Low-income juvenile offenders always need good legal representation but often have trouble getting it. That might soon change in at least four states.
The National Juvenile Defender Center, led by Executive Director Patricia Puritz, has announced the creation of the Juvenile Indigent Defense Action Network, an initiative to build and strengthen the capacity of state juvenile defense systems and improve access to high-quality legal representation for delinquent youth.
The network, funded through the MacArthur Foundation’s Models for Change initiative, will link grantees in four new partner states. Those network participants will receive funding of up to $100,000 for one year (with additional funding likely), along with technical, collaboration and training assistance, according to the announcement.
Grantees will be selected from four states that are not currently involved in other Models for Change action networks, which means MacArthur will not select applicants from: Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.
The application is at http://www.njdc.info. The deadline is June 6. Contact: Rey Banks, (202) 452-0010.
