The Southern Juvenile Defender Center is one of nine regional centers created by the National Juvenile Defender Center (NJDC) to enhance the juvenile defense bar's capacity to provide high quality representation. The Southern Juvenile Defender Center:
- offers technical assistance and advice to juvenile defenders
- facilitates networking opportunities for juvenile defenders
- conducts state and regional trainings
- connects families with court-involved children to juvenile defenders in their area
- provides litigation support to defenders in particularly complex or high impact cases
- compiles state-specific advocacy manuals for juvenile defenders
- publishes studies on juvenile justice policy issues that affect children in the southern region
- gathers and analyzes juvenile indigent defense data
Marion D. Chartoff of the Southern Poverty Law Center is the director. The SJDC advisory committee includes members from all seven states.
