Useful Websites/Resources
The National Juvenile Defender Center (NJDC) provides support to public defenders, appointed counsel, law school clinical programs and non-profit law centers to ensure quality representation in urban, suburban, rural and tribal areas. NJDC offers a wide range of integrated services to juvenile defenders, including training, technical assistance, advocacy, networking, collaboration, capacity building and coordination.
The Juvenile Law Center uses legal advocacy, research, publications, public education and training, to ensure that the child welfare, juvenile justice and other public systems provide vulnerable children with the protection and services they need to become happy, healthy and productive adults.
The Justice 4 DC Youth! Coalition is a coalition of youth, youth-led organizations;
youth service providers, faith communities, artists and concerned residents
working together for a fairer and effective youth justice system in the District.
We are a diverse, inter-generational group that is seeking to increase youth
participation, activism and leadership in the coalition.
The Center for Children’s Law and Policy (CCLP) is a public interest law and policy organization focused on reform of juvenile justice and other systems that affect troubled and at-risk children, and protection of the rights of children in such systems, through a range of activities including research, writing, public education, media advocacy, training, technical assistance, administrative and legislative advocacy, and litigation. CCLP capitalizes on its location in Washington, DC, by working in DC, Maryland, and Virginia, as well as in other states and on national efforts such as the MacArthur Foundation's Models for Change and the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative.
The District of Columbia Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) provides citywide services for delinquency prevention and control to the protection of the community and the rehabilitation of youth. Specifically, DYRS provides security, supervision, and residential and community support services for committed and detained juvenile offenders and juvenile Persons in Need of Supervision (PINS). Clients are engaged in a variety of educational, therapeutic, recreational, and cultural enrichment programs.
http://www.dccourts.gov/dccourts/superior/family/index.jsp
The District of Columbia Family Court has jurisdiction over the following types of cases: abuse and neglect, juvenile, domestic relations, domestic violence, paternity and support, mental health and retardation and adoptions. To the greatest extent practicable, feasible and lawful, cases involving members of the same family are heard by one judge in order to minimize court appearances, reduce the risk of conflicting court orders and ensure quality decisions based on the full knowledge of the issues affecting the family.
