Vol. 18, No. 2 • May 2014

Juvenile Defenders: The Child's Voice in Juvenile Delinquency Proceedings

By Mellicent Blythe

When a juvenile is charged with breaking the law, he or she is assigned a special attorney called a juvenile defender. I recently spoke with the North Carolina state Juvenile Defender, Eric J. Zogry, to learn more about this important player in the juvenile justice system. (This interview has been edited for style and length.)

What does a juvenile defender do? How would you describe the basics of their role and responsibilities?
We consider ourselves client-centered advocates. We're the child's voice to the court. In the delinquency setting, our role as juvenile defender is no different than representing adults in criminal court.

When people see what we do, they may think we're expressing to the court what we think should happen. But that would not be following our ethical duty as attorneys. Yes, defense attorneys counsel their clients about what they think is in their best legal interest, but ultimately it's based on the client's decision how the case is going to move forward.

What are the hallmarks of a good juvenile defender?
The first thing is to make contact as quickly as possible before court to develop a lawyer-client relationship based on trust and honesty. Though it might be a little unsettling to a foster parent or other guardian, the attorney should meet first with the client by themselves and get their perspective on what's going on in their life and the charges against them. After that they should be interacting with the parent or guardian and others important to the child's life. There should be some explanation to the parent about what the attorney's role is, hopefully prior to the discussion with the child.

I understand all this may feel shocking to a caretaker, who may wonder, "Wait a second. This is a 13-year-old. How can you talk to him without me being there?!" But again, that's how it should be--the child is the client.

How does a juvenile defender come into the picture for youth in foster care, and how long does their involvement last?
Any time a child between the ages of 6 and 16 is accused of committing a crime, they automatically get appointed a lawyer. Once the summons goes out, the name of the lawyer should be on that piece of paper. Or it may say the "Public Defender" if there is an office in the county or district.

The length of time they're involved varies widely depending on the offense, whether or not the child is in detention, and the jurisdiction and how often court meets.

How can foster parents assist juvenile defenders?
The foster parent has information that's extremely relevant. Any information they can provide about how the youth is performing in placement, how that's impacting other parts of their life, the foster parent's ability to transport the youth to the hearings and the potential services or programs that the court may order, that's all going to be very helpful.

The court is going to want to hear from the foster parent. But from a defense perspective, be careful. The risk is you may say something that impacts the child in a negative way without realizing it.

For example, I've had situations where a caregiver spends 15 minutes talking about all the child's done wrong, but then ends with only a few seconds on how well the child's doing now. The judge is going to focus on the first part. It may even affect the judge's thinking about whether the foster parent can safely care for the youth.

Think about how what you say might affect the child. Sometimes the best thing to say to the court is nothing, or to be positive. If anything negative comes out, you just never know how that will affect the outcome.

What should foster parents do if they feel their youth's defender is not providing adequate representation?
Contact the defender directly. Say, "We really want to talk to you. We're available to transport the child. Please let us know how we can help." A lot of times the defender is not hearing that.

As a juvenile defender, what do you want from your clients?
Honesty. The thing we hope is to establish that relationship with the client. It benefits everyone when you cultivate a relationship of trust and honesty.

How have the practices of juvenile defenders changed over the years?
Before 1967, juveniles did not consistently have the same constitutional protections as adult defendants. In that year, the Supreme Court ruled in the case In re Gault that youth have to be afforded many of the same rights, including the right to an attorney.

In the more recent past, some people thought you had to get a youth into the juvenile justice system in order to receive services. Their approach might have been, "Let's just plead the case, even if we're not sure if the child is responsible for this specific incident. We know the child's struggling, and we want to get services in place."

That doesn't work. If the child believes they're not being treated fairly, what's the use of getting them services? They won't be invested if they feel the whole thing is a sham.

Thinking about teens' development, we know fairness is a key piece of their belief structure. It may be more important to demonstrate to the child that the system can work, that there is an adult (the juvenile defender) working for them, and that their opinions do matter.

That may have much more of an impact than doing whatever you need to access specific services.

We are working hard to create a trauma-informed child welfare system in NC. Are there similar efforts on the juvenile justice side?
There's a lot of attention on the effect of trauma. We haven't addressed that specifically at the state level. But we really emphasize and recommend that if those issues are key to a child's defense, defenders need to get an expert to properly evaluate the child from that perspective to ensure that the court has that information.

Do you have any messages specifically for DSS social workers regarding "cross-over youth" --those involved in both child welfare and juvenile justice?
The relationship between DSS and juvenile defenders varies widely. It also really varies across counties whether juvenile defenders attend Child and Family Team meetings. I think it's important at the very least for the defender to be aware of what's happening in those CFTs, especially when it affects placement. The worst thing is when a defender gets handed a report five minutes before a hearing. It's really about improving communication.

I think there have been efforts to address cross-over youth, but I haven't seen a comprehensive solution. I would like to see more ongoing discussion about improving communication and simplifying procedures for these kids.

Part of the problem is there are two different courts, all kinds of different meetings, all kinds of different personnel. The bottom line is, it's confusing to the child.

I'd like to see more discussions among all the parties about how we can better serve these youth. The District Attorney's office, juvenile defender, GAL, DSS--we need to work together to achieve the best outcome for every child.

~ Family and Children's Resource Program, UNC-CH School of Social Work ~