University of Michigan juvenile justice clinic outlines $1 million pilot to provide counsel at first appearance and embedded social‑work support

The University of Michigan Juvenile Justice Clinic (JJC) presented its plan to use a $1,000,000 appropriation to pilot two initiatives: (1) counsel at first appearance for juveniles in selected counties and (2) an embedded social‑work support pilot to provide non‑attorney services and referrals as part of holistic defense.

“I'm the director of the Juvenile Justice Clinic,” said Mira Edmonds, explaining the clinic will deploy law‑student clinicians supervised by licensed attorneys to represent juveniles at initial court appearances in counties where youth otherwise lack counsel at that stage. The clinic said it will do warm handoffs to continuing counsel and partner with local courts to adapt the model to local practice variations.

Nut graf: JJC designed the pilots to amplify impact — providing direct representation where coverage is missing and building data and training capacity so its approaches can inform statewide juvenile defense improvements and potential expansion of MIDC standards to youth defenders.

The counsel‑at‑first‑appearance pilot is modeled on an adult pilot in Huron County and will be adapted to juvenile proceedings. JJC is working most closely with Eaton County, where Judge Amanda Pollard and court administrators have participated in planning. The clinic is partnering with the Youth Policy Lab at the University of Michigan to conduct a mixed‑methods pre/post evaluation using court administrative data, youth and parent surveys, and stakeholder interviews to measure effects on detention, probation conditions and court efficiency.

The embedded social‑work support pilot would hire a social worker to be part of the clinic staff. That person would provide social‑work services to clinic clients, assist and train student attorneys on child‑centered interviewing and advocacy, make referrals for social services, and help identify and fund expert evaluations when needed.

Edmonds noted constraints in the appropriation language: funds are limited to juveniles charged with felonies, which restricts the number of cases the project can serve even though juvenile court authority to supervise youth often overlaps regardless of offense severity. JJC said it hopes to begin representation in summer or fall 2025 and to have the social‑work hire in place in August or September 2025.

Ending: Edmonds said the pilot is intended as a demonstration project that, if successful, could inform broader efforts to extend MIDC standards, training and infrastructure to juvenile defense statewide.