Rule 5.664.Training requirements for children’s counsel in delinquency proceedings (§ 634.3)

Competent counsel here means a State Bar member in good standing who represents youth in accordance with the governing statute and has trained in the law and practice of juvenile delinquency as this rule defines it.

Eligibility comes two ways. Either the attorney has, in each of the three most recent calendar years, devoted at least half their practice to juvenile delinquency and demonstrated competence — or they have completed at least 12 hours of delinquency training in the most recent 12 months.

The required curriculum is unusually detailed, and its breadth is the point: an overview of delinquency law and cases; trial skills from pretrial motions through evidence, preserving the record, writs, notices of appeal and posttrial motions; advocacy at detention and at disposition; child and adolescent development including how to interview and work with adolescent clients; competence and mental health, capacity to commit a crime, the effects of trauma, child abuse and family violence, and crossover issues for youth also in the dependency system; police interrogation methods, juvenile suggestibility and false confessions; ethical duties including racial, ethnic and cultural understanding and addressing bias; cultural competency and best practices for LGBT youth; working with victims of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation; immigration consequences and Special Immigrant Juvenile Status; general and special education including school discipline; extended foster care; substance abuse; how to secure rehabilitative and community-based resources; the direct and collateral consequences of court involvement; transfer to criminal court and advocacy in adult court; appellate advocacy; and advocacy after disposition.

Continuing education is at least 8 hours a calendar year — 24 hours across each MCLE compliance period. An attorney eligible for only part of a period does a proportionate share, and two hours for every three months of eligibility within a calendar year. The 12 hours of initial training may count toward the first compliance period.

Compliance is each attorney’s own responsibility, though public defender offices and other agencies are encouraged to provide qualifying training, and attorneys are encouraged to join juvenile court policy meetings and local trainings addressing county needs. The court may ask for evidence of competency, including documentation of training attended, and may require attorneys to complete form JV-700.