A Tale of Two Systems: An assessment of access to and quality of youth defense counsel in Utah
In 2012, the Gault Center came to Colorado to assess the state of youth defense for kids in the state delinquency system. The resulting report kicked off a wave of reforms in Colorado’s youth justice world: for example, there is a straight line from this report to the right to counsel at detention hearings, and to a specialized position within ADC dedicated to youth defense.
The Gault Center continues its work assessing youth defense across the country, and ADC’s Youth Defense Coordinator, Stacie Nelson Colling, has had the opportunity to pay it back by helping with assessments in New Hampshire and Michigan, and most recently, in Utah. That report (linked here) will no doubt help to raise the bar of youth defense in Utah, just as the Colorado report did here!
