The National Juvenile Defender Center exists to be a resource for juvenile defenders and other interested in juvenile justice. We welcome requests for assistance, suggestions for needed resources, new publications, or other projects that would be useful to the field, and/or questions about becoming involved in our network.

NJDC is happy to provide technical assistance to help organize training and meetings for juvenile defenders as well as to convene substantive working groups to develop defense-based responses to issues that emerge from the field. For example, when defenders expressed concerns about girls in the delinquency system, we established a girls working group. Participants in this group collaboratively developed the Justice by Gender report and continue to meet on a regular basis to determine how best to help defenders advocate for their young female clients.

NJDC often responds to requests for assistance from defense attorneys and others working on individual cases involving youth or on projects related to juvenile justice. We provide information, written materials, and contacts to experts in different areas of juvenile defense to improve the quality of representation of children across the country.

Please do not hesitate to contact us; we would be delighted to hear from you.