ABSTRACT
Chapter 8 discusses the confusion regarding the role of counsel. It presents the standard established in the field and by legal precedent for defense counsel to advocate for the expressed rights of youth. The chapter compares this standard with the legal standard for representing the best interests of youth in dependency court and the overall ideology of the “best interests” of youth that governs the rehabilitative purpose of many state juvenile justice systems. The chapter explains and offers examples of role confusion in which the advocacy of defense counsel arguably disappears from the delinquency court process. The chapter provides the categories of language governing the specific role of defense counsel and offers the quantitative summary of state policies at the end of the chapter.
