The project is funded by a grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). It is designed to develop training and resources for defenders and increase the community and capacity of youth defense across Utah through a variety of initiatives.

Youth defense is an area of specialized practice requiring distinct skills and knowledge. To support development of that expertise, the Utah Statewide Juvenile Delinquency Defense Training and Sustainable Capacity Project 

• offers an ongoing quarterly training program for attorneys appointed to represent youth across Utah;
• is developing a series of five youth defense practice toolkits: Utah Juvenile Record Expungement Toolkit, Toolkit for Representing Youth Charged with Sex Offenses, Statewide Contacts and Resource Guide, Timelines and New Practitioner Toolkit, and Suppression Hearings Toolkit;
• fosters a statewide community of defenders through its mentorship initiatives and outreach work with an eye towards sustainable capacity; and
• aims to amplify youth experience and center the importance of system-involved voices through a series of panels featuring young adults with prior experience in Utah’s juvenile court system.

If you currently represent youth in delinquency cases, or are interested in youth defense work, please contact Program Manager Amanda Butler ([email protected]), to be added to the project's listserv.

The project is developing juvenile defense practice resources. Two toolkits are currently available:

The Indigent Defense Commission thanks the Gault Center and the Southwest Juvenile Defender Center for their partnership and the project’s Advisory Board and consultants for their contributions to this project’s success.