The Youth Justice Clinic (YJC), previously known as the Juvenile Justice Clinic, offers a dynamic four- or six-credit course where students engage in direct representation of children, youth, and emerging adults—up to age 25—in various court proceedings. This course also provides opportunities for advocating systemic change. The YJC is structured into two interconnected components. The first focuses on direct representation, equipping students with essential skills in client counseling, ethics, investigation, pre-trial practice, negotiation, document drafting, trial experience, and appeals. The second component is student-driven, emphasizing systemic change through policy work. Students collaborate with affected communities to reform system practices, shape legislative advocacy, and influence the court’s rulemaking process. The YJC allows students to delve into practice and policy across criminal law, juvenile law, education law, and poverty law. Under the close supervision and mentorship of faculty supervisors and Jill Ward, Director of the Center for Youth Policy & Law, students gain invaluable experience. In their first semester at the Clinics at Maine Law, students also participate in a two-credit course, Lawyering Skills for Clinical Practice. All clinic students engage in “case rounds,” where they and faculty exchange ideas and questions about current cases and policy objectives.
Center for Youth Policy &Law
In June 2017, the Center for Youth Policy & Law (CYP&L) was established with a grant from the John T. Gorman Foundation to support Clinic students and faculty in their policy work around justice-involved children, youth and emerging adults.
In the Media
Youth Justice Clinic Director Sarah Branch and Center for Youth Policy & Law Director Jill Ward featured in New York Times coverage of youth justice in rural Maine
Jenna Zawislak ’22, a Clinic alum, and Leslie Wilson ’22, a former Clinic volunteer, bring attention to access to justice concerns in Maine’s youth prison
Youth Justice Clinic Director Sarah Branch speaks to the New York Times about Maine’s youth justice system
Mark Peltier ’10, a Clinic alum, in the news advocating for his youth client’s privacy rights
Publications
Templates
Additional Materials
August 2021 – In July, the first session of the 130th Legislature adjourned after having taken action on several youth justice bills and related reform. Read the summary.
- Juvenile Record Informational Brochure (updated January 2022): Resource for youth, families, and other system stakeholders explaining what it means to have a juvenile record in Maine. Download “Know the Facts: What does it mean to have a Juvenile Record in Maine?”
- Legislative Updates: Summary of action taken on youth justice issues during the first and second sessions of the 130th Maine Legislature.
- 130th 1st Session Legislative Update (August 2021)
- 130th 2nd Session Legislative Update (June 2022)
- Greater Good Podcast:Juvenile Justice: Past, Present, and Future (November 2019). Learn more about the work of the Clinic in these two Greater Good Podcast episodes: