The Children Left Behind: An Assessment of Access to Counsel and Quality of Representation in Delinquency Proceedings in Louisiana (2001)

Central to this report is whether youth are receiving adequate counsel in the justice system and, concomitantly, whether the lack of defense services has a substantive, harmful impact on these children and their families. The data collected, comments from children, families, and professionals working within the system all suggest that the fallout from inadequate defense advo­cacy is indeed devastating.