Pennsylvania Juvenile Defenders

Website made possible with the generous support of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Publications and Resources

A Snapshot of Juvenile Sex Offender Registration and Notification Laws

The Juvenile Act 2008

Rules of Juvenile Court Procedure: Delinquency Matters

Performance Guidelines for Quality and Effective Juvenile Delinquency Representation

Northeast Regional Defender Center

In order to increase the capacity of the grassroots juvenile defense bar across the country, the National Center incorporated into its design the development of nine Regional Defender Centers. The Northeast Region includes the following four states: Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

State and Local Defender Sites

Performance Guidelines for Quality and Effective Juvenile Delinquency Representation

In consultation with juvenile defenders from across the Commonwealth and national experts, JDAP has developed Performance Guidelines for Quality and Effective Juvenile Delinquency Representation (Guidelines). JDAP’s goal is to provide juvenile defenders, contract counsel, and assigned counsel, as well as the leadership of public defender offices with a clear set of guidelines that define evidence-based best practice standards for attorneys practicing in delinquency court. The Guidelines recognize and incorporate Pennsylvania’s Rules of Professional Conduct, Rules of Juvenile Court Procedure, and the Juvenile Act. They also reflect national standards established by the American Bar Association, the National Legal Aid and Defender Association and its American Council of Chief Defenders, and the National Juvenile Defender Center.

The Guidelines serve as a training and development tool for new attorneys who receive delinquency representation assignments. They also reaffirm for experienced counsel the considerations necessary to deliver quality legal representation. The Guidelines outline the representation steps that “may”, “should” or “must” be undertaken to provide competent, effective delinquency representation. They also emphasize the continuing duty of representation through the adjudicatory, disposition, post-disposition, and appellate phases of the juvenile court process.