections for Sex Offenses in Illinois (Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, 2017)
Raised on the Registry: The Irreparable Harm of Placing Children on Sex Offender Registries in the US (Human Rights Watch 2013)
Youth Who Commit Sex Offenses Research Update (National Juvenile Justice Network, 2014) Three-page general summary of the relevant research.
The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) Releases Resolution for Sex Offend (Adopted March 16, 2019) The NCJFCJ recognizes that juvenile court judges have a responsibility to care for and protect youth within their jurisdiction, as well as to promote community safety, and therefore supports efforts to prevent youth from being placed on sex offender registries.
IMMIGRATION
Juvenile Defender's Guide to Immigration Issues in Juvenile Proceedings (National Juvenile Defender Center, 2017
Noncitizen Youth in the Juvenile Justice System (Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2014) Practice guide for juvenile justice stakeholders on ensuring the safe and fair treatment of noncitizen youth in detention
2018 Supplement
YOUTH IN ADULT COURT
Trial and Sentencing of Youth As Adults in the Illinois Justice Systems: 2018 Transfer Data Report (Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission)
If Not the Adult System Then Where? Alternatives to Adult Incarceration for Youth Certified as Adults(Campaign for Youth Justice, 2019) First report in a series on effective alternatives to incarceration for youth who were charged as if they were adults.
Trial Defense Guidelines: Representing a Child Client Facing a Possible Life Sentence (Coalition for the Fair Sentencing of Youth, 2015) As with death penalty sentencing, defending children facing life sentences requires specialized knowledge and characteristics
SECURE CONFINEMENT OF YOUTH
Juvenile Facilities Checklist for Defenders Advocating for the Safety and Well-being of Young People (National Juvenile Defender Center, 2019) A guide for juvenile defenders to educate judges, prosecutors, probation officers, and other stakeholders on the potential harm youth face in secure confinement facilities.
Addressing Trauma: Eliminating Strip Searches (Juvenile Law Center) A defender guide for determining if and how strip searches are used in local and state facilities housing youth and strategies for challenging suspicionless strip searches.
No Place for Kids: The Case for Reducing Juvenile Incarceration (Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2011) Data-driven report with six key strategies for reform.
Arrested Development: Confinement Can Negatively Affect Youth Maturation(National Juvenile Justice Network, 2013) Rather than causing youth to grow up and grow out of their behavior, the rigid rules and expectations of immediate obedience in secure confinement significantly slows the normal maturation of youth.
The Costliest Choice: Economic Impact of Youth Incarceration (Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, Bluhm Legal Clinic, 2018) The cost of incarcerating youth in Illinois and effective alternatives to incarceration.
Smart, Safe, & Fair Strategies to Reduce Youth Violence, Heal Victims, and Reduce Racial Inequality (Justice Policy Institute and The National Center for Victims of Crime, 2018) A thought-provoking report on the commonalities between juvenile advocates and many crime victims when it comes to addressing racial disparities in the system and favoring rehabilitation in the community over incarceration.
May 2020 Juvenile Detention Report(Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission, 2020)
PROBATION BEST PRACTICES
Transforming Probation: A Vision for Getting it Right (Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2018) (National Juvenile Defender Center, 2016)
THE COST OF JUVENILE COURT FOR YOUTH AND FAMILIES
The Cost of Justice: The Impact of Criminal Justice Financial Obligations on Individuals and Familie (Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, 2018) (National Juvenile Defender Center) Illinois is in the minority of states to assess probation fees for youth. Indiana in particular provides a model for securing the waiver of probation fees in most cases.
RACIAL AND ETHNIC DISPARITIES IN JUVENILE JUSTICE
Racial and Ethnic Disparities Reduction Practice Manual (Center for Children’s Law and Policy, 2015) An overview of RED in the juvenile justice system and strategies for reducing them in local systems.
Racial and Ethnic Disparity in Juvenile Justice Processing (Voices for Illinois Children, 2017)
Repairing the Breach: A Brief History of Youth of Color in the Justice System Trying to meaningfully address the unacceptable levels of racial and ethnic disparities in our youth justice system without an understanding and knowledge of the historical roots that drive it will not bring about sufficient engagement strategies.
The Keeper and The Kept (Haywood Burns Institute, 2013) A report on the causes of racial and ethnic disparities among youth in secure confinement, local obstacles that keep these inequities in place, and successful strategies to combat the problem.
Racial & Ethnic Disparities Are In Youth Prisons According to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), youth of color are significantly more likely to be incarcerated than White youth, comprising nearly 70% of incarcerated youth in the juvenile justice system. In 2013, Black youth were 4.6 times as likely; Native American youth were 3.3 times as likely; and Latino youth were 1.7 times as likely to be incarcerated than White youth.
"Children Are Different": Implicit Bias, Rehabilitation, and the "New" Juvenile Jurisprudence (Robin Walker Sterling, 46 Loy. L.A. L. Rev. 1019 (2013)) Approaches for mitigating the effects of implicit bias in proceedings where children are facing life sentences.
LGBTQ YOUTH IN THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM
LGBT Youth in Juvenile Court: Practice Tips for Juvenile Defenders (National Juvenile Defender Center, 2011)
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Youth in the Juvenile Justice System (Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2015) Practice guide summarizing the relevant research, identifying appropriate policies, and providing guidance on the safety and well-being of LGBTQ youth in detention.
Hidden Injustice: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth in Juvenile Courts(The Equity Project, 2009) Comprehensive primer on LGBTQ youth in the juvenile justice system.
GIRLS IN THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM
Illinois' Incarcerated Girls and LGBTQ Youth (Bluhm Legal Clinic – Pritzker Northwestern School of Law, 2018)
A Guide to Juvenile Detention Reform: Making Detention Reform Work for Girls (Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2013)
Girls Matter: Centring Gender in Status Offense Reform Efforts (Vera Institute, 2019)
FAMILIES OF YOUTH
Juvenile Defense Attorneys and Faamily Engagement: Same Team, Different Roles (National Juvenile Defender Center, 2014) Practical tips for engaging families that make them assets to their children in the juvenile court process.
The Juvenile Justice System: A Guide for Families in Illinois(Children and Family Justice Center, Northwestern University School of Law & The Illinois Children’s Mental Health Partnership.
Parents as Partners: Family Connection and Youth Incarceration (Children and Family Justice Center, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, 2018)