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47 Harv. C.R.-C.L. L. Rev. 529 (2012)
Legal Significance of Adolescent Development on the Right to Counsel: Establishing the Constitutional Right to Counsel for Teens in Child Welfare Matters and Assuring a Meaningful Right to Counsel in Delinquency Matters

handle is hein.journals/hcrcl47 and id is 533 raw text is: The Legal Significance of Adolescent Development on the Right to Counsel: Establishing the Constitutional Right to Counsel for Teens in Child Welfare Matters and Assuring a Meaningful Right to Counsel in Delinquency Matters By Jennifer K. Pokempner, Riya Saha Shah, Mark F. Houldin, Michael J. Dale, and Robert G. Schwartz* INTRODUCTION Youth involved in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems are among the most vulnerable children in society. Youth who have contact with these systems are overwhelmingly poor, from minority populations,' and tend to have limited access to social supports and resources that might allow them to avert system involvement. In large part, youth come into contact with these systems when things are not going well. Involvement in the child welfare system can occur for multiple reasons, including abuse, neglect, family breakdown, or crisis. Contact with the juvenile justice sys- tem can be for similar reasons, but is triggered by allegations of conduct that would be criminal if committed by an adult. A youth's involvement in these systems can be positive and even life- saving. Success usually depends upon the nature, intensity, and duration of services that these systems provide. In general, however, keeping youth in their own homes and providing their families with the tools and resources to address problems produces better outcomes. In both systems, separation from family and community and removal from home are among the harshest and most traumatic actions that the state can take. * Jennifer Pokempner is a Supervising Attorney at Juvenile Law Center. Riya Saha Shah is a Staff Attorney at Juvenile Law Center. Mark Houldin is an Assistant Defender at the De- fender Association of Philadelphia, Juvenile Unit. Michael Dale is a Professor of Law at Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center. Robert Schwartz is the Executive Direc- tor of Juvenile Law Center. ' See Richard P. Barth et al., Placement into Foster Care and the Interplay of Urbanicity, Child Behavior Problems, and Poverty, 76 AM. J. OF ORTHOPSYCHIATRY 358, 364 (2006) (dis- cussing the impact of poverty and other factors on child welfare system involvement); U.S. Gov'r AcCOUNTABILITY OFFICE, GAO-07-816, AFRICAN AMERICAN CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE: ADDITIONAL HHS ASSISTANCE NEEDED To HELP STATEs REDUCE THE PROPORTION IN CARE 1 (2007), available at http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-816 (discussing racial disproportionality).

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