ALTERNATE PUBLIC DEFENDER DEFENSE OF JUVENILES PROGRAM

About the Program

Category: Criminal Justice and Public Safety (Best in Category)

Year: 2020

Prior to 2016, the County of Los Angeles appointed panel attorneys to represent juveniles charged with offenses in Juvenile Delinquency Courts after the Public Defender declared a conflict of interest. The Warren Institute on Law and Social Policy at UC Berkeley School of Law found that juvenile justice was ''markedly uneven,'' depending on whether the accused were assigned public defenders or panel attorneys. UC Berkeley researchers found that panel attorneys spent about half as much time defending their clients, filed fewer motions, consulted with fewer experts, and provided less documented support for their clients than public defenders. The Board of Supervisors (BOS) asked the Alternate Public Defender (APD) and the County’s Bar Association to submit proposals to determine who can best represent the juveniles in the Juvenile Delinquency Courts. The APD’s proposal, which was $200,000 less than the County Bar Association’s, not only included public defenders, but also included educational resource attorneys, psychiatric social workers, investigators, paralegals and legal office support assistants. In October 2016, the BOS directed the expansion of the APD effective November 1, 2016 to all eight Juvenile Courts to represent juveniles. After its first year, the APD convened a survey to all Juvenile Court judges and commissioners to measure the level of services to its clients and courts. The APD received great praise and tremendous scores, indicating it had met the Board of Supervisors expectations of providing outstanding services to the County’s youth in the juvenile justice system. This expansion was completed in just three weeks which has not been accomplished in any recent Los Angeles County program.