MacArthur Foundation taps Barry Law to lead state's juvenile justice initiative

The Juvenile Justice Center (JJC) at the Barry University Dwayne O. Andres School of Law in Orlando has been awarded a $100,000 grant by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to participate in the newly created Models for Change Juvenile Indigent Defense Action Network (JIDAN). Barry University’s partner in this Florida effort is the Miami-Dade Public Defender’s Office.

Florida is one of four states, along with California, Massachusetts, and New Jersey, selected in a highly competitive process, with Barry’s JJC tapped to lead the Florida effort. The JIDAN was created to pursue reforms that strengthen and enhance juvenile indigent defense systems that can be replicated nationwide. The four new states will join the existing core states (Illinois, Louisiana, Pennsylvania and Washington) to form the eight-state Action Network. The JIDAN will be coordinated through the National Juvenile Defender Center (NJDC) and will actively engage juvenile defenders, policymakers, judges and other key stakeholders in designing strategies to improve juvenile indigent defense policy and practice.

“The lack of adequate representation for indigent youth was identified as a key barrier to developing fair and effective juvenile justice systems,” said MacArthur President Jonathan Fanton. “This new Action Network will help accelerate the pace of change by ensuring that juveniles receive the legal protections to which they are constitutionally entitled. With the innovative leadership in the four states selected, the Network will help reshape juvenile justice systems across the United States to improve the lives of young people in ways that the public supports and that keep communities safe.”

Models for Change is MacArthur’s $120 million national initiative to reform juvenile justice across the country. Barry’s JJC is committed to equality and justice through advocacy for children in the delinquency system. The Center is devoted to improving the quality of representation through training, networking and consulting with law students, public defenders and those in the legal field that represent children. The Center’s collaboration with the MacArthur Foundation, JIDAN and the NJDC will help increase these efforts.

The JJC works to create dramatic reform in the juvenile justice field in Florida with an emphasis on improvements in the quality of representation of children in the delinquency system, lasting positive impacts in legislation and a vision that juvenile delinquency representation is a specialized discipline. “The Juvenile Justice Center is excited about using this partnership with the MacArthur Foundation to build upon the Center’s work over the past year. Being chosen by MacArthur is an affirmation that the Center is making a difference for children,” said Gerard Glynn, director of Clinical programs at Barry Law School.

Carlos Martinez, the newly elected Miami-Dade Public Defender, said “safeguarding our children’s future has to be priority number one. A troubled child without proper legal representation and a supportive pathway to growing up as a productive member of society, can become tomorrow’s taxpayer burden. Ensuring equal justice for poor children is both the right thing and the smart thing to do.”


About the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
The MacArthur Foundation supports creative people and effective institutions committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. In addition to selecting the MacArthur Fellows, the Foundation works to defend human rights, advance global conservation and security, make cities better places, and understand how technology is affecting children and society. For more information, visit www.macfound.org.

About Models for Change
The Models for Change initiative is an effort to create successful and replicable models of juvenile justice system reform through targeted investments in key states. With long-term funding and support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Models for Change seeks to accelerate progress toward a more rational, fair, effective, and developmentally appropriate juvenile justice system. Models for Change has three ongoing Action Networks (Mental Health, Disproportionate Minority Contact and now Juvenile Indigent Defense) consisting of 12 states that join the existing core states for a total of 16 states. For more information, visit www.modelsforchange.net.

About the National Juvenile Defender Center
The National Juvenile Defender Center (NJDC) is a non-partisan, mission-driven organization created to respond to the critical need to build the capacity of the juvenile defense bar and to improve access to counsel and quality of representation for children in the justice system. NJDC offers a wide range of integrated services to juvenile defenders, including training, technical assistance, advocacy, networking, collaboration, capacity building and coordination. The NJDC works to ensure excellence in juvenile defense by promoting justice for all children.