Juvenile Justice Matters  

Join us Thursday evening when we talk to Edwin Desamour, mentor to at-risk youth and former inmate. When Desamour was 16 he was tried as an adult and spent 8 years behind bars in Philadelphia. Mr. Desamour now uses his background and life experiences to educate and mentor at-risk youth so they can make positive life decisions. Desamour is also founder of Men In Motion In the Community, a coalition of volunteers who are uniquely equipped to reach the most at-risk youth in the community because the volunteers have faced similar crossroads and can truly relate.

Join us on Thursday evening with Kim Dvorchak to discuss juvenile justice reform in Colorado. Kim Dvorchak is a juvenile defense attorney and the chair of the Colorado Juvenile Defender Coalition. She has been practicing law for 13 years. She began her career as a public defender in Colorado Springs, Colorado, then worked for The Legal Aid Society of New York, where she joined the Juvenile Offender Team representing kids charged as adults in Manhattan and became active with the National Juvenile Defender Center. Ms. Dvorchak returned to Colorado and litigated appeals after the birth of her twin sons. As an appellate attorney Ms. Dvorchak represents several youth direct filed as adults and has challenged the constitutionality of Colorado’s direct file statute to the Colorado Supreme Court in Flakes v. People. She currently represents a youth sentenced to life without parole. Ms. Dvorchak helped founded and chairs the Colorado Juvenile Defender Coalition, an organization dedicated to improving the quality of juvenile defense and the treatment of youth in Colorado’s juvenile justice system.