2017 CIIP Program Book 2017 CIIP Program Book | Page 38

Community Partner: Office of the Public Defender - Juvenile Division
Peer Mentor: Jessa Wais
Site Supervisor: Mark Friedenthal
What is the OPD - Juvenile Division?
We are a group of lawyers, social workers, and staff members from the Juvenile
Division of the Maryland Office of the Public Defender who have chosen to
dedicate our careers to working with children in the Juvenile Court System. We
believe that every child is deserving of zealous advocacy, and we fight each day
to protect and defend our clients and their due process rights. Our
representation continues even when the court case ends. We encourage our
clients to stay in touch with us.
"I was excited to go to work every single day.
At the Public Defender’s Office, it is so absurdly easy to remember why you do
what you do. And why you work so incredibly hard to do it well.
Whether that reason is staring at you at 9 am before court starts, or calling you
from detention to ask about their case, our kids provide constant motivation
unparalleled to any other work environment I can think of.
Every day this summer I was able to listen to kids. When Mark explained our
role, I got to see their faces, often smiling, as he told them, “You’re the boss!”
Every client, case, and day was different.
To be fair, there were a lot of tough cases. In fact, when you believe no kid
should be serving time behind bars, every case is tough in some way. But the
support system throughout the office, from the other public defenders, to the
social workers, to the legal assistants, was stronger than I could have imagined."
-Jessa
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Interviewed clients
Assisted with case theory
development
Transcribed interviews and
provided detailed descriptions of
video evidence, including body
camera footage
Researched viable community
resources for specific clients
Presented Know Your Rights
Trainings to youth
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