About

Regional Centers

Connecting the Gault Center to the Frontlines of Youth Defense

The Gault Center collaborates with nine Regional Youth Defender Centers. Each Center coordinates activities in the states within its region and keeps the Gault Center connected to the front lines of youth defense. Regional Centers offer targeted state-based training and technical assistance, provide case support for complex or high-profile cases, and facilitate organizing and networking opportunities for youth defenders.

Each Regional Center is led by two or more co-directors who are accomplished or emerging youth defense leaders and by Advisory Boards drawn from every state within the Region.

Great Lakes

  • Brooke Burns
    Office of the Ohio Public Defender
    Columbus, OH
  • Eileen Fredericks
    Wisconsin State Public Defender
    Madison, WI
  • Erin Johnson
    Illinois Juvenile Defender Resource Center
    Chicago, IL

Mid-Atlantic

  • Alison Powers
    Virginia Indigent Defense Commission
    Richmond, VA
  • Kris Henning
    Georgetown Law Juvenile Justice Clinic & Initiative
    Washington, DC
  • Rebba Omer
    Georgetown Law Juvenile Justice Clinic & Initiative
    Washington, DC

New England

  • Lindsey Guerrero
    Supervisory Assistant Public Defender, Superior Court for Juvenile Matters 
    Bridgeport, CT
  • Sarah Branch
    The Youth Justice Clinic at the University of Maine School of Law
    Portland, ME

North Central

  • Christine Henningsen
    University of Nebraska Center on Children, Families, and the Law
    Lincoln, NE
  • Myshell Lyday
    Smith Law, PLLC
    Missoula, MT

Northeast

  • Ana Maria Tent
    New Jersey Office of the Public Defender – Youth Defense
    Morristown, NJ
  • Nicole El
    Defender Association of Philadelphia
    Philadelphia, PA

South Central

  • Daniel Feldman
    Missouri State Public Defender
    Columbia, MO
  • Melanie Lister
    Travis County Juvenile Public Defender
    Austin, TX

Southern

  • Hector Linares
    Loyola University New Orleans College of Law
    New Orleans, LA
  • Jessica Meléndez-Dedós
    Sociedad para Asistencia Legal de PR (Legal Aid Society of PR)
    Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  • Kristina Kersey
    University of Tennessee Winston College of Law, Legal Clinic
    Knoxville, TN

Southwest

  • Eva Buchwald
    New Mexico Law Office of the Public Defender
    Albuquerque, NM
  • Kelley Jones
    Clark County (NV) Public Defender – Juvenile Division
    Las Vegas, NV
  • Pam Vickrey
    Utah Juvenile Defender Attorneys
    Salt Lake City, UT
  • Stacie Colling
    Colorado Office of the Alternate Defense Counsel
    Denver, CO

Western

  • Elizabeth Mustin
    State Office of Public Defense
    Olympia, WA
  • Keiler Beers
    Metropolitan Public Defender
    Portland, OR
  • Rhyzan Croomes
    California Youth Defender Center
    Los Angeles, CA

Regional Center Contact Form

Name

Regional Centers

  • All
  • Mid-Atlantic Youth Defender CenterDistrict of Columbia, Maryland, and VirginiaExplore
  • South Central Youth Defender CenterArkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and TexasExplore
  • Great Lakes Youth Defender CenterIllinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, and WisconsinExplore
  • New England Youth Defender CenterConnecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and VermontExplore
  • Northeast Youth Defender CenterDelaware, New Jersey, New York, and PennsylvaniaExplore
  • Southern Youth Defender CenterAlabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, and US Virgin IslandsExplore
  • Southwest Youth Defender Center Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and UtahExplore
  • Western Youth Defender Center Alaska, American Samoa, California, Guam, Hawaii, Northern Mariana Islands, Oregon, and WashingtonExplore
  • North Central Youth Defender CenterIdaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and WyomingExplore