Previous Work

• 2020 Legislative Session

• 2019 Legislative Session

• 2018 Legislative Session

• 2017 Legislative Session

• 2016 Legislative Session

• 2015 Legislative Session

• 2014 Legislative Session

• 2013 Legislative Session

• 2012 Legislative Session

POLICY ADVOCACY

The Colorado Juvenile Defender Center is engaged in policy and legislative reforms to improve outcomes for children, youth, and families.

CJDC is a member of the National Juvenile Justice Network, which supports the work of state-based advocacy groups.

Our priorities for juvenile justice reform:

1. Ensuring the implementation of direct file reforms for youth prosecuted in adult court;

2. Reviewing the evaluation of the Youthful Offender System, a prison for youth in the adult corrections system;

3. Protecting the right to counsel for all children and youth accused of crimes and guarding against uninformed waivers of counsel;

4. Reducing the use of secure and staff-secure commitment facilities and secure detention facilities to keep more children at home with community based services and mental health care;

5. Eliminating the practice of shackling children in juvenile court without an individualized showing of necessity;

6. Reducing disproportionate minority contact and confinement;

7. Reforming the treatment, classification, and registration of children accused of sex offenses; and

8. Eliminating zero tolerance policies and the criminalization of students.

9. Eliminating juvenile sex offender registration