About PJDC
Mission Statement
To promote justice for all youth by ensuring excellence in juvenile defense
and advocating for systemic reforms
Diversity and Inclusion Statement
The Pacific Juvenile Defender Center believes that equity, inclusion and diversity are integral to creating a just juvenile legal system. To that end, PJDC is committed to creating a diverse, inclusive, and equitable community of juvenile defenders and advocates who fight for the rights of delinquency-involved youth in California. Our training of juvenile defenders is rooted in the belief that all young people should have excellent juvenile representation, regardless of race, ethnicity, national origin, citizenship status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, disability, age, religion, and socioeconomic class. Our legislative advocacy and amicus work reflect our commitment to correcting discriminatory practices that have led to the prosecution and incarceration of too many young people of color.
The Pacific Juvenile Defender Center also recognizes that poverty, economic inequality, and lack of economic opportunity, often closely tied to issues of race and ethnicity, have a devastating effect on the lives of all children. Once entangled in the juvenile justice system, children and their families are drawn still deeper into poverty.
To achieve its mission and promote equity, inclusion, and diversity, PJDC is committed to the following principles:
- PJDC will provide educational and training programs, publications, and policy positions that reflect and respect difference, and address the racial bias and harms of poverty which disproportionately affect virtually all system-involved youth and their families.
- PJDC’s work will highlight and combat the discriminatory impact of policing and prosecution on youth of color, including African American and Latinx youth
- PJDC will recruit membership and leadership reflecting the diversity of the youth in the delinquency system and persons who have experienced the effects of poverty first-hand.
PJDC will engage in recruitment practices and retention strategies to achieve a diverse staff and board
What we believe
- children in the juvenile justice system must be treated with dignity, respect, and fairness;
- youth must have timely access to competent, properly resourced, and specially trained counsel;
- youth are fully capable of transformational character changes and true rehabilitation — irrespective of the bad decisions they might have made during adolescence;
- no youth should be prosecuted as an adult;
- youth advocates must play an important role in transforming the juvenile justice system; and
- juvenile defense is a highly-specialized area of the law and indigent defense organizations should cultivate and promote the role of the juvenile defender.
Our partners
Pacific Juvenile Defender Center has benefitted from the recognition, encouragement, and financial support of foundations and fellow charitable nonprofit organizations. We are deeply grateful to the following organizations for their generous support of our mission and our current work:
