Innovation Brief: Avoiding and Mitigating the Collateral Consequences of a Juvenile Adjudication
Published Dec 12, 2013, National Juvenile Defender Center
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The majority of youth who come into contact with the juvenile court system have one court contact and never return. And even among those youth who do return to juvenile court, most do not become adult offenders. Although these young people believe they are leaving their court involvement behind when they complete the terms of their adjudication, it follows them, sometimes for the rest of their lives. In addition to the terms of their adjudication, unanticipated serious and harmful impacts, commonly referred to as collateral consequences, often attach. Juvenile defenders involved in the Juvenile Indigent Defense Action Network (JIDAN) created innovative tools to educate clients, practitioners, and families about the harmful impacts of juvenile court involvement, and strategies to mitigate that long-term harm.
